Research shows medical professionals see risky shortcuts during delivery

March 07, 2014 (Press-News.org) Becoming a new mother can be exciting, terrifying and painful all at the same time. Yet, what many mothers don't realize when they go to the hospital to deliver their new baby in Lehigh County is that both their health and baby's health is susceptible to harm if their medical provider does not take proper precautions. A birth injury is a physical injury that happens to a baby during its birth and may include things like facial paralysis, fractures, bruising and brachial palsy.

Compromising new mothers' safety

While some birth injuries cannot be prevented, others can if the doctors, nurses and midwives assisting in the delivery made it a priority to keep the mother and new baby safe from harm. Recently, a new study, which was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, discovered that many doctors, nurses and midwives had seen their colleagues taking shortcuts or engaging in unsafe behaviors that could harm their patient during birth.

Researchers came to these conclusions by surveying more than 3,200 doctors, midwives and nurses who were members of labor delivery teams. The survey asked whether the medical professional had ever seen their colleague engage in some sort of unsafe behavior, like not changing their gloves or washing their hands, and whether or not one of their colleagues had ever had a problem with their job performance or lacked the skills and knowledge necessary to do their job correctly.

Of those surveyed, approximately 90 percent of doctors and midwives and 100 percent of nurses reported that they had observed these problems while delivering a baby during the previous year.

Picking the right medical provider

If you are expecting a new baby, you may have many decisions to make from where the crib will go and who will take care of the newborn when you make the transition back to work. However, one of the first decisions every expecting mother should make is who their medical provider will be during pregnancy and birth. Mothers should select a medical provider based on:
- Where they would like to deliver their new baby.
- Their beliefs and desires about childbirth and natural childbirth.
- Any risk factors that they may be susceptible to during pregnancy and childbirth.

Choosing the right medical provider may eliminate the new baby's chances for a birth injury and the mother's susceptibility to harm during the birthing process. Unfortunately, as indicated by this new study, proper safety precautions are often not taken during birth. If your baby was harmed during birth due to the negligence of a doctor, nurse or midwife, contact an attorney that can fight for your legal rights.

Article provided by Soloff & Zervanos, P.C.
Visit us at www.soloffandzervanos.com