When an individual makes the decision to get into their vehicle and drive, they are putting themselves at risk of engaging in an accident, although many don’t realize it. But, when an expectant mother gets into a vehicle, not only is she putting herself at risk, but also her unborn baby. The fact is, car accidents are the leading cause of death in the U.S. for people in between the ages of one to 44 [Source: CNN]. The source highlights that “in 2016, which is the latest year for which data is available, 61,749 people in that age group died as a result of an unintentional injury, nearly twice as many as from cancer and heart disease combined.” These deaths were either a result of motor vehicle accidents or unintentional poisonings.
Safer Ride 4 Kids also cited that there are about 3,000 pregnancies lost each year from car crashes.
Aside from the number of individuals and unborn babies that are killed each year in automobile accidents, there are thousands of others who sustain serious and even permanent injuries as a result of a wreck. And when the accident involves a large truck, the injuries only tend to worsen in severity. Some of the common results of injuries caused to pregnant women from truck crashes include:
- Early emergency delivery of a premature fetus. When a baby is born too early, they might have a low birth weight and “neonatal respiratory distress syndrome” which “can lead to long-term negative consequences for the child.”
- A low-risk pregnancy can develop into a high-risk pregnancy resulting in the expectant mother having to take more precautions than she normally would.
- The child could be born with an injury. Safer Ride 4 Kids cited an incident involving a woman who created the Tummy Shield who was involved in a “low-speed sudden stop incident which left a bruise on her belly from the seatbelt and no other symptoms of injury.” When it came time to deliver her baby, he/she was born with a head injury and “the sudden stop was the only traumatic event they could link to the injury.”
- The source says that the “most common and most life-threatening injury caused to a pregnant woman during a car crash is placental abruption.” When a woman experiences this, her placenta “prematurely detaches from the uterine wall which cuts off blood flow from the placenta.” Now, given the role the placenta plays in pregnancy, this is recognized as a “critical medical condition that could be fatal not only to the baby but also places the mother’s health in serious and potentially life-threatening danger.”
- The loss of an unborn fetus. While some unborn babies are able to survive in the womb of a pregnant woman was involved in a truck wreck, others suffer such significant injuries that the impact leads to their death.
What should I do if my unborn baby was injured or killed in a truck accident in Louisville Kentucky?
Losing an unborn baby to a preventable truck accident is something no expecting parent ever imagines they will have to deal with. Life can be difficult following such a traumatic collision and you may not know what to do or who to turn to for help. But that is why there are truck accident attorneys available to help and support you and your family through this difficult time. Not only can a KY truck crash attorney provide you with some helpful advice and guidance, but they can also ensure justice is served for the death of your unborn child or for the injury they sustained.