Just days before turning 3 years old, a boy died from a severe brain injury he had suffered during birth. The boy’s parents and family are devastated by their recent loss, but they are trying to focus on the fact that their child will no longer have to suffer from his injuries that he has been suffering from since he was born.
The boy’s parents never had the chance to see their young son walk or to hear him speak. His brain injury resulted in permanent disabilities, preventing him from being able to sit on his own or to even crawl. Although the child was severely disabled, the family said that their son had an “infectious smile.”
The family’s loss resulting from birthing errors is heartbreaking, but the family hopes that their story will help to save another child’s life some day.
The family believes that their child’s injuries could have been prevented had their midwife properly handled the mother’s home birth in 2010. The family is now requesting that the state of Texas, which is where their child was born, review and update midwifery requirements in order to prevent similar tragic birthing experiences.
The mother who recently lost her son to a birth injury said that the state should make sure midwives receive adequate training and have insurance in order to ensure midwives are experienced and skilled enough to safely deliver babies at families’ homes and to know when to send a laboring mother to the hospital should complications arise.
Unfortunately, when complications occurred during the mother’s labor in May 2010, the woman’s midwife did not call for an ambulance as she should have. The mother almost died after giving birth to her child, and the woman’s son suffered a severe brain injury that eventually caused the child’s death. The mother began to bleed severely when she went into labor because her placenta had ruptured, which was very harmful to the mother and her baby.
The family hopes that even if Texas does not raise requirements for midwives that expecting couples will do more research before choosing a midwife that they would like to work with if they do decide to have a home birth or have a midwife deliver their baby in the hospital.
If you have been injured by a similar birthing error in Illinois, you may be entitled to obtain compensation for your injuries. To learn more about protecting your rights and the rights of your injured child, you may want to consider the benefits of contacting an experienced medical malpractice attorney in your area.
Source: My Fox Houston, “Couple’s midwife at home birth turns tragic,” Randy Wallace, May 28, 2013
