Birth injuries can devastate children and families. This is especially true when the injury was a preventable one that occurred because of medical negligence. Unfortunately, birth injuries happen every day, often causing lifelong damage or even resulting in death.
When a birth injury happens, parents must understand their legal rights and the rights of their child. Parents may be able to bring a civil claim to recover compensation for damages, and doing so could be important to ensure there's money available to provide for a child's needs.
These cases are often complex and difficult because there is a lot of money at stake, and hospitals and medical malpractice insurers typically don't want to accept responsibility for the damage they caused. It's important to have an experienced Montgomery birth injury lawyer who understands the technical details of the case and who can provide compassionate representation during a difficult time.
The Montgomery medical malpractice lawyers at Singleton Schreiber are here to help. Our legal team has been fighting for families for decades after birth injuries, and we have recovered millions of dollars in compensation. We will bring our experience to your case to help you pursue justice -- and we won't stop fighting until we get you the maximum compensation possible. We also won't charge legal fees unless we recover compensation for you.
To find out more about how our Montgomery personal injury lawyers can help, give us a call or contact us online today to schedule your free consultation.
Common Types Of Birth Injuries
Many different things could go wrong that have lifelong consequences for a child and their family. Some of the most common types of injuries that affect infants include:
- Bone fractures, including the collarbone or arm bones, resulting from pressure during delivery.
- Lack of oxygen or perinatal asphyxia. Also called HIE, a lack of oxygen can occur for many reasons, including the umbilical cord being wrapped around the neck. It can cause lifelong disabilities or be fatal.
- Subconjunctival hemorrhage, which occurs when the blood vessels in the infant's eye break due to pressure. This can cause red eyes and is usually temporary.
- Head or scalp injuries, including Caput Succedaneum (swelling) or Cephalohematoma (bleeding underneath the skull).
- Erb's Palsy, or damage to the shoulder or neck that causes weakness or paralysis in the arm.
- Cerebral Palsy, which refers to a group of neurological disorders that occur when the developing brain of an infant is damaged. This causes spasticity or floppiness, movement disorders, a lack of muscle coordination, speech impairments, learning disabilities, and a host of other complications. Symptoms can range from mild to severe.
Each of these injuries can be expensive to treat, and, in far too many cases, the damage is permanent, and the child will never fully recover.
This is why it is so important for parents to reach out to an experienced Montgomery birth injury lawyer ASAP. An attorney can help you to prove the extent of the injuries sustained so you can maximize your compensation for losses.
Causes Of Birth Injuries
Just as there are many types of birth injuries, there are also many causes of birth injuries. Tragically, many of the leading causes of birth injuries involve medical negligence, which occurs when caregivers either act or fail to act with a professional level of care.
Some of the leading reasons why infants are injured before, during, or immediately after birth include:
- Inadequate prenatal care or monitoring
- Undiagnosed or delayed diagnosis of maternal infections during pregnancy
- Doctors prescribing the wrong medication or dangerous medications to a pregnant mother
- Failure to identify pre-birth complications, such as a breech baby or placenta previa
- Failure to monitor the baby for signs of distress during labor
- Allowing labor to go on for too long
- Improper or unsafe use of vacuum extractions or forceps
- Delayed or botched cesarean section
- Inadequate postnatal care
It is important to identify the cause of any birth injury in order to determine if it happened due to the care provider's failures. Singleton Schreiber can help you to obtain medical records, witness testimony, and other evidence from the birth so you can determine what occurred.
We also have medical experts who assist in reviewing the data and identifying the cause of the injury. The testimony of these experts can be invaluable as we work to build the strongest possible case for you when your baby has been harmed.
Who Is Responsible For A Birth Injury?
In many cases, doctors or other care providers can be held responsible for birth injuries. Doctors can be held liable for harm to an infant if:
- They had a legal duty to provide care. This duty exists whenever a midwife, OB-GYN, gynecologist, ER doctor, or other medical professional is treating a pregnant woman.
- They breached their legal duty. A breach occurs when a medical professional's actions or omissions fall below the accepted standard of care. You can prove this by showing that a reasonably competent professional with the same level of training would not have made the errors your provider made.
- Their breach caused harm. The care provider's mistakes must have caused the injuries to the child.
- You can be compensated for the harm. You should be compensated for all losses resulting from the negligent care, including ongoing medical bills, lost companionship, adaptive devices and therapies, reduced quality of life, and other economic and non-financial damages.
In many circumstances, you can also pursue a claim against the hospital, clinic, or medical group that employed the negligent provider. Hospitals and care facilities are vicariously liable for the on-the-job actions of medical staff that work for them, regardless of their own negligence. This means that you often should name these facilities in your claim, as they may have more insurance coverage.
Care facilities can also be liable based on the negligence of the hospital or clinic itself. For example, if a hospital doesn't have policies in place to ensure adequate monitoring of infants or to ensure they are only hiring trained professionals in their labor and delivery wards, then these failures can create legal liability.
How Can You Find The Right Montgomery Birth Injury Lawyer?
Proving the extent of your injuries and demonstrating fault are both important to recover full compensation for a birth injury. Singleton Schreiber can help with these and other legal processes necessary in your pursuit of justice.
Our legal team includes skilled negotiators and talented litigators who have recovered millions from malpractice insurers and large hospitals in and around the Montgomery, Alabama area. We will put our decades of experience on birth injury claims to work for you, and we'll provide you with supportive, compassionate representation as we fight for justice.
Schedule your free consultation today to learn more about how our Montgomery birth injury lawyers can help you.
