There are numerous diseases and bacteria that can pose a substantial risk on the health and possibly the life of a newborn. As an example, one bacteria is the group b strep bacteria. It can be transmitted from the pregnant woman to the child in the course of childbirth. Thus physicians mostly acknowledge that a newborn who displays symptoms that may be from a GBS infection when the mother had tested positive for the bacteria throughout the pregnancy needs to be treated with proper antibiotics immediately. A lapse of time in treatment might lead to serious and irreversible damage to the infant.
Recently born children with a group b strep infection in the beginning are likely to present with indicator which are non-specific for GBS. This is a reason why doctors should take into account it in the differential diagnosis when symptoms that may due to a group b strep Infection can be found in a child. A number of medical malpractice claims have resulted from a doctor’s failure to do this and mothers and fathers whose child was injured under a similar situation must confer with a birth injury attorney right away.
For instance, in one published situation a doctor who examined a six week old child having a high fever failed to take a complete history from the mother and failed to take the time to check the prenatal records. Those records showed that the mother had tested positive for GBS while pregnant with the child. The pediatrician therefore based her plan to wait on administering any antibiotics to the child before she could get back test results on incomplete details
Without| the crucial piece of details the statistics indicated that the baby’s signs were from a different cause. Subsequently the infant became septic, developed meningitis and suffered strokes. This left her with mental retardation and seizures that are not treatable with medication. The parents pursued a lawsuit as well as the law firm that handled the case reported it as settled for $6.15 Million.
You ought to check with a doctor immediately in the event you think your infant has a health issue and consult a medical negligence attorney in the event you think your baby was injured due to an error by a physician or other health care professional.