Supporting a Family After a Traumatic Birth Experience
Imagine having the joy of welcoming your child into the world… only to be faced with injuries and complications you never saw coming.
Birth injury medical negligence can turn a happy occasion into something traumatic for everyone involved.
Every year, approximately 30,000 babies suffer from some type of birth injury within the United States. That’s about 3 newborns every hour.
What’s worse?
Most of these injuries are preventable.
The Problem:
Birth injury medical negligence affects more than just your child’s health.
Your entire family faces emotional trauma, financial burdens, and an uncertain future.
Let’s talk about what you CAN do to support them.
What You’ll Discover:
- Why Traumatic Births Are Actually Very Common
- How Birth Injury Medical Negligence Impacts Families
- Understanding The Emotional Impact On Parents & Older Siblings
- 4 Steps You Can Take To Begin Healing After A Traumatic Birth
- Why Working With A Legal Professional Can Help
Why Traumatic Births Are Actually Very Common
You might think birth injuries are rare.
But the truth is, they happen more often than you’d expect.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that birth injuries occur in 7 out of every 1,000 babies born in the United States each year. Some are minor and cause bruising. Others can lead to lifelong brain damage, nerve damage, and birth injuries like cerebral palsy.
BUT…
Not all birth injuries are due to unavoidable circumstances.
If a medical professional neglects to monitor labour and delivery, misuses forceps or vacuums during birth, or fails to perform a C-section in a timely manner… then birth injury medical negligence may be to blame. Many families pursuing birth injury cases learn their child’s injury would not have occurred with the proper medical attention.
Realising your baby doesn’t have to suffer because of negligence can hit your family hard.
The CDC also reports that 40% of birth injury medical negligence lawsuits are due to poor management of labour and delivery. Preventable injuries aren’t rare occurrences. In many cases, there was a split second during delivery where a medical professional could have made a different decision.
How Birth Injury Medical Negligence Impacts Families
Traumatic births can impact your family in ways you may not expect.
Life as you know it will change when dealing with birth injury medical negligence.
From the financial burden to the emotional trauma, here are some things families experience that most people never think about.
Financial Hardships
Birth injuries can be expensive.
If your child suffered severe injuries during birth, they will likely require lifelong medical care. Everything from surgeries and medication to physical therapy and mobility assistance can pile up quickly.
Not only will you face thousands of dollars in medical bills, but your child may require special care for the rest of their life.
And the truth is… financial stresses are SO much worse than you think they’ll be.
You trust your medical team to keep your baby safe.
Watching them suffer because of someone else’s mistake is heartbreaking.
Plus, as your child’s parent, you may need to take time off work to care for your child. Or, in more severe cases, you may not be able to return to work at all.
Whether it’s lost wages or mounting medical bills…
The financial strain of birth injury medical negligence can ruin lives.
Emotional Struggles
It’s completely normal to feel angry after your child suffers an injury that could have been prevented.
You may experience guilt, anxiety, and a deep sadness that your baby’s life will never be the same.
These emotions can take a toll on any parent. But when birth injury medical negligence is the cause of your child’s condition, it can lead to family dysfunction and conflict. Many parents face thoughts of “what if?” that haunt them after an injury occurs.
Not only will you have to support your child, but you’ll need to lean on each other for emotional support.
Understanding The Emotional Impact On Parents & Older Siblings
Here’s another aspect of traumatic births that parents often overlook…
…the impact it has on siblings.
If you already have children, they will sense when something is wrong. They may even experience feelings of neglect or confusion because parents are spending extra time at the hospital. And while kids are resilient, they’re still affected by trauma just as adults are.
The psychological effects of traumatic births can reach every family member.
Depression and PTSD are common in new mothers after traumatic birth experiences. Fathers experience these feelings as well, but often feel they need to be “the strong one” for their family.
That’s why it’s important to seek professional mental health services for everyone involved.
Processing what happened and learning healthy coping techniques is necessary for your family to heal.
4 Steps You Can Take To Begin Healing After A Traumatic Birth
You might be wondering what you can do to help your family move forward after a traumatic birth.
Here are some things you can do to begin the healing process.
Get Help
Talk to a therapist or psychiatrist that specialises in birth trauma.
That means therapist or psychiatrist. Not just therapist.
Dads go through this too. While moms may experience physical trauma after birth, both parents deserve the chance to heal.
Build Your Medical Team
Just like you need a therapist, you’ll want to build out a medical team for your child.
This includes paediatricians, neurologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists etc.
Your child isn’t going to recover overnight. But with the right team in place, you can give them the best opportunity to succeed.
Find Support
Connect with other families that have been through similar situations.
Reading about other people’s experiences can help you feel less alone.
A support group can help you and your family work through the emotions you’re feeling.
Document, Document, Document
Take notes during every doctors appointment.
Write down your child’s diagnosis and every medication they take.
This will be useful for their medical history down the road and can help with a lawsuit if you choose to pursue one.
Why Working With A Legal Professional Can Help
Here’s something else to consider…
Did you know that approximately 80% of birth injuries are preventable with the right medical care?
That means 80% of families dealing with birth injuries are facing trauma that could have been avoided if medical professionals did their jobs.
If birth injury medical negligence is the cause of your child’s injuries, you have every right to pursue legal action.
Families who win birth injury lawsuits can receive monetary compensation for medical bills, therapy costs, lost wages, and emotional trauma caused by the negligence.
This compensation allows you to focus on what matters: taking care of your family.
Don’t let medical professionals off the hook for their mistakes.
Birth injuries are the 4th leading cause of infant death in the United States. In fact, they account for 20% of infant deaths each year.
There are guidelines and protocols for a reason. Ensuring your child receives proper medical care during birth is everyone’s responsibility.
Birth injury medical negligence affects more than just your child. It affects your entire family.
Working with a lawyer can help you understand your options and take the necessary steps to help secure your child’s future.
