Nine months is a long time as any expectant mother can tell you. Mothers understandably get anxious to meet their baby and get past the discomfort of pregnancy but as any New York birth injury lawyer will tell you, doctors need to do what is best for the health of the baby and mother, and not just rush through the process.
While early delivery may be medically necessary for many reasons, over the past few years, early elective deliveries have become very popular. A slippery slope effect may have been the cause. Due dates are 40 weeks out, doctors found they could deliver at 39 weeks, then it became 38 and so on.
The American College of Obstetricians has recommended, for the past 30 years, at least 39 weeks prior to delivery. The reason for this recommendation is that early deliveries are shown to have more health complications for the baby and can lead to developmental or breathing issues. The well-established medical knowledge means that doctors must convey the risk of early delivery to patients. If a doctor goes against the standard of care and delivers baby before full-term and the child or mother is injured as a result, this could be a form of labor-delivery negligence.
Luckily, many doctors and hospitals are trying to combat this trend in obstetrics. A study was recently performed that created a plan to implement in hospital across many states, including New York, to reduce the number of elective early deliveries. The results were quite surprising and positive. In just one year early deliveries without a medical basis were reduced to five percent from 28 percent. The ease by which hospitals and doctors were able to acclimate to this new protocol is good news for mothers. Although moms may want to push for an early delivery, they need to know that the doctor is looking out for their best interest.
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New York involved in study to reduce elective early deliveries
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Jay W. Dankner
JAY W. DANKNER was born, raised and educated in Brooklyn, New York. After graduation from law school in 1973, he joined the firm of the legendary, Harry H, Lipsig, under whose tutelage he learned the intricacies of civil litigation and trials. He tried and won his first case against General Motors in a case involving a design defect within weeks after his admission. Thereafter, he focused his attention on the emerging and developing field of law known as products liability litigation.
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