Many diseases and bacteria that may pose a great risk for the wellbeing and possibly the life of an infant. As an example, one bacteria is the group b strep bacteria. It might be passed from the pregnant woman to the baby in the course of childbirth. Thus doctors mostly concur that an infant who exhibits symptoms that may be from a GBS infection when the mother had had been identified as carrying the bacteria throughout the pregnancy will need the correct antibiotics administered immediately. Postponing treatment could result in severe and lifelong damage to the child.
Babies with a group b strep infection initially often present with indicator which might be non-specific for GBS. This why physicians need to take into account it in the differential diagnosis when signs that could due to a group b strep Infection are present in an infant. A number of cases have followed a physician’s failure to do this and parents whose baby was injured under a similar situation need to confer with a birth injury attorney immediately.
For example, in one reported situation a doctor who examined a six week old infant having a high fever did not take a complete history from the mother and did not take the time to review the prenatal records which showed that the mother had been a carrier of GBS while pregnant with the baby. The doctor thus based her plan to hold off on administering any antibiotics to the infant before she could get back test results on incomplete info. Without| the essential item of information the statistics were that the child’s symptoms were from something other than group b streptococcus. Because of the delay the infant became septic, developed meningitis and suffered strokes. This left her with mental retardation and an untreatable seizure condition. The mother and father pursued a lawsuit and the law firm that represented the family reported that they achieved a settlement in the amount of $6,150,000 for the family.
You should check with a physician at once in the event you think your child has a health issue and check with a medical negligence attorney in the event you believe your baby was damaged as a result of an error by a doctor or other health care professional.