Birth Injury Lawsuit

The excitement of pregnancy and birth are life events that no parents forget, even after their children are grown and creating families of their own.

Every parent hopes for the safe and healthy birth of their child, but occasionally negligence, whether in the form of obstetric malpractice, midwife malpractice, or nursing malpractice, results in stillbirths, neurological problems, cerebral palsy, and other birth injuries.

While tragic, many birth injuries are preventable through proper monitoring and treatment from health care professionals. For example, before it is time for the delivery, there are procedures and tests that a doctor can use to determine if the deliver will be at high-risk for complications. In the event of a high-risk pregnancy, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist should be consulted to participate in the pregnant mother's care.

Additionally, the timely and accurate diagnosis of these risks is vital to the health of the baby and mother during delivery. Complications during birth may also extend to the period right after the baby is born. Neonatal specialists, including doctors and nurses, should be involved in the post-delivery care when certain signs and symptoms, such as critically low apgar scores, are present.

Mishandling of the newborn may also result in birth injuries such as bruising, facial paralysis, fractures, and nerve damage. Any damage or injury to a baby caused by a negligent doctor should be considered when deciding if a medical malpractice lawsuit is appropriate.

One of the most important things to remember when filing a birth injury malpractice suit is that someone (doctor, midwife, nurse, hospital staff) must be found negligent in order to make your lawsuit valid.  If negligence of a health care professional can not be proven, the lawsuit is doomed to fail in court.

In the event of birth injuries, several types of negligence may have occurred during pre- and post-delivery of the child. The doctor may have failed to monitor and anticipate any birthing complications for the mother or child. The incorrect use of forceps or vacuum extractor during delivery may have caused one of the birth injuries previously mentioned. In other cases, doctors may have not acted quickly enough if the baby became entangled in the umbilical cord.  The doctor also could have administered an incorrect dose of labor-inducing drugs. All of these examples and more are valid reasons to file a birth injury malpractice lawsuit.

Birth injury malpractice lawsuits are almost always complex and among the most expensive to prosecute, so it is important to consult an experienced attorney, who has handled both medical malpractice lawsuits and birth injury lawsuits, to evaluate your specific case.

Contact our experienced personal injury lawyers today for an evaluation of your circumstances.