There are a number of diseases and bacteria that may present a great risk for the wellbeing and sometimes the life of a baby. As an example, one bacteria is the group b strep bacteria. It may be passed from the pregnant woman to the child during childbirth. As such physicians generally acknowledge that a newborn who displays symptoms that may be from a GBS infection when the mother had had been determined to be carrying the bacteria during the pregnancy must be treated with proper antibiotics immediately. A lapse of time in treatment may bring about significant and irreversible harm to the baby.

Infants with a group b strep infection initially often display signs which might be non-specific for GBS. This why physicians need to take into account it in the differential diagnosis when signs that might be from a group b strep Infection are exhibited by a baby. A number of lawsuits have followed a physician’s failure to do this and mothers and fathers whose infant was injured under a similar situation must 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 failed to take the time to check the prenatal records which recorded that the mother had tested positive for GBS during her pregnancy. The phycisian therefore based her plan to hold off on giving any antibiotics to the baby until she could get back test results on incomplete info. Without| the crucial bit of info the statistics were that the child’s indications were from a different cause. Due to the delay the baby became septic, developed meningitis and suffered strokes. This left her with mental retardation and an untreatable seizure condition. The parents went forward with a medical malpractice claim and the law firm that represented the family reported that they achieved a settlement in the amount of $6,150,000 on behalf of the family.

You should check with a physician immediately in the event you think your baby has a health problem and seek the advice of a medical negligence lawyer should you think your baby was harmed due to an error by a doctor or other health care professional.