Your baby probably reached milestones like rolling over, sitting up, and walking later than other children, if at all. Symptoms may have unfolded over the first few months after birth and will afflict your child throughout life. Caring for your daughter or son with cerebral palsy can take a significant toll on you and your family, financially and emotionally.
HOW DOES CEREBRAL PALSY OCCUR?
Here’s what hospitals won’t tell you:
Cerebral palsy often results from the mistakes made by a doctor, nurse, or hospital staff during birth. In some cases, cerebral palsy is due to developmental brain malformation resulting from genetic disorders or lack of blood supply to the brain. Frequently, however, cerebral palsy results from injury to the brain during or around the time of delivery.
Our team of talented attorneys has years of experience handling birth trauma cases, including cerebral palsy and brain damage. We will investigate the causes of your case and get you the answers you deserve. If your hospital is responsible, we’ll fight to make sure they pay for your child’s treatment, rehabilitation, and future care.
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UNDERSTANDING CEREBRAL PALSY
Understanding cerebral palsy requires recognizing its many possible causes and the broad spectrum of types. Each contributes to the complexity of this neurological condition and the legality around birth injury cases involving cerebral palsy.
Causes
- Medical Negligence During Pregnancy or Birth: Mistakes or oversights by healthcare professionals, such as failing to detect or properly manage infections, mishandling during delivery, or not addressing prenatal complications, can lead to conditions that result in cerebral palsy.
- Genetic Predisposition: In some cases, cerebral palsy can be linked to genetic abnormalities that affect brain development, indicating that the condition may sometimes be inherited or result from mutations that influence brain health and function.
- Infections During Pregnancy: Certain infections in the mother during pregnancy, such as rubella, cytomegalovirus, or toxoplasmosis, can interfere with the normal development of the baby’s brain, increasing the risk of cerebral palsy.
- Oxygen Deprivation as a Result of Complications: Situations during pregnancy, birth, or shortly after birth that reduce oxygen supply to the baby’s brain, such as umbilical cord problems or severe untreated jaundice, can cause damage that leads to cerebral palsy.
Types
- Spastic Cerebral Palsy: This is the most common type of cerebral palsy, characterized by increased muscle tone (muscle stiffness) that leads to awkward movements and poses significant challenges in coordinating movements.
- Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy: Individuals with dyskinetic cerebral palsy experience involuntary movements that can be slow and writhing or rapid and jerky, making it difficult to control the movement of their hands, arms, feet, and legs.
- Ataxic Cerebral Palsy: Marked by problems with balance and coordination, ataxic cerebral palsy affects the whole body and can make tasks requiring fine motor skills, such as writing or using utensils, challenging.
- Hypotonic Cerebral Palsy: This is characterized by decreased muscle tone, leading to floppy limbs and a lack of strength to support their own body weight, making it hard for individuals to maintain posture and balance.
- Mixed Types: Some individuals may have symptoms of more than one type of cerebral palsy, known as mixed cerebral palsy, where features of spastic, dyskinetic, and/or ataxic cerebral palsy may be present, complicating movement and coordination in unique ways.
Early Signs and Diagnosis
Recognizing cerebral palsy in its early stages is crucial for timely intervention. Parents should be aware of signs that may indicate the presence of cerebral palsy.
These signs include:
- Delays in motor skills development
- Muscle stiffness or rigidity
- Poor coordination
- Difficulty with balance
- Possible speech and hearing impairments
Legal Guidance and Support Services
The legal process for cerebral palsy claims involves adhering to specific timelines and meticulous evidence collection. This can include seeking expert consultations and testimonies to strengthen the case. The process generally moves through phases of negotiation and, if necessary, litigation (going to court).
Fieger Law goes beyond legal representation by providing comprehensive support to families. We advocate for children who suffer birth injuries and can assist families in navigating healthcare and emotional support resources. This approach ensures that families can access the ongoing assistance they need to handle the challenges associated with cerebral palsy.
Seek JUSTICE FOR YOUR CHILD Now
Doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies will never admit their mistakes, but we will find out the truth and fight for you. Our firm is well known by insurance companies and hospitals all over the country because we are the most relentless and effective opponents many of them have ever faced.
If you had the following events occur during your delivery, your child’s cerebral palsy might be the result of negligence:
- Did you have a difficult delivery or C-section?
- Was your baby deprived of oxygen?
- Did your doctor use a vacuum or forceps during delivery?
- Did your son or daughter suffer head trauma or birth injury?
- Were there problems with your baby’s heart rate on the fetal monitor?
- Did your baby need to be resuscitated?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, call Fieger Law to speak to an expert cerebral palsy birth trauma attorney in Michigan.
Fieger Law: Nationally Recognized Cerebral Palsy Lawyers—Fighting For You
You can see by our track record of success with cerebral palsy and birth injury cases that our Michigan cerebral palsy lawyers will fight for you. You only need to make a phone call.
