This Is How A Birth Injury Affects A Child’S Parents

Birth injuries don’t only impact the affected child. Parents may have a difficult time coping emotionally and financially after their child suffers an injury at birth. Learn three ways that a birth injury can affect a child’s parents.

#1. Emotional and Psychological Distress

Knowing their child has suffered a temporary or permanent injury due to a doctor’s negligence can leave parents in emotional and psychological distress. Postpartum depression, while commonly known to affect mothers, can impact fathers, too.

Postpartum depression can be triggered by a variety of events after a child’s birth. Its symptoms include, but are not limited to, the following:

Depressed mood or severe mood swings
Excessive crying
Difficulty bonding with the baby
Withdrawing from family and friends
Loss of appetite or eating much more than usual
Inability to sleep or sleeping too much

#2. Mounting Costs in Medical Bills and Lost Wages

Caring for a child with a serious or permanent birth injury can be a full-time job. Often, parents may have to leave their jobs in order to care for their children, which can lead to monumental costs in lost wages. Parents may also face high medical bills in order to provide their child with the medical and/or live-in care the child needs.

#3. Difficulties in Their Relationship

It’s not uncommon for spouses or partners to experience relationship difficulties when their child has a chronic illness or disability. Although most parents are more than happy to provide their child with the constant care and supervision they require, there is no doubt that this physical, emotional, and financial toll can have negative effects on each parent’s relationship with each other.