Mother-to-be Michal Friedman was scheduled for surgery in a Manhattan hospital for November 28, but when doctors found her blood pressure was elevated in her November 27 pre-op appointment, they rescheduled her for a same-day surgery.

Doctors performed a C-section on Friedman. After the surgery, she hemorrhaged. As her husband watched, her condition steadily declined, prompting doctors to request he leave the room. At 9:30 p.m., doctors informed him of the death of his wife.

C-sections have become so common that many people do not consider that the procedure is a surgical one, and with all surgeries, there are risks.

In C-sections, the most common cause of death is bleeding. It can be fast and severe and by the time doctors attempt to address it, it can be too late.

The procedure also comes with risk of bladder injury, infection, bowel injuries and blood clots.

Perhaps Frieman’s C-section prevented potential brain injuries or other birth defects in her newborn twins. It is heartbreaking that she had to pay for that safety with her life.

Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP – birth injury attorneys

Documents show that only one person on staff in the jail noted that Pope appeared pregnant, and her lawyers state that officers and nurses made little effort to treat her schizoaffective disorder. Pope alleges that on the day she gave birth, she asked for help from the guards. However, guards decided that she was not in imminent danger and left. The guards returned to her only when they heard the cry of her newborn baby.

The lawyers for King County Jail state that Pope did not suffer any injuries and that her delivery was not complicated. Pope states that the baby has a severe heart defect and that he suffered neurological damage due to a lack of immediate medical care. No child should have to suffer the continual effects of birth injuries due to medical negligence.

Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP–birth trauma attorney

According to International Business Times, some medical situations are rare in real-life settings, so that doctors may not have the opportunity to teach a resident in training. In addition, this on-the-job training often involves more descriptions of what the teacher is doing, rather than allowing the student to accomplish the task. The training classes that go along with the simulations at Jacobi Hospital also allow the doctors to try several maneuvers for shoulder dystocia in order to find out which method works best, thus improving patient care.

One doctor stated that she encountered a shoulder dystocia emergency after her simulation class, and she knew exactly which steps to take and which maneuvers to try. Though the simulators are still expensive (pregnant Noelle is $38,000), this new kind of training is exactly what doctors need in order to avoid problems with shoulder dystocia and even brain injuries in the delivery room.

Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP– birth trauma attorney

The research paid by the Save the Children organization, as well as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found that in developing countries most stillbirths are caused by delivery complications, maternal infections during pregnancy, fetal growth problems and congenital abnormalities. Finland and Singapore had the lowest stillbirth rates worldwide, two per 1,000 births, while Nigeria and Pakistan had 42 and 47 stillbirths per 1,000, respectively. In the U.S., there were six per 1,000 birth, though the rate is nearly double for African-American mothers. Samantha Baker said her daughter’s stillborn birth was difficult for the family but she welcomes any efforts to understand why stillbirths happen or how they could be prevented. Baker had a stillborn daughter, Scarlett, whose umbilical cord twisted around her neck and suffocated her when the mother went into labor. Baker hopes that efforts will be made to reduce stillbirths and provide support to grief stricken families.

Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP. – cerebral palsy lawyers

Identical twins are twins produced when a single egg splits in utero. Identical twins share genetic material and are genetically more similar than regular siblings; because of this, if one identical twin is autistic, there is a high chance that the other twin will also be autistic.

Fraternal twins, on the other hand, are twins produced from two separate eggs in the womb. Fraternal twins share the same amount of genetic material as regular siblings; they simply share the womb at the same time. Of the sets of fraternal twins in the study, both twins had autism in 31 percent of male twin sets and in 36 percent of female twin sets. These are high percentages when you consider that these twins have no more in common physically than regular siblings – they were simply exposed to the same factors in utero.

The conclusion to draw from the study is that environmental factors in the womb do affect, and might even cause, autism. Alarmingly, animal research has shown that the drug terbutaline (also known as Brethine, Bricanyl and Brethaire), an asthma drug also marketed to prevent preterm labor, may be linked to autism when using terbutaline in pregnancy.

