Umbilical Cord Prolapse Injury Lawyer
Umbilical cord prolapse is a dangerous circumstance in which the umbilical cord presents itself before the baby during delivery. With the ability for UCP to cause significant harm in very little time, it’s important for physicians and other medical staff to monitor closely for any sign of umbilical cord prolapse. Untreated umbilical cord prolapse can quickly result in brain injuries, developmental delays, cerebral palsy, and even stillbirth.
Signs of Umbilical Cord Prolapse
The signs of UCP are often very obvious to a doctor that’s looking. Some of the indicators a doctor should be watching for are:
- Slow fetal heart rate—less than 120 bpm
- Pelvic exams can reveal prolapse
- Doctors should feel for the cord’s positioning during a physical exam
- If the cord drops out of the mother’s body during labor
There are standard procedures for handling umbilical cord prolapse, and these steps must be taken immediately once the prolapse is discovered.
- First, the doctor will change the mother’s positioning to relieve umbilical pressure
- If the baby is already in the birth canal, the doctor may try forceps or vacuum extraction
- If neither of these are successful immediately, an emergency C-section must be performed
If a doctor or midwife neglects to screen for or treat umbilical cord prolapse, and your baby is injured as a result, you will be eligible for financial compensation of medical expenses and emotional damages. An umbilical cord prolapse injury lawyer can help you determine if you’re eligible for a malpractice suit.
How Can an Umbilical Cord Prolapse Injury Lawyer Help?
Together with a team of medical professionals, your umbilical cord prolapse injury lawyer will go through the events leading up to your labor and delivery, determining if the doctor did everything possible to detect the possibility of UCP.
Then, they will go through the events that happened during delivery and determine if there was anything that your medical staff should have done to prevent the umbilical cord prolapse from injuring your child.
If it’s determined that there was a probability of negligence or other malpractice, your medical malpractice attorney will bring the case to a judge, and try to secure financial compensation for damages, including:
- Distress
- Loss of wages over time
- Medical and psychosocial care for your child and family
- Other long term care costs determined by the team of doctors assessing your case
Contacting a Boston Medical Malpractice Lawyer
When you have reason to believe that your doctor’s malpractice led to your child’s umbilical cord prolapse injury, contacting us as your Boston medical malpractice lawyer is the first step toward securing the funds to care for your child. Only a qualified medical malpractice attorney can help you with a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Of course, your Boston medical malpractice lawyer will understand that no doctor purposefully harms an infant. That isn’t why medical malpractice attorneys bring these cases to court. There’s a lot of financial stress after a birth injury, not to mention emotional distress. You deserve compensation—you deserve help. You don’t deserve to pay for someone else’s mistake.