Birth Injury Death Rate Hits Troubling Level in U.S.

New estimates being released by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have found that more birth injury deaths will likely occur in the United States in 2012 than in Canada, the European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, or a number of other industrialized nations.

The CIA’s estimates, which gauge the number of deaths of infants under one-year-old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year for every country, ranked the U.S. 174th with a rate of 5.98 deaths per 1,000 births. The list had the U.S. higher than Canada (182nd, 4.85 per 1,000), the UK (188th, 4.56), Australia (189th, 4.55), the EU (190th, 4.49), and Hong Kong (217th, 2.9).

Afghanistan had the highest rate of birth injury deaths – 121.63 per 1,000 – while Monaco had the lowest – 1.8 per 1,000.

The list does not take into account the many types of birth injuries that may not lead to a child’s death - such as cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy - that many other children are born with every year as well. Birth injuries can be attributed to a number of causes, including medical error or negligence that occurs during the birthing process.

If you or a loved one has given birth to a child who has a condition such as cerebral palsy that was caused by medical error, there are legal options worth pursuing. Contact Sokolove Law today to learn more about pursuing a birth injury lawsuit.