Philadelphia Birth Injury Lawyer Blog

Octuplets that were born to a California woman this week are at risk of developing cerebral palsy due to their premature status at the time of delivery.

The mother of the octuplets gave birth Monday at the Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Hospital in Whittier, California. She is also the mother of six other children, among them a set of twins. When the mother arrived at the hospital, she was immediately informed of the risks of her pregnancy. Her doctor counseled her on the option of aborting some fetuses. Refusing that option, the mother decided to give birth to all of the children. Doctors were only expecting seven babies, but had to deliver an eighth through a Caesarean delivery.

While none of the babies experienced a birth injury, they are still at risk of developing cerebral palsy symptoms since they were born premature at 30 weeks. In other cases of octuplets, babies who seemed healthy at birth eventually received a cerebral palsy diagnosis. Along with cerebral palsy, they are also at risk of gastrointestinal, brain and lung injuries.

Doctors will continue to observe the children to see if any cerebral palsy symptoms arise.

A couple in San Diego, California, was recently awarded $16 Million by the Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for the death of their baby due to birth asphyxia.

The mother of the baby had gone into the hospital for an induced delivery in November 2004. Attorneys claimed that the baby boy had died of birth asphyxia after becoming stuck in the birth canal. The parents were told that their child had died of lung disease and were not aware, at the time of delivery, of the baby asphyxia injuries. Since the doctors claimed that the death was the result of lung disease, the mother and baby did not receive any birth injury medical resources.

While two doctors were assigned to the mother's care, attorneys claimed that one was seldom checking on her and the other one was never seen.

Jurors in the case returned a verdict that the Sharp Mary Birch Hospital and two doctors were guilty of negligence and had caused harm to the couple. The hospital claims that the $16 Million verdict is too high and will be requesting a new trial.

A major new study published recently in the United Kingdom says that women who go into labor early should not be given antibiotics unless there is a clear indication of infection. The use of antibiotics in premature birth is linked to the development of cerebral palsy, according to the study.

The ORACLE children's study originally began its research into the use of antibiotics during premature labor in 1994. The results for the study were originally published in 2001. A follow-up to the original study was recently published.

The new study found that "functioning" problems were more frequent in women whose water did not break early, but were given antibiotics. It also found that the children of women in this group were more likely to receive a birth injury and cerebral palsy diagnosis. Of the children in this group, 4.4% began experiencing cerebral palsy symptoms shortly after birth. Of the children of mothers who did not take any antibiotics, 1.6% had cerebral palsy.

Doctors are still unsure as to the reason why the children of mothers who had taken antibiotics had developed cerebral palsy.