AREAS OF PRACTICE

Rieders, Travis, Humphrey, Harris, Waters and Waffenschmidt serve a variety of litigation needs.

• Birth Injuries

As every parent knows and fears, catastrophic injury or death can happen during the birth of a child. Such a tragedy is shocking and devastating under any circumstance. Some of these tragedies result from preventable medical errors that could be avoided by establishing and following basic standard procedures. Appropriate medical care during the birthing process can eliminate many birth traumas that would otherwise occur naturally with a large baby, shoulder dystocia, breech presentation or other abnormal presentations. For example, pre-birth prenatal monitoring of the infant’s vitals, and the avoidance of forceps or vacuum extraction, and emergency c-section are some standard medical interventions that have reduced the number of birth injuries.

Common birth injuries or trauma include cerebral palsy, erb’s palsy, brachial palsy, head trauma, facial or other nerve injuries, bone injuries and fractures, commonly in the clavicle or collar bone, and hematomas. These injuries can be mild to severe, and short term or life-long.