There is an assumption that, with advances in medical science, the risks of birth injery and pregnancy related death are so greatly reduced as to be negligible. Recent evidence suggests this might be a misguided assumption.

While there is no cause for alarm, as preqnancy fatalities are still rare, there has been a recent increase in the number of women dying from pregnancy associated problems.

The latest available statistics show that between 2000 and 2002, 261 women died from complications associated with pregnancy. This is a small rise on the figure of 242 deaths in the previous three-year period.

Statistics show that some form of sub-optimal care - something that can often be associated with medical negligence - is attributable to 66% of the pregnancy related deaths recorded.

It is a disturbing statistic, showing that a large proportion of deaths could possibly have been avoided had the women received better medical care.

As the safe-keepers of new life, pregnat women certainly deserve a higher level of maternity care. There is a risk that in an increasingly target-driven health service, which is currently suffering a shortage of midwives, society is in danger of forgetting the sanctity and primacy of mothers.
More Maternity Professionals Needed
There are other causes for concern in Britains Maternity Services, not least the current shortage of midwives. The Royal College of Midwives believe that a further 10,000 midwives are needed to provide adequate maternity care to mothers in Britain.
When considering the gaping discrepancy between the actual number of midwives in the country and the number deemed necessary, some troubling questions are raised.

Not least among them is an inevitably increased risk of birth injuries to both mothers and babies. With birth injury compensation claims already forming nearly two-thirds of major NHS medical negligence compensation payouts each year, the need for action is clearly pressing.

Problems associated with the present shortage of midwives are in danger of being compounded by a significant fall in the number of consultant obstetricians. Statistics from The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists highlight the urgent need to buck the downward trend. They estimate that there needs to be a five per cent increase, annually, in the recruitment of new obstetricians.

Compensating the true cost of a birth injury
A recent study by the Healthcare Commission showed that over half of women who give birth in NHS hospitals are periodically left alone during childbirth. It also found that less than half of those surveyed had one midwife providing continuity of care throughout their labour. This issue of continuity of care is a potentially contributing factor in the incidence of birth injury, something recognised by the governments recent pledge to ensure all women have continuous care during labour by 2009.

Birth injury compensation claim payouts can often seem high if theyre only read at the level of a newspaper headline. However, when one considers that a birth injury to a newborn child will often have an impact for the childs lifetime, the need for compensation reflecting the seriousness of the birth injury becomes obvious. Similarly, for mothers who sustain a birth injury, such as an avoidable vaginal tear or anal fissure, the impact can have lasting repercussions on not just the mother but her entire family as well.

The recent case of a 15-year-old boy who was awarded 6.6 million for a birth injury he suffered shows just how catastrophic the effects of medical negligence in Britains maternity wards can potentially be.

The boy suffers from cerebral palsy and mental impairment after being starved of oxygen at birth. The court heard that medical staff could have done more to ensure the boy was given the chance at a normal life free of birth injury.

The 6.6 million compensation claim payout is so large because it recognises that the birth injury the boy suffered will last for the duration of his lifetime. He is in a wheelchair and will never be fully independent. While it is unclear whether the boys family opted to use the services of a no win, no fee solicitor, it seems that with the dissolution of most legal aid in the UK, a no win, no fee claim represents the best option for British families facing a similar situation.

It can be said that birth traumas suffered by a mother will also last, though in a less literal sense, a lifetime. A traumatic birth can affect the bonding process between mother and child, and it can also lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The Birth Trauma Association report that around 10,000 women a year develop PTSD as a result of difficult childbirths, with a further 200,000 developing symptoms associated with PTSD.

Speaking to the Daily Mail [insert italics], one woman who recently gave birth on the NHS tells a frightening tale. She says she was left alone, for a long time, during the birth of her child without a doctor or midwife to hand. Shockingly, it was left to her mother to deliver her baby.

She makes it clear that she fears she, or her child, might have suffered a birth injury had her mother not been there to help, Without my mother, I dread to think what would have happened. She goes on to say that she has a happy, healthy little girl, but it could have been so different.

This article may be published on another website free of charge, on the condition that a link is provided from this article to our website: http://www.youclaim.co.uk/Birth-injury/Birth-injury-fractures.htm

An act of kindness was a life changing event for a local child.

