Cleveland Injury Attorneys Recover Compensation for Children Suffering Developmental Delays after Medical Negligence

Even seemingly small medical malpractice issues during childbirth can lead to significant developmental delays in your child’s future

In general, there are certain milestones children should achieve as they develop. Of course, every child is different and exact ages can vary. But when your child is constantly behind on these achievements, it may be time to consider what may have occurred at the very beginning: the child’s delivery. Your child may already have been diagnosed with a condition such as epilepsy or cerebral palsy. However, you may not have yet found an answer for why your child’s development has been delayed. Our medical malpractice attorneys at The Eisen Law Firm use our scientific educational backgrounds to put together the pieces to identify the negligence that led to your child’s developmental delays. Cleveland families deserve compensation for their child’s delays when physicians and other healthcare workers have failed to provide proper care.

Developmental milestones to look for in young children

Exactly when your child should be walking or talking is not an exact science. However, there comes a point when you may realize your child has developmental problems. Here are general guidelines for major milestones in the average child’s life:

• One month: basic sensory skills such as hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, responding to pain
• Two-three months: oral sounds such as cries and coos, lifts head, smiling
• Four-six months: making vowel/consonant sounds, grasping with fingers, rolling, facial recognition
• Seven-nine months: sitting, crawling
• Ten-12 months: standing, some words, can respond to name, objecting
• One and one-half years: walking, crawling up stairs, feeding themselves
• Two-three years: full sentences, resisting parents’ commands
• Three-four years: stand on one leg, jumping
• Four-five years: talking clearly, motor ability high

Because babies do little more than cry, sleep, eat and poop in the first few months of life, it can be very difficult to tell if your child has a developmental delay. But as time goes on, more and more milestones are missed by brain-injured children, and the disparity between injured and uninjured children grows larger.

When are developmental delays caused by medical negligence?

If you have noticed significant developmental delays in your child, the delays may be due to negligence during the delivery process. Birth injuries are not always immediately apparent and sometimes take time before parents realize anything is wrong. Even if you noticed nothing unusual during the birth of your child, medical malpractice may have occurred.