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Chicago Medical Malpractice Attorneys > Illinois Umbilical Cord Strangulation Attorney

Illinois Umbilical Cord Strangulation Attorney

An uninterrupted flow of oxygen through the body is absolutely essential to brain health in a newborn. Even a slight interruption could cause cerebral palsy or another serious and permanent brain injury. Doctors often characterize cord emergencies as accidents that happen without any warning. But that’s generally not true. In fact, in most cases, there are plenty of warning signs, even much earlier in the PLDR (prenatal, labor, delivery, and recovery) process. Yet for some reason, doctors don’t heed these signs.

The compassionate Illinois umbilical cord strangulation attorneys at Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman understand the crushing pain and suffering a cord strangulation injury inflicts on a new family. We have this understanding because many of the people on our professional team have lived through similar experiences. This familiarity fuels our passion for birth injury victims. We simply do not want you to go through this alone. Furthermore, our passion fuels our purpose. This purpose includes formulating a solid plan of action and fighting hard for maximum compensation.

What Causes Cord Strangulation Injuries?

The first of the aforementioned warning signs usually pops up during the first prenatal visit, often before doctor and patient even meet. The mother’s medical history is often one of the best predictive tools in a doctor’s toolbox.

For example, many mothers have a history of difficult deliveries or large babies. Other mothers are overweight or diabetic. All these things are warning signs of shoulder dystocia (SD), a serious condition associated with unusually large babies. If these clear warning signs are present, the duty of care requires doctors to immediately make appropriate delivery plans.

As prenatal visits continue, multiple sonograms should be part of the process, whether or not the insurance company pays for them. These tests are the best way, and often the only way, to accurately track fetal size during development. Your baby’s health and safety is far too important to leave to chance.

A failure to properly react to SD emergencies could cause cord injuries as well. Basically, SD infants have such broad shoulders that they cannot smoothly drift down the mother’s birth canal, which is a very narrow opening. If the baby stops dropping, gravity usually forces the cord to keep dropping, where it could wrap itself around the baby’s neck.

Seconds count in these situations. Any treatment delay could cause hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain) and a lifelong injury.

Compensation Available

We mentioned the financial compensation available. The insurance company does not simply give away this money. Instead, an Chicago umbilical cord strangulation attorney must tenaciously fight for it. There are basically three types of compensation in a birth injury claim.

A serious hypoxia-related brain injury usually means a child requires a lifetime of 24/7 medical care. That could mean millions of dollars which, in many cases, group health insurance companies refuse to pay for. We obtain compensation for these current and future losses. Serious birth injuries are stressful enough. Financial stress could push a family past the breaking point.

Furthermore, compensation is available for pain and suffering, loss of consortium (companionship), emotional distress, loss of enjoyment in life, and other noneconomic losses. This money does not end the emotional pain. But it does make the future brighter. At this point, that’s the best possible outcome in an injury claim.

Finally, if there is clear and convincing evidence that the doctor deliberately ignored a known risk, additional punitive damages are available. These damages punish the tortfeasor (negligent party) and deter future misconduct. A punitive damages cap may apply in some cases.

Rely on an Experienced Chicago Cook County Attorney

Injury victims are usually entitled to significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced umbilical cord strangulation attorney in Chicago, contact Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman by going online or calling 410-567-0800. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.

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