Frequently asked question: My child has Cerebral Palsy. How do I know if it was due to negligence or whether I have a claim?
Cerebral palsy or “CP” can have many causes, including by environmental and genetic factors. CP is the result of irregular brain development during pregnancy or damage to the developing brain that can influence a person’s control over his or her muscles, their motor skills, and their ability to speak or think normally.
A number of factors can cause CP in children, which can range from infections (during or after pregnancy) to premature birth, trauma during the birth process, and failure to treat serious jaundice.
Not all CP cases are due to negligence and often the cause is unknown. If you or your baby received substandard care or if you are uncertain whether medical negligence was involved you would be justified in asking the above question and we will be glad to help you find answers.
Cerebral palsy and medical negligence
A diagnosis from a doctor, such as a Paediatrician or a Neurologist, will usually be your first step in determining the cause of your child’s problems. These doctors can perform scans and assessments which will help you understand your child’s condition and the most likely cause thereof. Under some circumstances, it may be impossible to determine the cause. In many cases, the diagnosis is the result of unavoidable complications and not the fault of medical practitioners.
In some cases however the development of CP could be attributable to a birth injury (i.e. something that goes wrong during pregnancy, birth, or the neonatal period) or trauma due to substandard medical care.
You can visit our Blog section for articles and more information on Cerebral Palsy and birth injuries.
What information will the attorney need from me?
Our firm uses a Cerebral Palsy Questionnaire in order for us to give you the best advice on whether you may have a claim or not.
In order to assist our clients with legal advice, it is necessary to consider the background to the pregnancy, birth, and aftercare. Here are some of the questions we would typically ask you:
- Child’s date of birth;
- Name of Hospital where the baby was born;
- How many weeks pregnant were you?
- What did your baby weigh at birth?
- Do you have a Road to Health or clinic chart?
- Did you attend a clinic or gynaecologist during your pregnancy?
- How and when did your labour start?
- Did you have a normal delivery or caesarean section? Did they use instruments to deliver the baby?
- Did you have problems during pregnancy for example infections or high blood pressure?
- Did they put a belt around your belly to check your baby’s heartbeat?
- Did your baby cry when he/she was born?
- Did they resuscitate or help your baby to breathe when he/she was born?
- Did your baby receive extra oxygen or was he/she connected to a breathing machine? (Ventilator)
- Was your baby admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit?
- Did your baby develop seizures or fits?
- Did your baby become yellow or jaundiced?
- What is wrong with your baby now?
- Can he/she walk, talk, eat by himself, hear and see?
- Was there a brain scan or other tests done?
- Why do you think the care was negligent?
How do I know if I have a claim?
We assist you in finding answers by investigating your child’s diagnosis and the care received.
We do this by considering all the information you provide as well as obtaining any medical records and reports related to your pregnancy and child’s care. This process can be time consuming and many months of research and investigation goes into a case before we advise clients to proceed with a claim – we ensure that there is a case before legal action is started.
From our many years of experience, we know what red flags to look out for and we will investigate the care with the help of specialist medical doctors. These specialists will be able to advise us whether the cause was substandard care and whether the CP could and should have been prevented.
Speak to one of our attorneys today
At Paul du Plessis Attorneys we specialise in medical negligence cases related to birth injuries and Cerebral Palsy. To find out more about Cerebral Palsy and negligence and what information an attorney might need, see our blog posts about Cerebral Palsy on our website or e-mail paul@pauldup.co.za.
For more information visit these sources:
https://www.cerebralpalsyguidance.com/cerebral-palsy/research/facts-and-statistics/