Despite it being one of the most joyous moments for a parent, the moment you find out you’re going to have a baby can come with it a lot of stress and concern. While you may be happy and excited about becoming a parent, the moment may be overshadowed by worry about what can happen.
Unfortunately, there are a number of issues that can arise during the pregnancy, labor, and delivery, and they could have the potential to put the mother and/or baby at serious risk. When this happens, it may be considered an act of negligence based on the situation and the actions of the medical professional.
Birth injuries are some of the most serious that can occur as they often result in life-changing damages that the child must endure. One thing to recognize is how birth injuries can result in the individual experiencing issues regarding their mental health. Here are a few things you need to know.
Are There Any Birth Injuries that Can Lead to Mental Illness?
It’s important for you to recognize that a lot of the different birth injuries that can be sustained involve the baby’s brain and how they develop. They can impact the baby’s basic motor function and other abilities vital to living a normal life.
As such, some of them can result in serious problems experienced over a long period of time, particularly when it comes to issues involving their own developmental milestones and how they’re able to progress with certain learning timelines.
When this happens, the baby may experience potential issues involving their sensory functions—such as sight, sound, taste, smell, and feel—speaking abilities, learning abilities, and more. This can occur when a baby sustains such injuries as brachial plexus, cerebral palsy, and others that directly impact the head.
A Recent Study Details the Correlation Between Brachial Plexus and Mental Illness
When a baby sustains a brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI), it means they sustained significant damage to the nerves in their neck, spine, or parts of their arm, including the shoulder, bicep, forearm, wrist, or hand. In some situations, they can experience no long-term issues at all.
A study of more than 600,000 Swedish children determined that children who had suffered a brachial plexus birth injury used anti-depressants or underwent mental health treatment more often than those who did not sustain injuries during birth.
The study had the following results:
- 1,600 of the 600,000+ children had sustained BPBI and were going through mental illness treatment.
- Of those with BPBI, more teenage girls were affected than boys.
- Teenage girls with low socioeconomic status were more likely to have a mental illness than in with boys who had a higher socioeconomic status.
What Links Brachial Plexus with Mental Illness?
Mental illnesses may result from brachial plexus for a number of reasons. While BPBI results in damage to the nerves and impacts range of motion, loss of use in an affected limb, and flexibility, there are more ways for the brachial plexus to cause mental health issues.
This is often due to the experiences children have to endure as a result of the injury, such as the treatment and therapy they need, as well as the difficulties they may endure when having troubles with developmental milestones.
Financial burden and parental stress can also lead to long-term mental health issues such as depression.
The study also linked brachial plexus and mental health illness because of the following potential contributing factors:
- Lower level of socioeconomic status
- Issues involving insurance coverage and care
- Lack of support for developmental milestones
- Difficulty with emotions and changes in behavior
How Mental Health Following Brachial Plexus Can Be Helped
When a child sustains something as serious as brachial plexus during labor or delivery, it can be difficult to endure. The physical damages are enough to cause long-term issues, but the mental health of the child should also be closely considered when moving forward for a number of reasons.
Mental health can be a lasting issue and therapy may needed to help the child cope with what they’re feeling. Even more so, the family of the child should recognize what ways they can be supportive to their child and their needs outside of the physical help they may be providing.
Your child is dealing with a lot of concerns of their own and they may feel self-conscious of the developmental problems they experience as a result of the birth injury. Their confidence can be lowered and it’s up to you as the family to help provide the most support possible to your child.
What Happens When Brachial Plexus Is Caused By Negligence?
One negative impact is the potential for brachial plexus or any other birth injury to be caused by the negligence of a medical professional who is delivering the baby. Certain actions must be taken to ensure that the baby and mom are safe at all times and that their health is the top priority.
When a doctor is negligent, it’s important for the family to understand what actions must be taken to help hold the responsible party accountable for their actions. You should know what the doctor can do that may be considered negligence and how it causes harm.
- Failure to identify the need for an emergency C-section can result in prolonged labor. It’s during this time when many forms of birth injuries occur because of trauma to the body and the potential lack of oxygen.
- The improper use of certain tools during the birth—such as forceps and vacuum extractors, can also cause significant birth injuries when trauma to the skull or shoulders occurs.
The aftermath of a birth injury can require long-term medical care, therapy, and more to help the child in both physical and emotional challenges they may experience. These can be very expensive for the family. As such, a birth injury lawsuit may need to be taken against the negligent medical professional for their actions.
At Beam Legal Team, we truly care about our clients. You and your family deserve to have skilled and aggressive legal representation when it comes to protecting your rights. We stand ready to guide you through the process because we know just how important it is.
If your child is experiencing mental health illnesses as a result of the stress and concerns resulting from the birth injury, you should speak with someone from our firm about what rights you may have to take legal action, who may be sued, and what comes next in the process.
Our Chicago birth injury attorneys are in your corner every step of the way and want you to feel confident in your pursuit of justice. You and your family deserve the most favorable outcome possible and that’s what we aim to recover on your behalf.
When your child needs justice, trust that our firm is ready to help you. Call us today at (866) 404-5221 to discuss your rights with our team in a free consultation. We’ll explain what to expect, what comes next, and how you can move forward physically and mentally after a serious birth injury.