Cerebral palsy is a condition that sometimes affects newborn babies, and it can be linked to mistakes made during the delivery. If the child isn’t able to get proper oxygen, for instance, that can cause brain damage, cerebral palsy and other issues, even if the lack of oxygen is just for a short time.
However, cerebral palsy is usually not diagnosed at the time of birth. It takes a while to determine if a child has often been affected or not. It may take years before it will be clear what has happened. Why is this? What is it that makes cerebral palsy so different than other birth injuries, which are often obvious right away?
Some of the symptoms are linked to developmental stages
Many of the symptoms of cerebral palsy are actually things that just show up when a child fails to hit a certain developmental stage or struggles with that development.
For example, speech problems and trouble walking are two of the biggest signs of cerebral palsy. But an infant cannot speak or walk at all, and may not learn those skills for years. Parents may believe that the child is fine initially, but it will only become apparent that there’s something wrong when they don’t develop the same way as their siblings or their peers.
These are certainly not all of the symptoms, but just two common examples. If you believe your child has cerebral palsy, especially if a doctor’s mistake is what caused it, then it’s very important for you to understand all of the legal options at your disposal.