Explore Your Legal Options after Negligent Handling of Marginal Cord Insertion Harmed You or Your Baby in New Jersey

Newly pregnant women often fear that something could go wrong and affect the health and development of the new life growing within. They may fear that the baby will fail to survive or reach full term. One thing that could go wrong affects the connection between the placenta and the umbilical cord, threatening the life growing inside. When the umbilical cord does not insert properly into the placenta, the vital source of life, a developing fetus may not thrive. Marginal cord insertion (MCI) is a defective cord-to-placenta connection that can potentially affect fetal health. In some cases, it restricts the normal growth and development of the fetus, and places the baby in jeopardy of complications like fetal distress, oxygen deprivation, and more. If caught early, the condition may not be life-threatening. Thus, a pregnant woman’s doctor must discover and monitor the condition early to protect the life and development of the fetus.

When a doctor does not monitor a pregnancy with the right tests, they may not discover that marginal cord insertion exists or the fetus’s deterioration until it is too late. If your baby suffers birth injuries resulting from marginal cord insertion, it is highly advisable to speak with an experienced birth injury attorney to determine if medical negligence led to your baby’s injury. Our accomplish team is here to assist you. Contact us anytime for a free case review.

How Marginal Cord Insertion Can Affect Your Baby

The umbilical cord attaches the fetus to the placenta, which transfers nutrients and oxygen to the fetus from the mother. The attachment point location is critical to proper blood flow and vital components reaching the fetus. When the cord attaches to the side or margin of the placenta rather than the center, the connection is not as strong as in the center. Thus, blow flood restrictions occur, and the fetus suffers from oxygen and nutrient deficiencies.

How do You Know if Marginal Cord Insertion Exists?

Although marginal cord insertion seldom occurs, approximately 8.5% of all pregnancies include marginal cord insertions. This condition is far more common in pregnancies involving multiples, as opposed to single-fetus pregnancies. The pregnant woman will usually not feel anything. Only a doctor can detect the condition with an ultrasound. Using ultrasound with a Doppler, a doctor can see that blood flow is restricted from the placenta to the umbilical cord during the second trimester of birth.

Who is More Likely to Experience Marginal Cord Insertion?

The condition is likelier with multiple births and certain maternal lifestyle choices and conditions. For example, pregnant women 35 and older, first-timers, diabetics, and those with substance abuse issues while pregnant run higher risks for marginal cord insertion. Additionally, those whose birth control was an intrauterine device, as well as those whose fertility treatment included artificial reproductive technology to conceive, are more at risk for it.

Signals that Medical Professionals Must Monitor and Detect in Marginal Cord Insertion Cases

Other than a C-section, if the fetus is in danger, there is no treatment for MCI. However, a treating physician must monitor the size of the fetus to gauge its growth and be prepared for complications. A physician must be on the lookout for complications associated with marginal cord insertion, the most common being slow growth. Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR), the name for a fetus’s sluggish growth, increases the likelihood of a baby’s birth weight below 5 pounds and 8 ounces. Low birth weight newborns are at risk for a host of health problems.

Another risk is a low Apgar score, which means the baby’s vital signs after birth may indicate organ problems and necessitate immediate care in the neonatal intensive care unit to assist with breathing and nutritional intake. Since marginal cord insertion results in insufficient blood flow to the fetus, premature birth is also a risk, as a monitoring physician may detect the small size or growth lack as a danger to the fetus’s survival and perform a c-section. Miscarriages, umbilical cord defects, placental abruption, and excessive maternal bleeding may also result from MCI.

Insufficient Medical Care for Marginal Cord Insertion

Diagnosing and monitoring the mother and fetus is a crucial role for an OB-GYN or another physician treating a patient with MCI. When a physician does not perform typical prenatal exams like an ultrasound early on or monitor the mother’s condition throughout the pregnancy, they may be negligent and miss the diagnosis. Also, treating the mother’s pregnancy conditions, like gestational diabetes or preeclampsia, is critical to safely navigating a pregnancy with MCI to protect the lives of the mother and child. A vigilant doctor takes extra tests and conducts more monitoring when a pregnancy is at risk for complications resulting from marginal cord insertion.

Monitoring the fetus’s heart rate for irregularities is also essential, as a physician who does not do so may miss when a fetus is in distress and needs to be delivered immediately. Timing is critical when acting to induce birth, perform a cesarean section, or treat a newborn with birth injuries. Neglect occurs when healthcare providers are not diligent about an at-risk patient to prepare for a timely response to complications.

Negligence may also occur when the medical professional does not follow up with the mother’s and baby’s health after a birth injury for further treatments, consultations, and rehabilitation. Additionally, a physician must conscientiously monitor a child’s developmental milestones, which can be key to identifying problems as soon as possible that may affect the rest of their lives.

Recoverable Damages in Marginal Cord Insertion Malpractice Lawsuits

Birth injury claims are legal remedies for victims of medical provider malpractice resulting in harm to mothers or babies before, during, and after childbirth. Lawsuits founded on medical negligence are intended to seek compensation for the many losses incurred due to preventable harm caused by inadequate medical care. A plaintiff seeks to recoup their financial, emotional, and physical damages due to such negligence, including medical costs for extended hospital stays and fetal monitoring and treatment in the NICU. Compensable medical costs also include future medical care for the baby’s birth injury or the mother’s injuries. Income losses due to care, treatment, and caretaking are also compensable damages, as are pain and suffering for the emotional damages that victims of pregnancy and birth-related medical malpractice suffer.

Our Birth Injury Legal Team Can Assist with Your Marginal Cord Insertion Claim – Contact Us for a Free Consultation

When you consult with a birth injury lawyer on our renowned legal team about your MCI birth experience, you will receive answers, support, and guidance on your options and the process to be justly compensated for your child’s birth injury. Our extensive expertise will help you build your case against the negligent healthcare providers, facilities, and other responsible parties who harmed you, your child, and your family through their medical malpractice and mismanagement of marginal cord insertion.

A birth injury case requires evidence to support the contentions made and to successfully establish a duty of care, breach of said duty, causation of the injuries sustained, and resulting damages. The good news is, our birth injury attorneys are tireless and experienced evidence gatherers. We obtain medical records, physician reports, medical expert opinions, photos, witness statements, and hospital logs, among other items, to prove medical malpractice and damages in our clients’ cases in New Jersey and we consult on these cases across the country. You are in good hands with our experienced birth injury attorneys. Make the call for your free initial consultation. Call 866-708-8617 to learn more.