Having a baby is a special event in a person's life but having a birth injury occur to a child can be a heartbreaking experience for a parent to experience. Birth injuries typically occur in children while they are coming through the birth canal or after they are born. They can be caused by a health care professional's negligence or they can occur when a woman is pushing or going through child birth.

When a birth injury is cause by a doctor's negligence then a parent can file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor to get them some compensation for their damages. Many children who suffer birth injuries incur medical bills for many years to come. This can be an incredibly huge financial burden to parents.

Most parents with babies that are born with birth defects often know months in advance that there will be a problem with their child. Doctors typically order prenatal genetic screening blood tests during the first and second trimesters to make sure that things like Down's syndrome and hydrocephalies are detected early enough.

Women are also supposed to undergo regular ultrasound examinations to check on fetal development and any possible abnormalities. If a doctor has not ordered any prenatal tests or has not ordered the correct ones based on the parents' genetic and physical backgrounds then he or she has not provided a proper standard of care to those parents.

Some birth injuries are very apparent even an hour or two after birth. These include forceps markings, facial paralysis, clavicle or collarbone fractures, subconjunctival hemorrhage, and cephalohematoma. Injuries that occur at the time of birth can be not serious whereas some can be fatal.

Birth injuries such as cerebral palsy, spinal injuries, and Brachial Plexus injuries such as Erb's palsy cannot usually be diagnosed until weeks or months after birth. Parents need to make sure that they investigate any birth injuries that occur to see whether or not the injury occurred during child birth due to a doctor's negligent actions or if the injury could not have easily been avoided.

It is important for parents in this situation to have their child's medical records examined by medical experts who can tell if the birth injury might have been caused by medical malpractice. If the medical experts feel that the injury was caused by malpractice then the parent should consider contacting a medical malpractice attorney and file a lawsuit against the doctor.