Cerebral Palsy Attorneys in Southfield, Michigan
At Michigan Cerebral Palsy Attorneys, our team of Southfield cerebral palsy lawyers is dedicated to promoting equal access and opportunity in the lives of our clients. After decades of specific legal experience handling birth injury cases, we’ve seen the remarkable results of a successful malpractice suit in action and understand how far financial compensation goes in the lives of victims. In this section, we’ll briefly discuss some basic facts about cerebral palsy and encourage you to reach out to our cerebral palsy lawyers with any legal questions or concerns.
Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common disabling condition among children. When dissecting the term cerebral palsy, “cerebral” refers to the region of the brain called the cerebrum, which is the area affected by injury. “Palsy” refers to any of the movement disorders that result as a consequence of the brain damage.
People with cerebral palsy exhibit a wide range of symptoms, signs, and side effects, although the overarching experience for CP patients is one of movement limitation—often, patients experience varying degrees of impairment to gait, coordination, muscle tone, reflexes, control, balance, and posture. Other side effects include communication and feeding disorders, deficiencies of the senses, learning disabilities or cognitive deficiencies, and other non-life-threatening conditions.
Southfield, Michigan is a medical hub rich in rehabilitative resources. Unfortunately, not all individuals with CP are able to afford Southfield’s medical, lifestyle, and rehabilitative opportunities. At Michigan Cerebral Palsy Attorneys, our Southfield cerebral palsy lawyers understand the significant impact a successful malpractice settlement can make in the life of a person with cerebral palsy and are dedicated to securing compensation for clients. We encourage you to reach out to us today for a free legal consultation. Our Southfield cerebral palsy lawyers will review your case free of charge, answer your legal questions, and inform you of your legal options.
You may contact our Southfield cerebral palsy lawyers 24/7 in any of the following ways:
Complete our online contact form here
Call our law firm toll-free at (888) 592-1857
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Southfield, Michigan: Birth Injury and Medical Malpractice
Our Southfield Cerebral Palsy Lawyers Discuss the Causes of CP
In this section, we’ll acquaint you with some of the common medical errors that cause birth injury. We urge you to read through this material, visit our Causes & Risk Factors page, and reach out to us with any questions.
- Traumatic birth injuries most commonly affect the faces, brains, and skulls of babies during the process of labor and delivery. Two of the most common results of birth trauma are intracranial hemorrhages and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). Intracranial hemorrhages (brain bleeds) occur when insults cause bleeding within the brain or skull. PVL is characterized by damage to the developing brain’s white matter. Oxygen deprivation around the time of birth softens white matter tissues, and fluid enters the damaged areas. Both PVL and intracranial hemorrhages can cause hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Brain damage, cognitive deficiencies, cerebral palsy, and related disabilities. Below we’ve listed some primary causes of birth trauma:
- The misuse of delivery assistance tools: When a medical professional uses vacuum extractors or forceps incorrectly, she risks twisting, compressing, and damaging the baby’s head and neck.
- Strong contractions and hyperstimulation: The mismanagement of labor and delivery, most often by the overuse of labor inducing drugs like Pitocin and Cytotec, can cause rapid, strained contractions. Uterine hyperstimulation and strong contractions may increase pressure on the baby’s head, limit the progression of labor, and result in lasting brain damage and cerebral palsy.
- Maternal illnesses, conditions, and complications compromise a baby’s health when left untreated, undiagnosed, or mismanaged. Below we’ve grouped specific maternal health issues into infections and complications:
- Maternal infections: Maternal infections can be transmitted to the baby through the placenta or vaginal walls during pregnancy or delivery. When left untreated, these dangerous maternal infections are known causes of infant brain damage, cerebral palsy, and related disabilities:
- Maternal medical conditions: Other maternal complications, illnesses, and disorders result in CP when mismanaged. Some of these include:
- Gestational diabetes
- Oligohydramnios
- VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) delivery
- Preeclampsia
- The complications of labor and delivery can be threatening to both the mother and child. It is the standard of care for medical professionals to anticipate and quickly resolve the following complications:
- Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE; birth asphyxia) is a type of brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation around the time of birth. Since HIE is one of the leading causes of cerebral palsy, medical professionals are required to begin hypothermia treatment if they suspect a baby received inadequate amounts of oxygen around the time of delivery.
- Placental abruption takes place when the placenta separates from the uterus. Placental abruption may result in severe blood loss, HIE, cerebral palsy, and related lifelong disabling disorders.
- Preterm delivery: Premature babies are 30 times likelier to develop CP than full term babies because their underdeveloped organs cannot withstand the insults of delivery.
- Umbilical cord prolapse and compression are both conditions that interfere with the flow of oxygenated blood to the baby. Prolapsed cords enter the birth canal before the baby during delivery, and often result in cord compression. Cord compression is characterized by the obstruction of blood flow from pressure or misalignment of the cord.
- A nuchal cord is characterized by the umbilical cord wrapping around the baby’s neck. Nuchal cords are both common and dangerous complications of pregnancies, so medical professionals are required to monitor for them closely.
- Premature rupture of membranes (PROM): PROM occurs when the mother’s water breaks earlier than the hour before labor. PROM may result in cerebral palsy, developmental disabilities, fetal death, or related complications.
- Uterine rupture occurs when the womb tears open during labor. Uterine rupture is a labor and delivery emergency for both the mother and child and may result in uterine damage, maternal hemorrhaging, HIE, fetal death, and cerebral palsy.
- Size and positioning of the baby may present dangerous delivery circumstances for the baby. Some size and presentation complications include:
- Cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD): Size abnormalities exist between mother and baby
- Macrosomia: The baby is larger than average for his or her gestational age
- Breech presentation: The baby presents feet or buttocks first
- Face presentation: The baby’s face enters the birth canal first as opposed to the crown of the head
- Infant health conditions, like maternal health conditions, are very common in a pregnancy. Medical professionals must detect, prevent, manage, and treat the following infant illnesses and conditions in order to avoid cerebral palsy and related birth injuries:
Legal Help for Cerebral Palsy in Southfield, Michigan
Southfield Cerebral Palsy Lawyers and Attorneys Representing Victims of Medical Malpractice
If you suspect medical malpractice caused your loved one’s birth injury, call our Southfield cerebral palsy lawyers toll-free at (888) 592-1857 or fill out our online contact form. Our high-performing legal team has decades of experience handling cases specific to birth injury and cerebral palsy litigation. Contact us today and one of our Southfield cerebral palsy lawyers will provide you with a free legal consultation. Should our Southfield cerebral palsy lawyers take your case, you will not be charged until we win or settle in your favor.
The Michigan Cerebral Palsy Attorneys Disability Resource Guide: Southfield, Michigan
The Southfield cerebral palsy lawyers at our birth injury law firm have gathered a comprehensive list of cerebral palsy and disability resources available to the residents of Southfield, Michigan. If you or a loved one are affected by cerebral palsy or another birth injury, we encourage you to check out our handy resource list. You’ll find information and disability resources including health care centers, treatment, therapy, special education, adaptive equipment and assistive technology, financial and insurance resources, care centers, employment, transportation, research, disability organizations, family and parent resources, and much more. View the Southfield, Michigan Disability Resource Guide here.