In Houston, few things are worse than when a family is expecting a child
and is hoping to bring home a healthy newborn infant, only to have something
terrible happen, such as severe birth injury or death. Mistakes in the
delivery room can have numerous consequences, including
birth injuries to the child and even stillbirth. The mother also can suffer injuries
if there is a mistake made during the delivery process.
An investigation is being conducted following the death of an infant at
a local hospital. According to hospital administration, there were problems
with communication that might have played a part in decisions that were
made. The cause of the child’s death was listed as stillbirth. A memo
from the president of the hospital and the acting chief medical officer
mention an “event” that occurred that resulted in the death
of the infant, without going into detail. The state is reviewing the incident.
The United States is world-renowned for its professionalism and success
rate when delivering healthy babies. However, the frequency with which
women give birth to babies and the relatively low percentages of problems
doesn’t preclude the fact that giving birth to a newborn is a difficult
process with many dangers to mother and baby. In some instances, the medical
staff makes an error that results in the child suffering an injury that
can affect his or her life forever, with massive costs to the family to
care for a handicapped child. Errors can even result in death. There could
be improper dispensing of medication, mistakes made with medical instruments,
failure to perform a
C-section if one is necessary and many other possible errors that result in injury
or stillbirth. People need to be aware of the possibility of a medical
error leading to birth injury or infant death.
In this case, the infant died and the medical facility is acknowledging
that there were mistakes made during the birth. When a child suffers a
birth injury or dies during the delivery process, the family should discuss
the matter with an attorney before doing anything else.