Cerebral palsy results from a brain injury, which is typically caused by a lack of oxygen to a child’s brain. This may occur due to medical malpractice. If airflow is blocked during delivery and the medical team does not take appropriate steps to protect the child, they could suffer a permanent injury.
Because it is a brain injury, cerebral palsy can be different in every case. Some children have speech impediments or issues with vocalization. Others struggle with motor skills or balance issues. In some cases, cerebral palsy will affect muscles on one side of the body, but not the other.
Missed milestones can lead to permanent disabilities
A key thing for parents to look for is that a child may begin missing milestones, indicating that they are not developing at the expected rate. While children will develop skills like rolling over, sitting up, crawling or walking at different rates, a pediatrician can typically give parents an expected timeframe.
By a certain number of months, a child should be hitting some of these developmental milestones. If they are not, it can be a significant indicator that the child has cerebral palsy, which is inhibiting their development.
A child who misses milestones may always struggle with balance, walking or other fine motor skills. Even though the injury was suffered during birth, it can change the rest of that child’s entire life.
This is why it is so important for parents to understand all of their legal options if they believe that a birth injury was caused by medical negligence. It can help to get experienced legal guidance at this time.