Infants are more susceptible to head injury than adults given that their heads are proportionately bigger and they have yet to develop the muscles and coordination that adults have. While most head injuries in infants are minor, serious brain injuries can occur in traumatic accidents and during complicated births.
Causes of Infant Brain Injury
Infants, like adults, can suffer brain injuries in any sort of accident in which the head suffers a blow or a sudden force. This can occur in cases such as car accidents and slip and fall accidents.
Brain injury can be the result of some sort of defective equipment that caused injury or failed to prevent injury, such as a motorized infant swing or a faulty infant car seat. Infants can also suffer serious brain injuries in cases of abuse and shaken baby syndrome.
Unfortunately, it is often the caregivers that cause the shaken baby syndrome. A short burst of aggravation can make a caregiver use undue force when handling a child and although it may seem the child responds ‘positively’ to the shaking – he or she stops crying – this in fact often means that the child is suffering head trauma.
One of the ways infants might sustain a brain injury is from trauma at birth or medical negligence in which a medical professional involved in delivering the child acts in an unreasonable manner.
Some of the instances that may cause brain injury in an infant include:
- lack of oxygen because of things such as the umbilical cord becoming wrapped around the baby’s neck, the baby becoming lodged in the birth canal, or the baby getting turned sideways during delivery;
- improper use of delivery tools such as forceps;
- delayed ordering of a C-Section; and
- using too much force during delivery.
Find a Personal Injury Lawyer, Near Me
(855) 529-0269Staying Alert to Signs of Brain Injury
If your child suffered brain injury during delivery, doctors may identify the condition straightaway, but this isn’t always the case. If your child has been in an accident or suffered some sort of blow to the head, take your child to the doctor for an examination and stay alert to any signs that a brain injury has occurred.
If you notice any of the following symptoms of brain injury, contact a doctor immediately:
- vomiting;
- convulsions;
- twitches on one side of the body;
- abnormal breathing;
- pupil abnormalities;
- fluid leaking from the ears; and
- changes in balance or coordination.
When Your Child Suffered because of Another’s Negligence
It’s exceptionally hard for parents to deal with a child sustaining a serious injury, such as a brain injury with lifelong effects. It’s even harder when you know that your child is suffering needlessly because of someone else’s careless or negligent actions.
If your child sustained injury in a car accident, in childbirth from malpractice, as the result of faulty equipment, or because of any other type of situation that was related to negligence, you have a legal form of recourse by filing a claim against the responsible party. Run your case by a local law firm that handles infant brain injury cases and determine how to best handle your claim.
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(855) 529-0269
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