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A study conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality came to the unavoidable truth that many childbirth-related injuries sustained by newborns are relatively common and altogether avoidable. The analysis examined 2006 data and noted that common issues included injuries to newborns such as broken collarbones, head injuries and infections, as well as maternal injuries during delivery. During the study year, the researchers concluded that almost 157,700 injuries to mothers and newborns could have been avoided had certain signs been observed or procedures been followed. Obstetrical traumas during vaginal births with instruments accounted for the highest rates of injury. Surprisingly, rates of obstetrical trauma were 44 percent higher for women living in communities that had higher median household incomes than for women living in the poorest communities. Meanwhile, newborns covered by Medicaid and uninsured newborns had lower injury rates than those covered by private insurance. The two findings seem to contradict common perceptions, but the records do not lie.
“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter who you are as tragedy can strike any of us at any time in our lives,” a prestigious doctor says. While we make informed decisions that we hope will lead to positive outcomes, if our knowledge is limited because a doctor has neglected to tell us we are at risk for something, we will blame him or her – the man or woman with the training and the pledge to uphold life. The use of instrumentation is a highly debated topic. While mechanical aids are used in every path of medicine, in the delivery room, there is a high rate of ineptitude – too high when you consider that another life hangs in the balance of that ignorance.
A positive and interesting note, however, was that overall injury rates for neonates and birthing mothers in Long Island and Manhattan have fallen significantly since the year 2000. For example, obstetric traumas for mothers occurring during vaginal birth without instruments fell 30 percent during that period.
When doctors commit such blatant disregard, a New York Birth Injury Attorney can be your strong voice. When you are in the midst of pain, doctor’s visits, or mourning, turn to a New York Birth Injury Attorney to find the answers you need.