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Childbirth is one of the most anticipated and joyful moments in life. Yet when complications arise, every minute counts. One of the most critical decisions an obstetrician can make during labor is whether and when to perform a cesarean section (C-section). A timely C-section can save the lives of both mother and baby. A delayed one can cause devastating, permanent injuries—or even death.
At Snyder & Wenner, P.C., we represent families across Arizona who have been harmed because medical providers failed to perform a C-section when it was medically necessary. With offices in Phoenix and Tucson, and clients throughout Flagstaff, Scottsdale, Glendale, Mesa, Chandler, and rural communities, we are here to hold negligent hospitals accountable and secure the resources your family needs for a lifetime of care.
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A C-section is a surgical procedure in which the baby is delivered through an incision in the mother’s abdomen and uterus. While many women deliver vaginally, there are times when labor does not progress safely or emergencies develop that make vaginal birth too dangerous.
In these situations, a C-section must be performed immediately. Every minute of delay increases the risk of oxygen deprivation, brain damage, or other catastrophic outcomes for the baby. In obstetric care, there is a well-known guideline called the “decision-to-incision” time frame, which recommends that hospitals be able to perform an emergency C-section within 20-30 minutes of identifying the need. In cases of acute emergencies such as cord prolapse or uterine rupture, the window may be even shorter.
When doctors or hospitals delay, the consequences can be life-changing.
A number of complications during labor can make an urgent or emergency C-section medically necessary:
Abnormal fetal heart rate patterns signal the baby is not getting enough oxygen.
Oxygen deprivation before or during delivery can cause permanent brain damage.
The placenta separates too early from the uterus, cutting off oxygen and nutrients.
A tear in the uterine wall, often in mothers with prior C-sections, puts both mother and child at immediate risk.
When the cord slips into the birth canal or becomes compressed, blood flow and oxygen supply are restricted.
Babies who present feet-first, sideways, or in other abnormal positions may not be safely delivered vaginally.
In each of these scenarios, the standard of care requires doctors and nurses to act quickly and decisively. Waiting too long can cause permanent harm.
Why do delayed C-sections happen? Too often, the reason is not a medical necessity but a failure in hospital systems or physician judgment. Common causes include:
These lapses in judgment and procedure are preventable. When hospitals cut corners, it is mothers and babies who suffer.
Most delayed C-section tragedies can be avoided with proper planning and adherence to medical standards. Prevention strategies include:
These are not optional. They are part of the accepted standard of care. When providers fail to follow them and injury results, negligence may be established.
Delayed C-sections can result in a wide range of birth injuries, including:
At Snyder & Wenner, P.C., we use a detailed, evidence-driven process to determine whether a delayed C-section was caused by negligence. This includes:
Examining labor and delivery charts, fetal monitoring strips, and surgical notes.
Working with obstetricians, neonatologists, and anesthesiologists to identify breaches in the standard of care.
Determining whether the hospital had appropriate staffing, protocols, and readiness for emergencies.
Linking the delay to the injury sustained by the baby or mother.
Projecting the lifetime costs of care with input from life-care planners and economists.
By combining medical expertise with aggressive legal advocacy, we build strong cases to hold hospitals accountable. At Snyder & Wenner, have settled over $100 million in birth injury cases alone. That is far more than any other law firm in Arizona, which is why law firms from all over the country contact us to help them litigate their birth injury cases.
Families affected by delayed C-sections may be entitled to compensation for:
The goal is not only to ease the financial burden but to provide the resources your child needs to live as full a life as possible.
Snyder & Wenner has been helping Arizona families with complex birth injury cases for more than 40 years. We are nationally recognized for our results and are often consulted by attorneys nationwide on high-stakes medical malpractice cases. Families choose us because:
We work on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.
If your baby was harmed because a necessary C-section was delayed, you deserve answers and justice. At Snyder & Wenner, P.C., we will thoroughly investigate what went wrong and fight to hold negligent providers accountable.
Call us today at (602) 224-0005 to schedule a free, confidential consultation with an experienced Arizona birth injury lawyer.
Cerebral palsy is typically diagnosed by an imaging study. The most common imaging study is a CT scan or an MRI. An EEG (electroencephalogram) can also be used, along with genetic testing and metabolic testing. Cerebral palsy typically causes decreased movement that is associated with exaggerated reflexes, limp arms/legs, an unusual posture, movements of the body that the child cannot control, uneven or unsteady walking, or a combination of these issues. When these common signs and symptoms are observed, the physician will typically order an imaging study to further diagnose the condition.
Generally speaking, cerebral palsy occurs when the baby’s brain is damaged. This leads to abnormal brain development. If the brain damage is caused by lack of oxygen in utero, and the baby is not delivered quickly enough, the OBGYN, perinatologist, and/or nurses may be responsible. It takes an experienced and knowledgeable birth injury lawyer to investigate the facts, to contact the right experts, and to determine if a lawsuit is appropriate.
After a diagnosis of cerebral palsy has been made, the first step in determining whether a lawsuit is appropriate is to collect all of the medical records from the birth. The mom and the baby each have his/her own medical chart, so requests for both need to be sent to the hospital. Also, unless the hospital is specifically asked to produce the fetal monitor strips, they will not do so. The fetal monitor strips have critical information regarding the health and well-being of the fetus during labor. If the strips show the baby is in distress and the providers did not react appropriately, that is good evidence that a lawsuit may be necessary. After the records are collected, you must have an experienced birth injury lawyer review them. The lawyers at Snyder & Wenner have over 90 years of combined experience litigating birth injury cases, so we know where to look in the chart to prove the case. If the lawyer’s review of the records concludes there was negligence, experts must be retained to review the records. Experts are needed to say that a provider (or multiple providers) were negligent and that their misconduct was a cause of the baby’s birth injury. Other experts will be needed to determine what medical needs the baby will have for the rest of his/her life due to the birth injury. Once all the experts have reached their conclusions, the lawsuit may be filed.
In every case, a birth injury lawyer must show that a provider (or multiple providers) was/were negligent. This means that the provider did something wrong. We must also prove that the negligence was a cause of the baby’s birth injury. If the injuries would have occurred anyway, even without the negligence, then there may be no case. Finally, we need to prove what the baby’s injuries are. To determine if you have a cerebral palsy lawsuit, each of these three elements must be met. We first start the review to determine if there was negligence. Then we move on to whether the negligence caused the birth injury. Finally, we assess the baby’s damages to the birth injury. When we can prove all three elements, the CP lawsuit will then get filed.