If you are a parent of autistic fraternal twins, contact our birth injury lawyers as soon as possible to discuss your options.

The maternal mortality rate among African-American mothers was 36.1 per 100,000 live births, compared to 9.6 for white and 8.5 for Hispanic mothers, says the study. To address the problem, the state officials have expanded the Black Infant Health Program to include more outreach and information, and by providing group sessions to keep tabs on progress through a health pregnancy.

African-American mothers with diabetes and blood pressure are at higher rates than other groups, said the study lead. The program has provided women with information on improving those conditions through stress management and taking proper vitamins.

The long-awaited state report was deemed necessary in 2004 and shows better tracking and reporting, says the study. Another study will examine 2004 and 2007 years, said a spokesman for the state health department. In 2002 and 2003, there were 39 and 51 pregnancy-related deaths in California, respectively. A birth injury attorney can answer your questions about childbirth complications.

The study was conducted on primate placenta because the placental structure of the Japanese macaque is very similar to that in humans. The study found that maternal diet during pregnancy has a profound influence on both placental and fetal development, said Frias. The high-fat diet our society is used to has negative effects on placental function and may be a contributor to stillbirth. The findings published in the journal Endocrinology said that the blood flow from the mother to the placenta was lowered in 38 – 56% of pregnancies. Other abnormal placental developments such as placental inflammation has been associated with birth defects.

Similar international studies conducted in the UK, Singapore and New Zealand, found that maternal diet can affect a child’s DNA and cause them to be obese later in life.

A 7 point IQ drop is equivalent to a 7-year-old developing as if they were 6 ½ years old, said a professor of epidemiology and maternal and child health at the University of California. Dr. Brenda Eskenazi of Berkeley lead one of the studies.

The studies found that eating foods treated by pesticides is one way a fetus can be exposed to harmful chemicals. The findings do not appear to specify a region of country. Two studies were conducted in an urban area, while one was conducted in an agricultural and rural town in Northern California.

All three studies found a link but not a direct cause effect to pesticide exposure and intelligence. Pesticide use in the United States has gone down since last decade. Many of the women in the studies had their children at least 10 years ago. This means women having children today may not be exposing their children to the same amount of harmful chemicals than those in the study.

Doctors recommend that thorough washing of fruits and vegetables can reduce the amount of pesticide exposure and eating organic foods, which are grown without pesticides, can also limit exposure.

The biggest rise was seen in calcium. Two thirds of women 60 and older are taking calcium each day, up 28 percent since 1990. Baby boomers may be contributing to these figures, experts say. Many women have also been encouraged to take calcium to protect against female health issues during menopause including osteoporosis.

Federal officials conducted surveys in 1988-1994 and 2003-2008 and asked participants to list what supplements they took. Data collectors also asked to see the bottles for verification purposes. Use of multivitamins was the most popular, up 40 percent since the last survey.

The survey found that most people who take vitamins and dietary supplements are well educated and have good incomes, and most eat well and receive healthy amounts of nutrients from their diets. Some argue that individuals taking supplements do not really need them, while the rest of the population who needs additional nutrition due to poor diets skips the essential vitamins. Federal surveys have recently started asking why people take supplements, with many reporting taking supplements due to pregnancy, folic acid for women thinking about conceiving, and calcium for older women to prevent osteoporosis.

Dr. Bryan Michalowicz, a dentists at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in Minneapolis and his colleagues tested more than 400 two-year olds who had been born to mothers with gum disease. Half the mothers had been treated with aggressive cleaning including scaling and planing during pregnancy, while the rest had not. The researchers found that kids did just as well on language, motor and mental tests regardless of whether their mothers had received gum disease treatment while pregnant. The treatment did not seem to cause any developmental delays, as previously feared.

It is important for women to maintain good oral health. However, pregnant women are more susceptible to gum disease due to hormonal changes. The standard antibiotic treatment is not recommended because it stains the baby’s teeth. Previously, it has been feared that aggressive treatment may cause brain development issues of the fetus. Gum disease is caused by a bacterial infection that breaks down gum tissue and can cause serious health problems including tooth loss.