Putting Our Knowledge And Experience To Work
Preeclampsia Lawyer
Preeclampsia Birth Injury Attorneys in Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY
Many pregnant women are at risk of developing dangerously high blood pressure leading to a serious condition known as preeclampsia or pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). When doctors fail to recognize the symptoms of pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia, both mother and child are put at risk. In this case, the victim or their families may be able to hold those medical professionals responsible for any injuries or death that resulted with a medical malpractice lawsuit.
If you or someone close to you was harmed due to a doctor’s failure to recognize or treat PIH or preeclampsia, the birth injury lawyers at The Lawrence Firm, PSC, are here to stand up for your rights. We have extensive experience handling birth injury lawsuits for clients in Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky. Contact us today online or by telephone at 800-698-4054 to arrange a free consultation with an experienced Kentucky or Ohio preeclampsia lawyer.
What is Preeclampsia?
Preeclampsia, also known as pregnancy-induced hypertension or PIH, is a condition characterized by high blood pressure in pregnant women as well as proteinuria, which means high levels of protein in the urine. This condition can cause serious complications for both the mother and baby, even debilitating or life-threatening injury.
Symptoms of Preeclampsia
With competent prenatal care, the initial stages of preeclampsia should be detected by a medical professional when you begin experiencing symptoms. The condition typically presents itself after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The main symptoms of preeclampsia are spikes in the mother’s blood pressure and excess protein in the urine, which typically indicates kidney problems. Other symptoms of preeclampsia that a medical professional should look out for include:
- Blurred vision or sensitivity to light
- Nausea and vomiting
- Fluid in the lungs, creating shortness of breath
- Headaches
- Rapid, sudden weight gain
- Upper abdominal pain
- Decreased platelets in the blood
As you can tell, it can be common to account many of these symptoms to simply being pregnant, such as rapid weight gain or shortness of breath. However, it is important that your treating physician be able to distinguish women with preeclampsia from normal pregnancies.
What Causes Preeclampsia?
Though there is no definitive answer as to why preeclampsia occurs and what exactly causes it, the leading cause is thought to be improper development of the placenta due to issues with the blood vessels supplying it.
There are some factors that may lead to a higher risk of preeclampsia. These risk factors include:
- Chronic hypertension
- Kidney disease
- First pregnancy
- Family history of high blood pressure disorders
- Previous pregnancy experiencing preeclampsia
- Carrying multiples
- Obesity
- Autoimmune disorders
- Type 1 or type 2 diabetes
- Using in vitro fertilization
- Advanced maternal age
What Complications Might Preeclampsia Present?
High blood pressure during pregnancy is a dangerous medical condition that must be handled with care and urgency. Left untreated, both the mother and baby can experience serious injury, including traumatic brain injuries and even death. Severe preeclampsia can result in an increased risk of stroke, brain injury, and even fatal injuries to the mother or child. Preeclampsia can also lead to:
- Premature birth: An early delivery puts the child at risk of developing cerebral palsy, epilepsy, vision and hearing problems, and other birth defects.
- Placental abruption: When the placenta separates from the inner wall of the uterus, whether partially or fully, before delivery
- Brain injury: Brain injuries can lead to lifelong complications and problems with cognitive functions and development.
- Eclampsia: Eclampsia is essentially preeclampsia, but the women also experience seizures. Without quick attention, this can potentially lead to a coma, brain damage, or death for both mother and child.
- HELLP syndrome: Hemolysis Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelet count syndrome, also known as HELLP syndrome, destroys the red blood cells and can be fatal to both mother and baby.
- Kidney failure: Preeclampsia may potentially lead to kidney failure due to acute kidney injury, podocyte loss, endothelial damage, or chronic kidney disease (CKD).
- Lack of blood flow to the placenta: If the placenta has a restricted blood flow, the baby receives less oxygen and nutrients and could receive serious birth injuries or even fatal injuries as a result.
How Do Doctors Treat Preeclampsia?
If an early diagnosis is made, your doctor will need to properly monitor your blood pressure as well as other vitals to ensure there is nothing of immediate concern. You will likely need to remain on bed rest during this time. However, with severe cases of preeclampsia, you will need to be in the hospital instead so that the doctor and hospital staff can regularly monitor you and your child. They may also prescribe you antihypertensive medications to lower blood pressure, corticosteroids to encourage healthy lung development of your baby, and anticonvulsant drugs to prevent seizures.
With the more minor cases of preeclampsia, your obstetrician will likely recommend a preterm birth through induced labor after 37 weeks of pregnancy. For more severe cases, he or she may encourage giving birth before 37 weeks, depending on the pregnancy.
If your doctor fails to diagnose and/or properly treat your preeclampsia, you may have a medical malpractice birth injury claim against the negligent medical professional.
Do I Have a Preeclampsia Birth Injury Claim?
Modern medical technology makes possible the early detection and diagnosis of preeclampsia and other birth injuries. When warning signs of these injuries are present and doctors fail to recognize or follow up on them, it may be a case of medical negligence, and therefore, a valid birth injury claim. If you or your baby suffered from a doctor’s failure to diagnose and treat preeclampsia, our Cincinnati and Covington medical malpractice attorneys at The Lawrence Firm want to help you pursue a preeclampsia lawsuit and ensure you receive fair compensation.
Why You Need The Lawrence Firm for Your Preeclampsia Medical Malpractice Case
The failure to diagnose preeclampsia at a reasonable stage in the pregnancy or otherwise undiagnosed preeclampsia can affect victims and their families for years to come. Aside from the medical aspects and potentially devastating outcomes, victims are left with heaps of medical bills to pay off. That is why is it absolutely critical that those who have been seriously affected by the medical negligence of a doctor during pregnancy or labor and delivery obtain the legal counsel of an experienced Covington medical malpractice law firm.
Overall, it is extremely hard to prove medical negligence actually occurred, and your chance at a favorable outcome is seriously decreased without the help of a skilled medical malpractice attorney. When you obtain the legal assistance of The Lawrence Firm, we will do everything in our power to help you successfully obtain compensation for your preventable injuries.
Once you establish a formal attorney-client relationship with a malpractice lawyer from The Lawrence Firm, we will get straight to work on your case, obtaining medical records, consulting expert witnesses, negotiating with the insurance company, and more. Your attorney will utilize their available legal resources to help ensure that the elements of negligence can be proven and that you obtain maximum compensation from the at-fault parties for the damages caused to you or your child.
Call for a Free Consultation With a Cincinnati Preeclampsia Birth Injury Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured after your doctor failed to diagnose preeclampsia or otherwise failed to provide proper care after a diagnosis, the medical malpractice attorneys at our distinguished Ohio personal injury law firm are here to protect your rights. We have handled a number of both medical malpractice cases and birth injury cases, and we know what it takes to obtain justice for those who have suffered at the hands of a negligent doctor.
If you believe you have a medical malpractice case and want to discuss the sensitive information of your claim, contact The Lawrence Firm, PSC online or by telephone at 800-698-4054 to arrange a consultation with a knowledgeable attorney from our firm today.
Practice Areas
You Pay No Fees Unless We Win!
We are happy to offer a free consultation to evaluate your case. If you hire us as your legal counsel, we will represent you on a contingency-fee basis. You will pay no attorneys’ fees unless we recover financial damages.