Birth injuries in Illinois children may only take a brief moment to occur but they can be an ongoing source of parental stress, developmental challenges, and medical expenses for many years and even for a child’s entire life. Sometimes, signs that a child has suffered from a birth injury may be immediately present; other times, symptoms do not appear until a child has gotten old enough for certain developmental delays to become clear.
No matter when a birth injury becomes apparent, obtaining proper treatment is essential for avoiding long-term complications that may affect a child forever. Here are common symptoms…
Continue Reading When Do Birth Injury Symptoms First Appear?

Generally, our brain uses its electrical signals in an organized fashion, sending messages from one part of the brain to another and allowing us to move our limbs, talk, think, and carry out daily activities. However, for people who have epilepsy, seizures are caused by sudden, uncontrolled bursts of electrical activity within the brain, causing normal thought patterns and certain physical functioning to shut down until the seizure ends. 
The causes and severity of epilepsy can vary dramatically. Some people have mild seizures from time to time while others experience severe seizures much more often. While the exact cause of…
Continue Reading Can Epilepsy Be Caused by Birth Injuries?

Parents of children who have been injured or killed during a traumatic childbirth in Illinois are often left reeling and desperate for answers to difficult questions. How did this happen? Could it have been avoided? Is anyone responsible? Determining answers to those questions can be quite difficult, especially because it is not always immediately clear whether the child is suffering from a birth injury or a birth defect. While these terms sound similar, they describe very different issues, and it is important to understand what each means as you seek a resolution for your and your child’s suffering. 
What is…
Continue Reading What is the Difference Between a Birth Injury and a Birth Defect?

Pregnancy and childbirth present significant health challenges to both Illinois mothers and their infants. While many things have the potential to go wrong, most children are born safely and in good health. Unfortunately, there are occasions where either the mother or child is injured for a variety of reasons; sometimes, these birth injuries cannot be helped even with the best medical care. However, other times, injuries are caused or worsened because a mother’s obstetric team fails to appropriately respond to medical emergencies. One such emergency is shoulder dystocia, a condition in which one or both of an infant’s shoulders…
Continue Reading My Doctor Says We Experienced Shoulder Dystocia During Childbirth. What Does That Mean?

When a pregnant woman prepares to give birth, her body releases a hormone called oxytocin. While oxytocin plays an important role in developing feelings of love and bonding in mammals, it also makes the uterus contract during labor. Strong, regular uterine contractions are essential not only for pushing out the baby, but also for ensuring the entire placenta is expelled and preventing postpartum hemorrhaging. 
When labor is prolonged, or if it has not started at all, there can be health risks to the mother and the infant. To speed up labor, sometimes a drug known as pitocin can be…
Continue Reading What Kinds of Birth Injuries Can Be Caused by Pitocin Induction?

Because of the complexity and unpredictability of symptoms of cerebral palsy in young children, parents often struggle to manage the various treatment options and their effectiveness. Research is continually being done on how cerebral palsy can be treated and managed and one treatment that may be helpful for some children whose cerebral palsy has caused a leg length discrepancy is leg lengthening treatment. Research has shown that leg lengthening treatment can be an effective way to manage the difficulties of a leg length discrepancy, but it also has serious risks and parents should consider this option carefully before committing their…
Continue Reading Are Leg Lengthening Treatments Effective for Children with Cerebral Palsy?

 Cerebral palsy is a complex group of disorders caused by brain damage that has a wide variety of symptoms. Usually, the damage that causes cerebral palsy occurs during early development before a child is born. However, sometimes cerebral palsy can result from medical malpractice during birth because of issues like delayed delivery, improper use of assistive tools like forceps, and breech birth. If you recently found out that your child has cerebral palsy, you may want to know more about what this diagnosis might mean for you and your loved one. Here are some of the most…
Continue Reading Common Health Challenges in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Depression and anxiety are extremely common in Illinois residents, with more people than ever now seeking therapy and medication to treat these disorders. Living with depression and anxiety can be crippling, and finding out you are pregnant can increase your nervousness and worries. Balancing a mother’s health and wellbeing with potential risks to a developing fetus can be tricky, and this is perhaps never more true than when a doctor is giving a pregnant mother medication. 
While most medications for depression and anxiety are safe for infants in utero, some medications have side effects that may cause serious harm to…
Continue Reading Can Mental Health Medication Cause Birth Defects?

Infants who are born prematurely face a challenging set of health and developmental hurdles that their fully-developed peers do not. Doctors, nurses, and other neonatal care staff must provide the highest standard of care to ensure that prematurely born babies are given the tender care and cautious monitoring that they need during this fragile stage of life. Unfortunately, carelessness or negligent mistakes can contribute to neonatal injuries and death, leaving bereaved parents with an overwhelming feeling of confusion or loss. 
Negligence and Neonatal Intensive Care
The vulnerability of prematurely born infants naturally exposes them to risks and dangers. Sometimes,…
Continue Reading Could My Premature Infant’s Death Be Caused By Medical Malpractice?

Women in Illinois who experience a miscarriage often experience overwhelming grief, trauma, and physical pain. While miscarriage is a fairly common experience, that does not make it any easier if it happens to you or someone you love. Beyond the sadness of the loss of a life that a mother may already feel she knows and loves, miscarriages can also be extremely painful and result in additional physical complications. Although most miscarriages happen naturally, sometimes they occur because of the careless actions of a doctor or hospital. When this happens, parents may wonder whether they can take legal action. 
What…
Continue Reading Did Getting Poor Healthcare From My Doctor Cause Me to Miscarry?

Pregnancy and childbirth are difficult processes that present significant dangers to Illinois women. Certain behaviors from a woman’s obstetric healthcare providers, such as negligence or malpractice, can seriously compound these dangers to the point that women may suffer from life-threatening injuries and maternal mortality. 
One leading cause of maternal mortality is that of maternal sepsis – a dangerous infection that generally begins in a woman’s uterus and triggers a full-body immune response system severe enough to injure organs and other bodily tissues. While sepsis is generally more dangerous to women who already suffer from other health issues, it can…
Continue Reading Sepsis After Childbirth May Be a Sign of Medical Malpractice

The birth of a child is a wonderful experience for most parents, but it comes with significant risks and dangers to mothers. Maternal mortality in the United States is significantly higher than other developed nations with comparable health systems, and neglectful or careless acts on the part of healthcare providers can seriously endanger the health and even the life of a mother before, during, and after childbirth. 
One rare but potentially lethal risk to Illinois mothers during childbirth is that of an amniotic fluid embolism. An amniotic fluid embolism occurs when the amniotic fluid surrounding a baby in the…
Continue Reading My Wife Suffered an Amniotic Fluid Embolism During Childbirth. Can I Sue Her Doctor?