Eight Tips for Finding Support for Your Child with a Birth Injury

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Child with a Birth Injury
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Normally, when a child sustains a birth injury, it’s due to the negligence of the doctor or the healthcare staff on duty during labor or improper prenatal care. 

It can affect a child’s healthy growth and produce long-term consequences if it isn’t diagnosed and treated promptly. 

If you have a child with a birth injury, then you must file a complaint against it. The treatment, however, involves time and finding resources to help your child live a normal life. 

However, not all birth injuries are detectable at the time of delivery. Sometimes, the damage is not apparent until after a significant period. 

In such a case, there are ways you can seek support for your child to help give them a better life. Let’s look at a few ways to help you handle your child’s problems. 

1. Seek a Birth Injury Lawyer

Treating birth injuries can cost a lot of money, especially if not treated on time. One way to recover the cost of the treatment is to file a financial claim against the guilty party. It can be the doctor in charge of the delivery or other medical staff on duty. 

The legal grounds for filing for financial compensation involve sending a legal document to the doctor’s lawyer, asking for a sizeable sum for the birth injury. You must first seek a cerebral palsy attorney for legal procedures to do this. 

If the doctor refuses to pay, you can launch a lawsuit against them by presenting your case in a courtroom before a judge. The judge will listen to both sides’ arguments and declare a ruling. 

After winning the case, you can get a sizeable amount to cover all the treatment costs and damages to ensure a better life for your child.

2. Healthcare and Community Support

In the case of a birth injury, it is always better to consult a medical professional who can guide you regarding the care of a child with a birth injury. 

Some kids with Autism or Down syndrome face challenges in their intellectual and developmental abilities. Joining community support programs and support groups can help. 

These include people facing similar challenges. Learning how other parents deal with their children with birth injuries will help you cope better and help provide better care for your child. 

3. Post-Surgical Care

If your child underwent a surgical procedure for the injuries, ensure that the child gets complete post-surgery care to recover quickly. 

Physicians and on-call doctors typically keep a child under observation to track the recovery performance. 

If you have fetal surgery before giving birth, delivering the child in the same facility is crucial. This way, your baby can get proper care after delivery and postnatal care.

4. Precautions to Avoid Birth Injury in Future Child

If you already have one child with a birth injury, it is essential to learn its cause. It will help reduce the chances of birth injury in the future.

If the injury occurred due to the doctor’s negligence, then go to a different doctor with a better record. Alternatively, if the damage was because of a genetic mutation, you must take special care to prevent it from happening again.

Seek help from a specialized center, and visit maternal-fetal medicine specialists and genetic counselors to assess future risks. 

You can even get genetic testing before planning to have another child. Even during pregnancy, this test can help determine if your next child exhibits the same mutation. 

Moreover, make sure to get proper prenatal care and get an ultrasound during the first trimester. The ultrasound results will reveal any potential for congenital disabilities. 

Once you know about this, you can get fetal surgery to minimize the chances of birth injuries. It also reduces the need for major surgery after birth. 

If you expect twins with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, a fetal surgery will ensure 95% survival chances for at least one baby. 

However, this rate can vary depending upon the condition severity, quality of treatment, and the mother’s health history. The surgery will help avoid blood volume imbalance in the babies, leading to stillbirths. 

5. Get Specialized Care for Your Child

A child with Down syndrome or Autism, for example, might need specialized care and particular institutions while growing up. Schools offering special education can help a child to cope better with studies and physical activities.

Moreover, the child will not feel out of place when surrounded by children with similar needs. It will give them courage and strength to keep going despite their condition while feeling normal. 

6. Adaptive Equipment

Children with physical impairment might need adaptive equipment like a wheelchair or crutches. It will help them adapt to their condition while participating in physical activities, which can otherwise be challenging. 

Such equipment will give them the self-esteem and self-confidence previously lacking by enabling them to interact with the environment easily. 

7. Cerebral Palsy Therapy

Therapy is the key to curing cerebral palsy. The proper muscle movements will prevent issues like contractures. 

Cerebral palsy-trained therapists offer regular therapy sessions in hospitals, homes, treatment centers, and clinics. 

Make sure not to miss any sessions for quicker recovery of your child. Therapists also help children get used to adaptive equipment since it can initially be challenging. 

You can even start therapy sessions for your child without a diagnosis if you notice uneven muscle movement of your child. 

8. Birth Injury Societies

Societies like cerebral palsy societies provide complete support to a community with birth injuries. It includes employment support, job training, family counseling, and physical therapy. 

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) is the largest organization that supports multiple communities with birth injuries. It helps adults and children and provides business training and high-quality special education. 

Similarly, small societies empower individuals with congenital disabilities and help make them independent and self-reliant community members. 

Conclusion

Multiple resources, support programs, and advanced procedures exist to cure and cope with birth injuries. Make sure to take advantage of all the available resources to ensure a better upbringing for your child. 

If you already have a child with a birth injury, help them access specialized care, therapy, and education. At the same time, take necessary precautions to avoid birth injuries in your future children with proper prenatal and postnatal care. Getting fetal surgery is required to reduce the chances of birth injuries.

To cover the costs of birth injury treatments and surgeries, consult a specialized cerebral palsy attorney to file for financial compensation against the guilty party. In this way, you can recover the cost of your damages.