Can a car accident cause pregnancy complications or birth injuries?
After eight months of constant worry, check-up after check-up, and religiously trolling pregnancy sites to make sure your symptoms were normal, you’re finally at the home stretch. You are meeting your husband at Suburban Hospital for your final ultrasound before you meet your baby. You’re so excited you can barely contain yourself, and your baby must feel it too, because she hasn’t stopped moving since you left your house.
As you entered the hospital’s parking lot, you noticed only one spot open near the door and rushed toward it. Just as you began to turn into it, a red truck came out of nowhere and tried to swerve into it first. There obviously wasn’t enough room, so instead of cutting you off, it slammed straight into you.
You felt the rush of the air bag punch you straight in the chest. When the bag deflated, and you began to make sense of what happened, you suddenly noticed something very wrong. Your lap was wet and your baby was no longer kicking.
You screamed at the driver of the truck to get help, as you stumbled out of your car and made your way to the hospital door.
Could that collision have hurt your baby?
Developmental, Labor And Fetal Injury Consequences Of A Collision
Every year, thousands of babies are born with injuries, complications, and permanent defects that resulted from injuries their mothers sustained during severe car accidents. Additionally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that car accidents cause nearly 5,000 fetal deaths a year as a result of collision injuries.
Although your risk of getting into an accident while your pregnant is only 3%, the risk of your baby suffering if you are in an accident is a staggering 70%, as a result of common injury complications. These injuries include:
- Premature birth. Internal injuries could cause the uterus to fail and either miscarry or force a premature birth.
- Brain damage resulting from hypoxic (lack of oxygen) effects of a detached placenta, damaged uterus, maternal hypoxia or maternal bleeding.
- Cuts, lacerations and puncture wounds. Impaling debris, broken glass, and sharp objects can be thrown or forced into the mother’s abdomen, cutting or stabbing the fetus.
Your baby’s life shouldn’t be something with which you gamble; always make sure that when you’re riding in a car, you take proper safety precautions. If you are in an accident, make sure you’re assessed by your doctor immediately. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, pregnant women who don’t immediately present injuries after an accident are still more likely to experience early labor.
Your baby could have suffered in a minor accident, and you may not know until it’s too late. Don’t take that chance. See a doctor immediately to check your baby’s heart rate and position.
Car accidents can be extremely traumatizing, but there is nothing worse than losing a child. If you or your baby has suffered from severe or life-threatening injuries as a result of a car accident, you may be entitled to damages. Contact us today for a free consultation and review of your case. We’ll make sure you get the advice, support, and compensation you deserve for your suffering and injuries. Don’t put it off any longer; you and your baby deserve justice. Call now!