What Should Families Know First?
Yes. A car accident can cause a miscarriage, even a minor one, although many pregnancies continue normally after a crash. Anyone who is pregnant and has been in an accident, no matter how minor, should seek medical attention immediately, even without feeling hurt, because conditions such as placental abruption may have no early symptoms and a miscarriage can happen weeks later. If your unborn baby was injured or you suffered a miscarriage as a result of a crash, birth injury lawyer Jeffrey Killino will review the accident and your pregnancy with medical experts and can advise you of your legal options.
Can a car accident cause a miscarriage?
A collision during pregnancy warrants medical advice because injury is not always obvious from the severity of vehicle damage. Whether a crash contributed to a pregnancy loss depends on the clinical findings, pregnancy stage, timing and other possible causes. A loss after a collision should not automatically be attributed to the crash without medical evidence.
Can a Minor Crash or Sudden Stop Cause a Miscarriage in Early Pregnancy?
A minor crash or sudden stop does not automatically cause a miscarriage. In early pregnancy, including at five weeks, a pregnancy loss can have causes unrelated to trauma. Seek medical advice after an accident and describe the force, symptoms and timing. For a legal claim, qualified medical evidence must connect the collision to the loss rather than rely only on which happened first.
What is placental abruption after a car accident?
Placental abruption occurs when the placenta separates from the uterine wall before birth. Trauma can be relevant to its assessment, but a specific event must be evaluated medically. Bleeding, abdominal or back pain, contractions, faintness or changes in expected fetal movement require prompt advice. Do not self-diagnose from symptoms or assume that one normal finding rules out every pregnancy complication. ACOG explains bleeding during pregnancy.
What are the signs of miscarriage after a car accident?
Call your obstetrician or go to the emergency room right away for vaginal bleeding or spotting, cramping or pain in the lower abdomen or back, passing fluid or tissue, a sudden stop in pregnancy symptoms, dizziness or fainting, or, later in pregnancy, fewer baby movements than usual. A gush or trickle of fluid can mean the membranes have ruptured. Some women have no symptoms at first, so a normal feeling does not rule out a problem. Keep a note of when each symptom started, because doctors and, later, insurers will ask.
How long after a car accident can a miscarriage happen?
Sometimes a woman does not miscarry until a few weeks after the car crash. Premature birth is another issue, and one that can also result in serious complications. Follow every instruction from your doctor after a crash, keep your prenatal appointments and report new symptoms quickly. Our pages on preterm or premature labor and high risk pregnancies explain related complications.
What should you do after a car accident when you are pregnant?
Call 911 and tell the responders you are pregnant and how many weeks along you are. Accept evaluation even if you feel fine, and ask for fetal monitoring and an ultrasound if they are not offered, since doctors often watch the baby for several hours after a trauma. Exchange information, take photos of the vehicles and scene and get names of witnesses if you are able. Follow up with your own obstetrician within a day or two, keep every record, and write down your symptoms and the dates. Avoid giving a recorded statement to an insurer before you understand your options.
How can a pregnant woman make car travel safer?
Researchers and car manufacturers say that seat belts are not the optimal answer to safety for pregnant women, and although it is the best safety device they have, they could make it better. Be sure to wear a properly fastened seat belt throughout your pregnancy. NHTSA recommends that the seat belt be positioned low on the abdomen, below the fetus, with the shoulder belt worn normally. When crashes occur, the fetus can be injured by striking the lower rim of the steering wheel or from crash forces concentrated in the area where a seat belt crosses the mother’s abdomen. Sit as far back from the steering wheel as you comfortably can, tilt the wheel toward your chest and not your belly, and keep the airbags enabled. Plan longer trips with stops to stretch, and ask a passenger to drive when you are tired or uncomfortable. Our page on traffic accident injuries covers crash injuries to children and families.
What if the baby survives but was injured in the crash?
A baby can survive a crash and still be hurt, through placental abruption, loss of oxygen or premature birth. Children born early or after oxygen deprivation can need long term care. Our pages on birth injury, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and cerebral palsy explain conditions that can follow a loss of oxygen before or during birth.
Who can help after a car accident miscarriage?
Suffering a car crash miscarriage is heartbreaking. You may be angry and confused and not know where to turn. Insurance companies likely will not be on your side, and they will try to prove that your miscarriage was unrelated to the accident, so it is important to look into legal options. Birth injury attorney Killino will offer you the compassion, guidance and personal attention you deserve. He can help you find justice, and you may be able to recover damages in a court of law from those responsible. Related pages cover fetal death and prenatal care.
What Evidence Matters When a Pregnancy Loss Follows an Early-Pregnancy Collision?
The sequence of events matters, but timing alone does not prove that a crash caused a miscarriage. A review may need prenatal records, the collision details, symptoms, examinations and a qualified assessment of other possible explanations.
Being five weeks pregnant, having few visible injuries or describing a crash as minor does not by itself answer causation. Seek advice from the treating clinician about care and from a lawyer about the evidence needed to evaluate a claim.
Which Records Matter if a Pregnancy Loss Follows Days After a Crash?
Keep records of the collision, the first medical assessment, later symptoms and follow-up care. Tell the treating clinician about the accident and the timing of any changes. The legal review should consider the pregnancy’s medical history and other potential causes as well as the collision evidence. A gap between the accident and a diagnosis neither proves nor rules out causation on its own; qualified medical assessment is needed.
How Can You Discuss a Crash-Related Pregnancy Loss With a Lawyer?
If you lost a pregnancy or your baby was injured in a car crash, contact nationally recognized birth injury lawyer Jeffrey Killino today to discuss your legal options.
