Helping Mothers and Children After Injuries Caused by Undiagnosed Gestational Diabetes
While many pregnancies go smoothly with few issues, some expectant mothers are diagnosed with medical conditions that arise. One of the most commonly diagnosed medical conditions related to pregnancy is gestational diabetes. This condition can develop even if the mother has no history of diabetes or related health issues.
Gestational diabetes can be controlled and treated to help avoid any complications during pregnancy or birth related to this diagnosis. However, if a doctor fails to properly diagnose and treat this condition, undiagnosed gestational diabetes can worsen and cause numerous complications and birth injuries. Because of the prevalence of gestational diabetes, there is no excuse for a doctor providing prenatal care to miss the warning signs and symptoms of a mother with gestational diabetes.
Unfortunately, sometimes a woman is not diagnosed as she should be, causing unnecessary injury to her, her baby, or both. If a doctor makes a serious error in judgment by not testing you for gestational diabetes and it results in a birth injury, Florida law gives you the right to hold the doctor accountable for any losses you experience.
The birth injury attorneys at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA know how to protect your rights and hold doctors liable for their harmful mistakes. If a birth injury has occurred, please call our office to discuss a possible case today.
Information about Gestational Diabetes
Recent years have brought a rise in diagnoses of gestational diabetes because of the increase in risk factors among women who become pregnant. Some of these risk factors include the following:
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Obesity
- Being older than 25
- Having a history of diabetes in the family
Other common risk factors include being a race other than Caucasian or having excessive amniotic fluid.
If you have any of these risk factors, your doctor should address the possibility of gestational diabetes as early as possible in the pregnancy. However, despite the known risk factors, anyone can develop this condition—even the healthiest of mothers. Because gestational diabetes often causes no noticeable symptoms, doctors should know to test your blood sugar levels as part of your routine prenatal care.
The Effects of Untreated Gestational Diabetes
Despite the importance of testing for gestational diabetes, some pregnant women go undiagnosed and untreated. Having uncontrolled blood sugar levels can lead to many different complications or injuries that may have been avoided with a proper diagnosis. Some of these complications that may affect your baby include:
Excessive birth weight – When you have extra glucose that passes onto your baby, your baby’s pancreas will produce additional insulin. This often results in fetal macrosomia, which means that a baby grows especially large. This can make vaginal birth difficult due to numerous potential health risks. It often requires a C-section delivery.
Preterm birth – A pregnant woman who has excessive blood sugar levels runs the risk of going into labor well before her due date. Preterm labor and delivery bring many risks for the baby, including respiratory distress syndrome. This can cause difficulties breathing and lead to oxygen deprivation and related birth injuries.
Hypoglycemia – When a baby produces too much insulin during pregnancy, it can cause her blood sugar levels to crash after she is born. When a baby experiences severe hypoglycemia, it can cause her to have dangerous seizures and other injuries if the issue is not promptly addressed.
Lasting effects – Even if a baby does not experience any injuries at birth, unchecked gestational diabetes can lead to many health problems later in life. For example, babies of mothers who had improperly managed gestational diabetes have a high risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes as they get older.
Many of the above complications can be addressed by a doctor to successfully prevent birth injuries. However, if a mother is not diagnosed with gestational diabetes correctly, a doctor may not know to plan ahead to avoid such complications.
In addition to the harm to a baby, a failure to diagnose and treat gestational diabetes can cause serious harm to a pregnant woman. Risks of injury to a mother include the following:
- Gestational diabetes can increase a woman’s chance of developing type 2 diabetes after the pregnancy.
- During the pregnancy, untreated gestational diabetes can cause a woman to develop a dangerous condition called preeclampsia, which involves high blood pressure and damage to organs, such as the liver or kidneys.
In short, gestational diabetes is common. Yet it can be dangerous to both child and mother if a doctor does not properly diagnose and address the matter so that the mother learns how to control her blood sugar.
Who Is Liable for the Injuries You or Your Child Suffered?
If your doctor diagnoses and properly treats your gestational diabetes and unavoidable harm occurs anyway, no one can be held liable for the costs of treating that injury. On the other hand, if a doctor somehow misses your gestational diabetes due to a serious medical error, she may be held legally and financially responsible for any losses you incur due to resulting injuries.
Our attorneys can help you prove the following in your birth injury claim:
- That your doctor negligently failed to diagnose your gestational diabetes when another reasonably prudent, similarly-trained doctor would have made the diagnosis in that situation
- That you or your child sustained a birth injury as a result of the missed diagnosis
- That you incurred losses due to your birth injury, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, lasting impairments, and more
Contact a Clearwater Birth Injury Lawyer for Help Today
Obtaining compensation for your losses after a birth injury can be a challenging task. The process of proving medical malpractice liability is complicated and doctors and hospitals will fight against liability whenever possible.
At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, our Clearwater birth injury attorneys protect the rights of clients injured by the negligence of doctors during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. If you would like a free consultation to discuss a birth injury, please call us at 727-451-6900 today or use our online form.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA
800 North Belcher Road Clearwater, FL 33765
727-451-6900
https://www.dolmanlaw.com/legal-services/birth-injury-attorneys/
