There are numerous diseases and bacteria that may pose a considerable risk for the health and possibly the life of an infant. One such bacteria is the group b strep bacteria. It may be transmitted from the mother to the baby during childbirth. As such physicians generally concur that a baby who displays signs consistent with a GBS infection when the mother had had been determined to be carrying the bacteria during the pregnancy needs to have the appropriate antibiotics administered right away. Postponing treatment could lead to significant and permanent damage to the child.

Infants with a group b strep infection at the outset tend to demonstrate symptoms which are non-specific for GBS. This is a reason why doctors need to consider it as a differential diagnosis when signs that might be from a group b strep Infection are exhibited by a baby. Several medical malpractice claims have followed a doctor’s failure to do this and parents whose infant was hurt under such circumstances ought to consult a birth injury attorney without delay.

For instance, in one published situation a phycisian who examined a 6 week old baby having a high fever did not take a full history from the mother and did not bother to review the prenatal chart. Those records showed that the mother was known to be a carrier of GBS during her pregnancy. The pediatrician therefore based her plan to wait on giving any antibiotics to the child before she could get back test results on incomplete details

Without| the critical bit of details the statistics indicated that the child’s indications were from something other than group b streptococcus. Because of the delay the infant became septic, developed meningitis and suffered strokes. This left her with mental retardation and seizures that are not treatable with medication. The parents went forward with a medical malpractice claim as well as the law firm that handled the case reported that they achieved a settlement in the amount of $6,150,000 for the family.

You should consult a physician without delay if you believe your child has a health issue and consult a medical negligence attorney should you believe your baby was hurt due to an error by a doctor or other health care professional.