From the time it is born, the human body can be very fragile. Understandably, the most delicate time for all humans is at the time of their birth. While birth is a natural process, there are many things that can occur that make it difficult or challenging.
Giving birth many weeks before the due date or having complications arise during the birthing process are some of the things that make childbirth challenging. Seemingly healthy babies can develop issues involving difficulty with breathing or other physical functions. Most of these situations require that babies stay in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) until the medical issues are resolved sufficiently. Below are some tips on what parents can do when the new baby is too ill to take home.
Parental Advocacy
The most important activity for new parents is to attend to the safety of the new life that you have brought into the world. While parents are not required to be medical experts, it is still your responsibility to ensure that the care your infant receives while in the NICU is appropriate, attentive, medically sound and safe. Therefore, it is very important that parents:
1. Are comfortable with the medical facility — what level hospital is it? Does it have the latest in necessary equipment? Does it use many temporary nurses?
2. Can communicate well with the staff — be obnoxious if you must, but try to stay in contact with the attending physicians, be visible when doctors are making their rounds, and make friends with all the nurses, respiratory and physical therapists who haveanything to do with your baby.
3. Stay well-informed — ask lots of questions about the treatment that is being rendered and if you don’t fully understand it, ask again.
4. Make preparations — Do you understand the consequences of the medical problem or treatment for it? Are you prepared for the worst possible outcome? How will you cope? How will this event alter your family as a whole? Do you know how to give CPR to a tiny infant?
5. Be the caregiver — your baby may come home with a heart monitor, with special medications or a special diet. Learn how to operate any monitors that will come home with your baby. Labelall medications boldly so you can tell them apart. Most medications for infants will be in syrup form, but some might have the same color to them. Taste them, smell them, make sure you know which medicine is for which condition. Make a chart of when you administer each drug.
Legal Advocacy
The above are just some of the ways that parents should advocate for their new baby to ensure that they receive the health gains necessary to come home. But when you have a newborn baby, the stress of an ill baby, lack of sleep, and emotions all play into your not necessarily operating at your best. Get help from a clear-headed lawyer whose specialty it is to advocate for your ill child.
As parents, you were not required to be medical experts preceding the birth of your child. It is also not necessary for you to be legal experts. New York birth injury attorneys say that birth injuries are commonly caused when doctors, nurses and other medical personnel are poorly trained or act negligently.
If your infant is injured as the result of negligence, you must bring a lawsuit as acting guardian of your baby. Get an attorney to do the speaking for your infant. On behalf of your infant, you may request both general and special compensation for damages. General damages may include your loss of income, medical bills, costs of suffering mental and physical pain and loss of enjoyment of life.
Various forms of birth-related medical negligence can cause life-long illnesses and defects, as well as death. Since birth-related injuries and medical malpractice laws are exceedingly complex, it is essential that anyone who believes any form of medical malpractice has occurred seek the advice of a qualified medical malpractice lawyer. Only through sound investigation, advice and representation can victims receive the compensation they are entitled to by law and deserve, to cover income loss, current and future medical costs and for pain and suffering.
Life does not always go as expected. Even the most structured and organized parents and medical facilities can be caught off-guard by certain circumstances. While pregnancy, labor and delivery can be very unpredictable, medical staff is still expected to know what signs to be aware of to render the appropriate care to avoid damaging patients.
Debbie Nguyen is a graphic designer in Atlanta. She gave birth to a severely premature and ill baby years ago. He is a recent high school graduate because of the excellent care he received in the NICU. New York birth injury attorneys at The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C. have assisted parents of infants who suffered from medical malpractice successfully.
