Although birth injuries typically affect infants, mothers are also at risk of suffering from health complications after delivery.  One of the most common complications a mother can suffer is a birth infection.  The most common type of birth infections for mothers is Group B Strep.

Streptococcal infections involve bacteria entering the body and attacking tissues, usually in the throat.  If a mother is infected with GBS, their child could also be seriously affected by the infection.  GBS is the primary cause of death in newborns around the world.

One main cause of birth infections and GBS in mothers is through the use of unsterilized equipment at hospitals.

If you are a mother that suffered medical complications from a birth infection caused by hospital negligence, contact the Philadelphia birth infection lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

Child birth can be very dangerous for both the mother and the child.  One birth injury that many mothers are not aware of is the possibility of their child fracturing a bone.  Bone fractures in newborns usually occur in larger infants due to a prolonged labor or the use of forceps.

Approximately 9 percent of large newborns suffer from a bone fracture.  The bone most frequently fractured is the clavicle, also known as the collarbone.  Sometimes these bone fractures occur on accident and other times they can be prevented.  If doctors recognize that a baby is on the larger side they can take steps, like not prolonging a delivery or not using forceps, to reduce the possibility of an infant having a bone fracture.

If your child suffered a bone fracture at birth that could have been prevented, contact the Philadelphia bone fractures lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

According to a recent study conducted by medical researcher Angelia Eick, newborns whose mothers have received a flu shot during pregnancy are less likely to be admitted to a hospital with a respiratory illness in their first six months.  Eick, formerly of Johns Hopkins, works for the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Eick and a team of researchers studied mothers and children on Navajo and White Mountain Apache Indian reservations because members of the Native American population are more prone to respiratory infections.  1,160 mother/infant pairs gave blood samples before and after three flu seasons and were monitored for flu symptoms.  The team concluded that babies whose mothers had the flu vaccination were 41 percent less likely to contract the flu and 39 percent less likely to be hospitalized for a respiratory illness than babies whose mothers were not vaccinated.  Furthermore, babies whose mothers had been vaccinated were found to have higher levels of flu antibodies.

“Although influenza vaccination is recommended for pregnant women to reduce their risk of influenza complications, these findings provide support for the added benefit of protecting infants from influenza virus infection up to six months,” stated Eick.

If your infant has become ill due to a hospital’s negligence, contact the Philadelphia birth infection lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

On October 2, the American Academy of Pediatrics will be presenting this year’s Virginia Apgar Award to St. Louis neonatologist William Keenan at their National Conference & Exhibition in San Fransisco, California.  The award is given to an individual who has dedicated their career to the wellbeing of infants.

Keenan is a professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University and a neonatologist at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center.  He was a pioneer in the field of neonatal resuscitation used on babies suffering from asphyxia.  The curriculum was adopted by the AAP and the American Heart Association to train doctors and nurses in the life-saving technique.  Neonatal resuscitation is used in approximately one out of ten births in the United States for babies who are deprived of oxygen before, after or during delivery.  Since the technique was adopted in 1987 the infant morality rate in the U.S. has dropped by nearly 70 percent.

If your child suffered from asphyxia at birth due to medical negligence, contact the Philadelphia asphyxia lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

Johnson & Johnson recently announced the launch of a campaign called “Every Mother, Every Child”.  ”Every Mother, Every Child” is a five year program that will help an estimated 400 million women and children in over 50 countries.

The program has four distinct parts.  ”Mobile Health for Mothers” will give cell phones to 20 million pregnant women in Nigeria, South Africa, China, India and Bangladesh that will send messages with prenatal health information and receive calls from health experts.

“Research and Development Innovations” will involve research on HIV and tuberculosis treatments including looking for a way to prevent the diseases from passing from mother to child.

“Intestinal Worms and Children” will donate 200 million doses of the drug mebendazole a year to treat intestinal worms.

Lastly, “Safe Birth Programs” will provide birth and prenatal health education classes in hopes of preventing birth injuries like asphyxia.

If you or someone you know has suffered from asphyxia at birth, contact the Philadelphia asphyxia lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends doctors give mothers undergoing a C-section antibiotics before the surgery, in order to prevent possible birth-related infections.  Generally, antibiotics are administered after the surgery because it was once believed that the antibiotics could harm the child if given to the mother before delivery.  Now, medical researchers at the ACOG have concluded that data shows newborns are not harmed if mothers take antibiotics while pregnant.

