How to Select a Birth Injury Attorney for Cerebral Palsy cases

By Allen Batson

Most of us are familiar with the presentation of cerebral palsy. Many CP suffers are intelligent, capable people who nonetheless are afflicted with uncontrolled muscle movement. Because 80% of cerebral palsy cases are the result of injures to the developing brain during pregnancy or birth, you should engage a birth injury attorney if your child has cerebral palsy. The birth injury attorney is familiar with the condition from a medical point of view and with the legal issues regarding medical malpractice during pregnancy and birth. Care of a person with CP is enormously expensive and a successful suit for malpractice is among your best hopes for fiancial assistance.

Your birth injury lawyer will explain to you that damage to the motor control areas of the developing brain is the cause of cerebral palsy. While it is true that recent research indicates the brain does not completely finish development until the early twenties, the motor control areas mature by the age of four. 75% of CP cases are the result of damage suffered inutero, 5% during birth and 15% after birth but before the child's 4th birthday.

A birth injury attorney is vital because cerebral palsy is a permanent condition. It affects the development of movement, muscle control and posture. The motor control disabilities can also be accompanied by epilepsy, disabilities in cognition, perception, communication and sensation. Behavioral problems and secondary problems with development of the muscles and skeleton are also common.

You can find a birth injury attorney in your area by contacting your state bar association. A birth injury attorney will need to know the entire story, so get all your information together before your initial meeting. If you aren't keeping a journal of your child's development issues and milestones, start one now.

You need to get financial compensation if at all possible, because caring for a child with CP is an expensive proposition. It is possible that the brain damage your child has suffered was the result of human error, not fate. - 29954

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