Could I sue?

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I was born at 28 weeks, the midwives refused to believe my mum was in labour even though she said she was.
Hours later a competent person finally came by then it was an emergency and they were panicking, they did not do a c section but instead a natural birth which resulted in bad bruising to my head, in the middle of the birth something happened to my oxygen levels and I was in distress, I don't know the full details, but anyway out of this I have a balance disorder down to brain injury, I only know this is the cause because there is simply no other cause for the specific balance disorder that fits me. I also have a deficit in some areas of learning.

the hospital was not equipped for such an early birth at the time and I was the youngest they had had, my mum feels that I was distressed down to it being a natural birth and that may have been where my brain was damaged, problem is I have never had a brain scan to see if anything is visible, I have read that minor brain bleeds rarely show up long after it happens.

I don't think I would actually sue, but its interesting to know if I would even have a case, its bitter sweet really, they did so much good work but they messed up with the actual birth

probably the statute of limitations is up.

If I can just summarise what I think you're trying to say:

1. you were born premature
2. you have some kind of disorder
3. you have a learning disability (diagnosed or not?)
4. you believe you have a brain injury

But you don't know many details or have any proof.

I would be erring on the side of no.

Firstly because it would set a dangerous precedent. Basically, if you won such a case, anyone who had a difficult birth could sue the hospital on behalf of their child, which would lead to all sorts of stupidity. Secondly because you just have no proof that your disorder has anything to do with the circumstances of your birth. You don't even know if you have a brain injury.

And has it even occurred to you that the accounts of your birth that you've heard have probably come from your family? They're not exactly unbiased sources.

ALSO just stop for a second and think about what would have happened if someone hadn't come along and helped your mother. You might be dead. She might be dead. Women still die in childbirth, you know.

I have almost died three times and each of those times they weren't sure if I'd have brain damage. In fact, I probably have some minor brain damage even now, but I would never even think of suing the hospital because those doctors and nurses and paramedics stopped me dying. You're being so selfish it's gross.

There is no way of knowing if your balance and learning problems are due to premature birth or autism, and if your autism is a result of genes or your neurology, which developed as a result of your birth.

I should point out that premature births are tricky. I was born at 26 weeks, and was in distress at birth through no fault of the doctors or nurses. I was breach (born back end first, because I was not fully developed enough for my head to have gravitated toward the cervical opening), and had my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. The only way to get me out was via forceps. This was physically distressing to my body, but if they hadn't done it, I would have died. I did suffer a brain bleed, though again, it was a result of my prematurity, and not anything the doctors did. I was also born not breathing, and with a hole in the septum of my heart. The breathing and feeding tubes down my throat for four months straight caused permanent scarring of my larynx, and to this day, my voice sounds like I have perpetual laryngitis; I get asked by virtually every new person I meet if I'm sick because of it. The point of all this is that A. there is no way to know which of your injuries were caused by hospital malpractise and which were caused as a natural result of your premature birth, and B. that you're lucky they caught whatever potential mistake they made at the time, and you didn't die; any injury you suffered at their hands should not be condemned and sued over, but rather, accepted as the neccessary pain that came as a side-effect of their saving your life. I'd rather have the voice of a three pack a day cigarette smoker than be dead.

I would just like to point out that I am only asking out of curiosity, I have no interest whatsoever in suing, I agree that would be selfish and I could not live with myself if I did.

I am just wondering whether a case would be there, I realise that really a lot of its circumstantial, but there is pictures of the massive bruising, which could have been avoided with a c section, is there some kind of procedure that is gone through when someone comes in giving birth early, and I went in to distress because they refused to believe my mum was in labour for ages so they did not do anything.

I would never sue, I am sorry that is came across like I was planning to, it is all hypothetical, I hold no ill will against any of them, they did after all also save my life. I just like analysing things, I do it with everything.

just been trying to look things up, there is also a case for c sections being harmful because of breathing problems, there is obviously no clear answer, I realise I am lucky, as I have known of a lot of premature babies that end up having severe Cerebral palsy which I think is one of the most common problems that happens due to prematurity.

first of all, like cathylynn said, the statute of limitations most likely has expired. here in ohio, for medical malpractice it is only 7 months.

i seriously doubt that "avoidance of possible bruising" alone is sufficient to warrant performing a C-section, unless there were prior indications of that possibility (sonogram or x-ray showing the baby being too large to fit through the birth canal, etc.)

early stages of labor can go on for hours or even days, and there's not really anything to be "done" about it. it's generally not until the very end that medical assistance might be needed (again, unless there were early indications of problems).

ok, thank you , I don't know much about the laws involved, I did think it was unlikely you could sue for something that happened so long ago.