Dr. William H. Barth, chair of the ACOG’s committee on Obstetric Practice, stated, “We’re recommending that all women who undergo cesarean get a preventative course of antibiotics before the surgery starts.  Ideally, this should happen within 60 minutes of surgery”.  Officials at the ACOG say that the recommendation does not extend to pregnant women who are already taking antibiotics for another reason.

Infections are the most common form of complication from C-section deliveries.  Ten to forty percent of women who undergo C-sections will develop an infection.  Only one to three percent of women who deliver vaginally will suffer from birth-related infections.

If you or someone you love has suffered from a C-section-related complication, contact the Philadelphia C-sections attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

University of Illinois, known for its accessibility for students with disabilities, recently opened the country’s most user-friendly dorm.  The dorm is the first new dorm opened on the campus in 44 years.

Students with disabilities will live on the dorm’s first floor.  The dorm building is connected to a dining hall, convenience store, and meeting spaces.  Some of the dorm room features include a wireless pager that can call for help 24 hours a day, a remote-controlled ceiling lift system to transport wheelchair bound students from their bed to the bathroom, buttons to close or open window blinds, and low sinks, thermostat, and light switches.  The doors to the dorm are opened by waving a card over a sensor, sinks are activated by sensor, and all roll-in showers have chairs.

Also, the dorm has personal assistants working at all times who can come at the push of a button.  Ellen Fultz, the mother of a 21-year old transfer student with cerebral palsy stated, “It is truly better than what we have at home”.

If you or someone you love developed cerebral palsy due to a birth injury, contact the Philadelphia cerebral palsy lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

Northern Westchester Hospital recently announced their attempts to overturn the $56 million verdict in a birth injury lawsuit won by a a family last year whose son suffered from shoulder dystocia at birth which caused serious brain injury.  Shoulder dystocia occurs when a baby’s shoulder becomes caught on a mother’s pelvic bone during labor.  If this happens, the baby can suffer oxygen deprivation which often leads to brain damage, cerebral palsy, and other disabilities.  Also, the baby can suffer damage to the braxial plexus nerves located in the shoulders, which can cause Erb’s palsy.

The family’s son suffered from permanent brain and nerve damage, internal bleeding, and bruising as a result of the birth injury.  Last year, a court found Northern Westchester Hospital guilty of failing to handle the situation in a timely manner causing permanent and serious brain injury.  The result was one of the highest jury awards in the state last year.

If you or someone you love has suffered from brain injuries incurred at birth, contact the Philadelphia brain damage lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.

The University of Iowa and Big Ten Conference star Adrian Clayborn has had to overcome a lot of odds to accomplish the things he has, including the birth injury Erb’s Palsy.  Erb’s Palsy most often occurs in breech births, or when a baby is born feet first, and results from pressure on the baby’s shoulders causing damage to the nerves in the brachial plexus.  Approximately one out of every thousand births will suffer from brachial nerve injury, and the risk is even greater in large babies.  Clayborn was 11 pounds and 3 ounces when he was born.

Clayborn suffered from weakness and loss of movement in his right arm due to the nerve damage, but after years of physical therapy starting at a young age, he was able to regain movement.  Today, many would argue that he is the best player in the Big Ten Conference.  Last season, Clayborn was selected First-Team All-Big Ten and won the MVP award at the 2010 Orange Bowl.

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

A jury in Staten Island recently awarded $510,000 to 4-year old Xzavier Hyman and his family after he was deprived of oxygen at birth and now suffers from brain injuries.  Xzavier suffered three to four strokes and three seizures within ten hours after being born at the University Hospital in Staten Island.  Xzavier is experiencing motor-skill and speech deficiencies due to his brain injury.

Xzavier’s family argued that their obstetrician-gynecologist left his mother on the drug pitocin for too long causing her to have “relentless” contractions.  The contractions put too much pressure on the baby’s brain while the flow of blood and oxygen to him decreased, leaving him deprived of oxygen.  The jury found that these practices were not appropriate considering how long she had been in labor, and that doctors should have performed a cesarean section.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of a birth injury causing brain damage, contact the Philadelphia brain damage lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to learn more about your rights.