Dr. Tobin Jacks recently agreed to a settlement with the Iowa Board of Medicine to pay $10,000 and quit practicing obstetrics after mishandling a birth which caused brain damage in the child.

The board convicted Jacks of mishandling the delivery of a baby in Knoxville in 2005.  Tammy and Matt Heston, the parents of the baby born in 2005, sued Jacks and the Knoxville Community Hospital for the injuries and brain damage suffered by their son after the mishandling of his delivery.   The board agreed that Jacks did not properly access Tammy Heston before her son’s birth and failed to order a C-section delivery.   Instead, he used forceps and vacuum extraction to deliver Heston’s son, who suffers permanent brain damage.  Five-year old Connor Heston is unable to walk, talk, sit up, or swallow.

Dr. Jacks has had several previous run-ins with the licensing board since 1987, mostly regarding drug use.   Jacks once admitted to using his children’s urine samples to pass drug tests.

The first minute after birth can be one of the most important minutes of an infant’s life.  In the first minute of birth, a baby must inhale and take its first breath, which comes easily for most babies.  However, 829,000 babies a year suffer from asphyxia and need help beginning breathing.

Asphyxia is the inability to breath at birth, which can lead to birth injuries like cerebral palsy, communication disorders, damage to vital organs, and hearing and/or vision loss.

Recently, an international campaign, Helping Babies Breath, was launched to prevent asphyxia at birth by training midwives and birth attendants all over the world how to help babies who suffer from asphyxia.  Statistics say that more than 80 percent of babies will have no trouble  breathing at birth, but about 10 percent need resuscitation by having their nose and mouth gently suctioned.  Helping Babies Breath will begin their curriculum and training in countries where ninety percent of infant and maternal fatalities, such as Kenya, Bangladesh, and Tanzania.

If your or someone you love has suffered from birth injuries caused by asphyxia, contact the Philadelphia newborn asphyxia attorneys at Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

A new iPhone application, iBirth, was created last December to help soon-to-be mothers through their pregnancy.

Two mothers and childbirth educators created the app which sells for $4.99 and has already had 700 downloads.  iBirth is the first prenatal iPhone app and features prenatal nutrition, labor, and delivery tips, as well as other helpful information that you would learn in a childbirth class.

The creators state that they in no way mean for their app to replace childbirth classes, but realize that only 30 percent of mothers take childbirth classes or read childbirth material, often because they are too busy.

The United States ranks higher than most developed counties in infant and maternal mortality rates.  Creators of iBirth believe that lack of education can often be a cause of the poor birth statistics in the U.S.  For example, 32 percent of births in the United States are born by C-section, while the World Health Organization suggests that only 15 percent of births should need to be performed by C-section.

If your or someone you know has been injured from a C-section, contact the Philadelphia C-section attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

Last month, the Milwaukee County court awarded a mother and her son $23.3 million in their medical malpractice suit against the doctors and hospital that failed to recognize the need for cesarean section causing the boy brain damage.

The mother, Kishia Lee, went into prolonged labor in May of 2005 at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center.  Lee’s attorneys argued that her prolonged labor along with other signs should have prompted her doctor, Donald Baccus, to perform a cesarean section.  Instead, a medical resident performed the delivery using forceps and caused brain injury resulting in cerebral palsy in her now 5-year old son, Laron Birmingham.  Officials expect Birmingham will never be able to work or live independently.

While the hospital was not convicted, the court found the doctor and the Injury Patients and Families Compensation Fund at fault.  The reward is intended to compensate for medical bills, loss of income, and personal suffering.

If your or someone you love suffers from birth injury, contact the Philadelphia forceps injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

Erb’s Palsy, or shoulder dystocia, can be easy to treat, but experts from the Cincinatti Children’s Brachial Plexus Center say the hardest part is the initial identification and diagnosis.

Erb’s Palsy is a condition in which the brachial plexus, a network of nerves controlling the neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hands, and fingers, is stretched or torn. Three out of every 2,000 live births a year are affected by Erb’s Palsy, which is higher than Down’s syndrome and muscular dystrophy.

Erb’s Palsy can be contracted at the time of birth or after birth. In about 54 percent of patients with Erb’s Palsy the injury is not birth-related, and origin is unknown.

Officials from CCBPC believe that a lack of knowledge of the condition and its treatment among medical professionals can often be the biggest reason for the occurrence of Erb’s Palsy.

If you or someone you love has Erb’s Palsy, contact the Philadelphia birth injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.