The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently released new data on the rate of birth injury in the United States and found that overall the numbers are declining. However, there were still almost 158,000 preventable injuries to mothers and their newborns in 2006 (the most recent year data was available).
 

Birth injuries range from minor bruises and scrapes to brain damage, cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy and other more serious conditions. According to the AHRQ report, birth injuries were highest among:

• infants born in rural areas
• infants born in the Northeast
• Caucasian infants
• Infants covered by Medicaid as opposed to private insurance

Though not all birth injuries are preventable, some are caused by medical negligence on the part of a doctor, nurse, physician assistant or other healthcare professional. To learn more about birth injuries that may be caused by medical negligence, check out the articles on our site entitled What is cerebral palsy? and Erb’s Palsy.

Tags: "medical negligence" "birth injury" "what is cerebral palsy" "erbs palsy" AHRQ