Prenatal Misdiagnosis and Wrongful Birth

Posted on December 23, 2008

The birth of one’s child is supposed to be a young mother’s most joyous experience ever; however, that joy can quickly turn to fear if your child is born with some type of birth injury. Sickle cell disease, of which sickle cell anemia is a common type, can be detected during the mother’s pregnancy with a simple blood test. If your obstetrician does not offer this blood test during the pregnancy, then he may have been negligent. Some parents, upon finding out their child will be born with a disease or defect, would choose to terminate the pregnancy. Parents have the right to know if their child will be born with a lifelong disease.

A very simple blood test either before conception or during pregnancy can determine whether either parent carries a sickle cell trait. People with the sickle cell trait do not have sickle cell disease or exhibit any signs of the disorder, but they can pass the gene for the disease to their children. When both parents have the sickle cell trait, there’s a 25% chance that a child will have sickle cell disease. This is where the simple blood test comes in and can alert you to this disease being present in your child. If the blood test is not given, the parent never has the option to choose to terminate the pregnancy.

If your child was born with sickle cell disease, or some other condition or disease that could have been detected prior to birth, you may have a valid medical malpractice case. The skilled birth injury attorneys at Weiss & Paarz, P.C. serving New Jersey and surrounding states, can help.