Pregnancy and labor is a challenging time for every new mother and baby. However, when there are additional complications during the pregnancy and birth, these can be nothing short of traumatic. If birth defects are present in your baby, you are probably asking why they happened and whether anything or anyone was to blame as medical professionals in Maine treated you.
A birth defect is a broad term to describe a wide range of conditions with which a baby can be born. A birth defect can be caused at any point in the pregnancy, and the cause of the defect may remain unknown. It is estimated that one in every 33 babies is born with birth defects in the United States. Birth defects should be distinguished from birth injuries, which are defined as injuries that occurred during the process of labor.
Was my baby’s birth defect the fault of the hospital?
It can be very difficult to say what the cause of a particular birth defect is, and there can be a wide range of causes. Birth defects can be caused by a woman contracting a virus, such as Zika, during pregnancy. Research suggests that smoking and alcohol consumption can increase the likelihood of birth defects.
However, there are times when there may be a reason to believe that the hospital caused a birth defect. They may have given you incorrect advice about the type of medication you should take, or you may believe that they failed to give you adequate medical care.
If you take legal action against your medical provider or a pharmaceutical company in Maine, you must understand what you have to provide. You must show that the party against which you are making a claim acted in negligence or conducted medical malpractice. You must be able to pinpoint their wrongful actions and provide an argument as to why these led to your baby’s birth defects.
Suppose you are suffering emotionally and are worried about how your baby’s defects might affect him or her in later life. In that case, you must take action if you believe that your medical provider could have prevented this outcome.
