How a single birth injury can end up costing you your life

As functioning members of society, we can easily imagine what we would miss if we lost the ability to perform even the most simplest of tasks. Perhaps that's why it's easy for us to consider the opportunities and life experiences children miss out on when they suffer a birth injury.

For children living with a birth injury, such as cerebral palsy or brain damage caused by hypoxia, daily life can suddenly become a challenge. In the end, they rely on their parents to take the necessary legal steps to recover damages to cover these four major costs associated with birth injuries: 

Extensive medical costs. From the initial hospital bill linked to the birth injury itself to subsequent visits to doctors and specialists, the cost of a birth injury can exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars, putting parents and loved ones under immense financial strain.

Loss of ability to perform certain activities. Children who survive after suffering a birth injury may not be able to live the same life they would have had they not suffered an injury. They may be unable to perform daily tasks or even take care of themselves. In other cases, even seemingly minor birth injuries can mean missing out on doing things someone wants to do simply because of their diminished capacity.

Difficulty finding employment. Despite the existence of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which benefits people with disabilities who are trying to find gainful employment, people with certain birth injuries may still be limited to a certain field of jobs for which there may not be openings. In this respect, they have lost their ability to do any job they could have wanted.

Life-long care and therapy. In addition to the above costs, which are both economical and noneconomical in value, birth injuries oftentimes require life-long care or continued therapy. These costs can add up over time and may not be fully realized the moment a child is born with an injury.

The saddest part about birth injuries is that many occur because of the negligence of a doctor or medical professional. In many cases, a birth injury might have been avoided had the doctor or medical professional been paying better attention or, in some cases, hadn't been so fatigued.

Parents can take legal action in birth injury cases, but doing so requires consideration of all a child's needs, both now and down the road. This may only be realized until after speaking with a skilled attorney regarding a medical malpractice lawsuit.