Giving birth can be physically and emotionally stressful for both mother and child, especially if there are any complications that the mother’s obstetrician or other doctors responsible for her care fail to completely address. One of the more common outcomes of this sort of trauma—and unfortunately, of this type of substandard treatment as well—is a condition called “subconjunctival hemorrhage,” or bleeding caused by blood vessel damage inside the eye.
Subconjunctival hemorrhages can result in long-term vision problems when experienced by newborn babies, as experienced birth injury attorneys know all too well. If your child suffered significant harm from this sort of injury because of your doctor’s misconduct, consider discussing your legal options with a Connecticut subconjunctival hemorrhage lawyer from Berkowitz and Hanna LLC.
There are numerous tiny blood vessels networked through the “sclera”—in other words, the “white”—of the eye. If a blood vessel breaks or bursts for any reason, blood can get trapped between the surface of the sclera and a thin protective layer of tissue overtop called the “bulbar conjunctiva.” This manifests visibly as a bright red spot covering some or all of the sclera, similar to how a bruise darkens the skin of the impacted area because of blood pooling underneath the skin’s surface.
Subconjunctival hemorrhages can sometimes occur in newborn infants because of trauma they suffered during childbirth, most often because their mother went through prolonged labor or because doctors misused tools like vacuum extractors or forceps while assisting with the birthing process. Babies that weigh over eight pounds and 13 ounces at birth are also more likely to sustain this type of trauma, as well as many other types of birth injuries.
To file suit over a subconjunctival hemorrhage in Connecticut, there must be substantial evidence—supported by at least one qualified medical expert contacted as part of a “reasonable inquiry”—showing that the injury only happened because a healthcare professional violated the “standard of care” applicable to any equally qualified doctor working under the same conditions. Furthermore, the injury must have already caused or be expected to cause serious physical harm in the future to the affected infant, meaning that mild hemorrhages that clear up on their own with no lasting effects may not qualify as valid grounds for a lawsuit.
If both those conditions are met, though, it is possible to recover through a successful claim for the economic and non-economic losses that the injury will end up causing for the injured child, including:
A subconjunctival hemorrhage lawyer in Connecticut can offer more specific guidance during an initial consultation about what “damages” can be factored into a particular claim.
While it can certainly be upsetting to learn your child has suffered any kind of injury while being born, the upside of subconjunctival hemorrhages is that they generally do not cause any long-term harm. That said, severe injuries of this nature can occasionally result in permanent vision damage, and if your child has been hurt like this due to negligence by a doctor, it may fall to you as their parent to demand fair financial restitution on their behalf.
Assistance is available from a Connecticut subconjunctival hemorrhage lawyer at Berkowitz and Hanna LLC. Contact our office today to learn more about your options.
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