Taelin Lanch, 9, who suffers with microcephaly, was given a special Amtryke therapeutic tricycle and a Spinoza Bear by the Women of the Moose Chapter 633.

Sandy Baughman, Women of the Moose’s Senior Regent, presented the tricycle and bear to Taelin during a special ceremony at the Moose Lodge 867, 4500 West Pike. Microcephaly has caused physical and mental challenges for Taelin who is unable to run and play.

Taelin, a beautiful smile on her face, sat on the tricycle holding her Spinoza Bear in her arms while the tricycle was being adjusted for her. The tricycle can be peddled using hands or feet. Spinoza is a talking teddy bear that comes with cassette tapes and offers messages of love and encouragement as it talks and sings to the child.

“I think once they get it adjusted this will turn that little girl’s world around,” said Chuck Winsor, trustee.

The Women of the Moose held many fundraisers to get the needed funds to purchase the tricycle and it took a long time to arrive, Sandy Baughman, Women of the Moose’s Senior Regent said.

“It’s (the tricycle) the first one we’ve given away. We do fundraiser for everything we need,” she added.

The tricycle is adjustable and sturdily built to last for many years. It has the added feature of allowing the child to be strapped in securely.

Taelin’s grandmother, Kathy Kennedy, decided to take the bike for a ride around the room while Carolyn Arbuckle helped guide it. Kathy had celebrated her 69th birthday recently and was convinced the bike would last Taelin a lifetime.

“I think it’s great,” Kathy declared after her ride.

Kathy and her husband, Ed Kennedy, have been members of the Moose for 41 and 42 years respectively. Kathy holds all the degrees and Ed holds all degrees including the lodge’s highest degree, the Pilgrim Degree.

“We were at convention when this (the tricycle) was brought up,” Ed said. “I’m tickled to death with it, it and the bear both. It’ll last her life.”

While Taelin received the first tricycle the lodge has given locally, it is not the first tricycle they have helped provide for children. The lodge has made donations to assist other lodges with the purchase of the tricycles in their areas.

“We try to do a lot of things in the community and this is important to us,” Sandy said.

The lodge is involved in many local activities including highway clean-up, assisting the Salvation Army’s Kettle drive and providing stuffed animals called Tommy Moose to the sheriff’s department to be given to children in a time of crisis.

“Too many times people think of the lodges as a ‘good old boys club’ where I can go and get a beer. It’s not that way anymore. We have family things,” Chuck said.

Debbie adopted Taelin and six other children with special needs. Taelin has been in a wheelchair and was not able to run and play with her siblings. The tricycle will make a difference in her life.

“This has been a blessing for us,” Debbie said.

The Moose Lodge 867 was established in 1913. For additional information or to visit the lodge phone 453-6008.

by http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080229/NEWS01/802290310/1002/NEWS01 

An alarming number of birth injuries have been recorded in the U.S. in the recent past. Such injuries, arising out of complications during labor and delivery, can have effects ranging from mild bruising to brain damage, permanent disability, or even death. While mild birth injuries such as forceps marks are quite common, a doctor must anticipate and monitor more serious complications or face the threat of a lawsuit.

Oxygen deprivation during birth can result in severe brain damage, seizures, mental retardation, or other behavioral and emotional disabilities. In some cases, oxygen deprivation can be caused by natural factors such as the size or position of the baby. However, serious birth injuries can also be caused by mistakes made by the medical team. Infants who survive birth injuries often need to be rehabilitated over many years, even if they are not permanently disabled.

If your child has suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence, you are entitled to compensation, which a birth injury attorney can help you to get. Even if you are unaware of the actual extent of the injury caused, consult an experienced birth injury attorney immediately after the birth of the child. Medical negligence is usually very difficult to prove and a good birth injury attorney will help safeguard any evidence, build a proper case, and figure out the damages likely to arise as a result of the injury.

Time is of the essence to ensure that hospital records are not lost or destroyed over time and that relevant witnesses can still be located. A birth injury attorney will also ensure that you file a case before the statute of limitations applicable to your state expires. Any hospital or doctor fearing a potential lawsuit will also start putting their own legal process into motion, so no time must be wasted in hiring an experienced birth injury attorney who will evaluate the damages and help you obtain them.

It is not easy to live with the aftereffects of birth injuries, so don’t let a hospital or a doctor coerce you into a hasty and inadequate settlement without consulting a birth injury attorney.