Birth Defect Lawyers

One of life's greatest joys is having a new baby. And, one of its greatest sorrows is having a baby born with birth defects. Many defects are treatable or less severe. Others however are not so easily overcome.

A birth defect is some structural or metabolic problem a baby is born with.

Some information about birth defects:

• In the United States, more than 120,000 babies are born every year with a birth defect
• There are about 4,000 known birth defects.
• Birth defects are the reason for most deaths in a baby's first year of life
• About three percent of babies born in this country have some kind of major birth defect, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

The March of Dimes says the most common birth defects are:

• Heart Defects (which affect about 1 in 150 babies born in the United States)
• Cleft lip and cleft palate
• Down syndrome
• Spina bifida

About 60 percent of birth defects have no known cause, according to the March of Dimes.

Causes of Birth Defects

While the causes of most birth defects are unknown, they usually result from some harm to the fetus as it is developing in the womb.

These causes can be environmental, meaning they come in some way from outside the pregnant mother. They also can be genetic, or some combination of the two. Genetic birth defects are passed on to a baby through the genes of its mother, its father, or both.

Some birth defects can be caused by problems during the process of labor and delivery.

Drugs and Fetal Development

As a fetus progresses through its stages of development, any insult during a particular stage can produce a birth defect in the developing body structure. For example, early in the life of the fetus, the lips and palate are separated, or cleft. Normally, they close between the 6th and 11th weeks of the mother's pregnancy.

An example of an environmental insult to the developing fetus is the harm that can be caused by some drugs. The antiseizure drug Topamax®, for example, has just been discovered to cause cleft lip and palate. Only recently was it found that a baby born to a mother taking Topamax® early in the first trimester of her pregnancy is at risk of being born with a cleft lip and palate. These parts of the face that normally join during this early developmental stage fail to do so in a higher than expected percentage of these babies.

This is only one example of a drug harming the development of a fetus and causing birth defects. Many other drugs - Paxil, Depakote, Zoloft as well as alcohol - can interfere with a fetus developing normally. Besides drugs, maternal infections can also hinder normal fetal development and cause birth defects. So too can genetic defects in one or both parents. In addition, a newborn can be injured during labor and delivery, causing the baby to be born with birth defects.

Drug-Related Birth Defect Lawsuits

When a medication leads to the development of birth defects in children, the drug maker should be held accountable. The birth defect lawyers at the law offices of Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis and Overholtz recognize the devastation birth defects cause and are dedicated to helping babies and their families recover compensation for their injuries.

If your child is born with a defect that you believe could have been caused by a prescription medication you took during your pregnancy, contact AWKO law today at (888) 255-AWKO (2956) for qualified legal help. We will evaluate the details of your specific case to determine if you qualify for financial compensation.