What if patient harm wasn’t just bad luck, but something preventable? What if someone missed a warning sign during labour or failed to act when the baby showed signs of distress?
In delivery rooms, a few seconds can make all the difference. One overlooked error can lead to lifelong consequences. For some families, this means a newborn with brain damage, while for others, a healthy pregnancy ends in a devastating injury.
In this blog, we explain how overlooked errors happen, what they cause, and how they impact families. We also explain your legal rights and what you can do about them.
What are birth injuries?
Birth injuries are physical harm or trauma a baby experiences during labour or delivery. These injuries can affect the baby’s bones, muscles, nerves, or brain, and they may show up right away or take time to become noticeable.
Some birth injuries in newborn babies are mild, like small bruises or swelling, and often heal with little or no treatment. Others are more severe, involving lasting nerve damage or brain injury that can lead to a long-term disability.
It is important to understand that not all birth complications are due to medical errors. However, some birth injuries are preventable and happen because of overlooked mistakes or misjudgments during delivery. When that happens, families may have legal grounds to seek answers and accountability.
Causes of Birth Injuries: Understanding Overlooked Errors
Overlooked errors are mistakes that happen when someone misses a clear sign, delays action, or fails to speak up during labour or delivery.
These aren’t predictable surprises, but lapses in care, like not tracking a baby’s heart closely or failing to respond when a mother says something feels wrong. In many cases, these small failures lead to neonatal birth injuries.
Here are some common causes of birth injuries that are all tied to preventable errors:
- Failure to monitor fetal distress: A baby in distress will show signs through heart rate changes. If no one notices or responds, the baby may be left without enough oxygen during labour.
- Misuse of delivery tools: Forceps and vacuum extractors must be used with great care. A recent medical journal revealed that out of 24 high-income countries, Canada had the highest rate of injuries linked to forceps and vacuum use (165). This is more than three times the average of 5%.
- Delayed C-sections: Sometimes, there is no time to wait. If the baby is stuck or struggling and a C-section is delayed, things can quickly go wrong.
- Ignored patient concerns: Mothers usually sense when something feels off. When they raise alarms and no one listens, it leads to overlooked errors as red flags get missed.
- Poor communication during shift changes: If updates aren’t passed from one team to the next, critical information gets lost.
While overlooked errors like these are preventable, if they happen, the damage is already done.
Common Examples of Birth Injuries From Medical Negligence
Below are some birth injuries examples caused by medical negligence:
- Cerebral palsy (CP): This can happen when a baby’s brain doesn’t get enough oxygen during delivery. It affects movement, muscle control, and posture, and the impact can last a lifetime. CP is also classified within neonatal birth injuries when it is caused by brain damage.
- Brachial plexus injuries (like Erb’s palsy): These birth injuries affect the nerves controlling the arm and shoulder. They happen when the baby’s neck or shoulder is stretched too far during birth.
- Skull fractures: A baby’s skull is soft. Forceful delivery or improper use of tools can lead to cracks or breaks.
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: While rare, this type of brain damage is caused by a lack of oxygen. If not handled immediately, a child could be faced with a lifelong disability.
- Facial nerve damage: If the pressure on the baby’s face during delivery is too much, often from forceps, the facial nerves can be injured. Over time, certain ases of patient harm, like muscle weakness or uneven facial movement, become obvious.
- Internal bleeding: Mishandled tools or trauma during birth can cause bleeding in the brain or other parts of the body.
While these causes can lead to lifelong patient harm, they are completely preventable. The long list of birth injuries examples also further iterates why proper care during delivery is very critical.
An Overview of the Emotional, Physical, and Financial Impact
Of course, birth injuries in newborns don’t just affect the child; they grow to impact the whole family.
Parents face emotional stress, sleepless nights, and constant worry. Many children need long-term care, therapy, or special education. Some may even live with permanent developmental delays or disabilities.
These challenges come with heavy financial costs that extend to medical bills, lost income, and daily caregiving, the results of overlooked errors. In cases of clear negligence, this kind of patient harm demands answers and accountability.
Your Legal Rights as a Parent in Ontario
In Ontario, parents have the right to take legal action if a birth injury was caused by overlooked errors. The law allows you to seek answers, support, and compensation when medical mistakes lead to patient harm. This isn’t about blame, but more about protecting your child’s future through covering care costs, securing treatment, and holding the system accountable.
You don’t have to do it alone. A birth injury lawyer can help you understand the process and the possible causes of birth injuries in your case. Time matters because the Ontario legal system has limitation periods, so it is best to act early.
Make Experience Your First Priority
While you have the right to ask questions and be heard, medical malpractice cases are not simple. They involve complex details like medical records, expert opinions, and strict legal rules.
If your lawyer doesn’t understand both law and medicine, your case may be dismissed, or you may walk away with far less compensation than you deserve. Families already dealing with patient harm shouldn’t face more risk in court.
Sommers Roth & Elmaleh Is a Proven Legal Ally in Your Corner
Obviously, no one wants birth complications, but when they do happen, you need a team that understands the stakes. For over 40 years, Sommers Roth & Elmaleh has stood with families facing the impact of birth injuries, guiding them through some of the most complex medical cases in Canada.
Our focus extends to obstetric malpractice, neonatal defects, and birth injuries in newborns caused by missed errors during labour and delivery.
This is not a new territory for us. We have helped shape the legal sector, set great precedents, and regularly lead major developments in medical malpractice litigations. Our long list of successful birth injury and overlooked errors cases speaks volumes.
When your world suddenly changes, Sommers Roth & Elmaleh is in your corner. Reach out to our compassionate lawyers at 1-844-940-2386 or contact us here to schedule a free consultation. We will listen, explain your options, and help you understand if overlooked errors played a role in your child’s injury.