San Francisco Infant Brain Damage

What is Infant Brain Damage?

Infant brain damage is a type of brain injury that occurs when an infant's brain sustains blunt force or penetrating trauma.  Once an infant has brain damage, the everyday things we take for granted such as communicating and walking can be challenging.  In fact, infants with brain damage may never walk or talk.  Instead, they may have to live their lives with permanent and painful disabilities.

The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control reports that 1.4 million people in the United States suffer serious brain injuries and brain damage each year.  A large percentage of those that are injured are infants who sustain brain damage during the labor and/or delivery process.  Sometimes, medical professionals make costly errors while delivering babies.  For example, doctors may misuse medical devices when guiding babies through their mothers' birth canals, which can result in infant brain damage.  Infants may also incur brain damage from oxygen deficiency while their mothers are in labor if doctors are not careful or fail to notice signs of fetal distress.  

Infant Brain Damage Side Effects

There are numerous side effects that are linked to infant brain damage, including:

• difficulty communicating

• lack of coordination

• immobility

• lack of motor skills

• pain

• difficulty breathing

• dizziness

• paralysis

As you can see, the side effects associated with infant brain damage can be quite severe and adversely impact a child's quality of life for many years to come.  For this reason, anytime parents suspect that their child incurred infant brain damage due to a medical professional's negligence, they may find it to their advantage to speak with experienced birth injury attorneys who are familiar with infant brain injuries.

San Francisco Birth Injury Lawyers