Birth Injury Law
A Birth Injury is a profound injury or death resulting from trauma to the baby or mother, due to medical mistakes, negligence, malpractice, or flawed hospital policy during the birthing process. This means a medical professional failed to use the appropriate degree of skill and care that would be used by a reasonable medical professional under similar circumstances.
What is Birth Injury Law? This is a subset of medical malpractice law and includes personal injury cases stemming from a failure to adequately respond to the following circumstances: maternal or fetal bleeding; fetal distress or anoxia (lack of oxygen); umbilical cord complications; the need for a cesarean section; infections; the anticipation of a large baby and related complications; and other maternal health complications. Injury can also result from incompetent or improper use of forceps or a vacuum extractor.
Negligent prenatal care can also result in harm to the baby and/or mother. This can include the failure to diagnose the mother's medical condition; failure to identify birth defects; failure to identify an ectopic pregnancy; or failure to diagnose a disease that could be contagious to the baby.
Birth injury cases are generally classified by two types: brain injury, or anoxic brain injury, where the physician or the medical staff failed to properly monitor the birth process with fetal monitoring and the failure to order a caesarean section in a timely fashion; and dystocia, which is caused by the failure to properly help the baby down the vaginal canal during a vaginal delivery and can result in various types of palsy and other complications.
Birth injury lawsuits seek to provide the families of the injured baby with financial compensation for the child's injury.
To consult State legislation for filing a personal injury claim please see our Personal Injury Statute of Limitations page.
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Birth Injury - Know Your Rights!
- A Guide to Birth Injury Medical Malpractice
Birth and child injuries are often some of the most complicated and emotional medical malpractice lawsuits. These medical malpractice lawsuits include birth injuries to either the mother or the baby as well as injuries during childhood.
- Birth Injuries to the Mother May Be the Basis for a Lawsuit
There are common injuries during childbirth that the mother can experience. Some injuries may be routine to childbirth while others may happen when the medical staff is not providing the best care possible for the mother. These injuries can include excessive bleeding, blood pressure issues, internal damage and a variety of other medically known issues that can occur.
- Birth Injury and Birth Trauma Due to Negligence May Lead to Compensation
Causes of birth trauma can start with a single cut and lead to fracture, internal bleeding and the intense and continual pain that does not stop even after the baby is out of the mother. Both child and mother can experience trauma and injury during this process which could even damage the mind of either or both for years.
- Dynamics of a Birth Injury Lawsuit
When a baby is injured during birth, he or she may have a negative impact that affects him or her throughout life or long-term physical harm that could lead to serious complications. Other minor bruises or lacerations could transpire when particular instruments and tools are used through the healthcare facility.
- Erb's Palsy - Causes and When a Lawsuit May Be Necessary
Erb's Palsy is normally something that is the result of negligence during childbirth because of something the medical staff members did or did not do correctly at the time or during the procedure. Because of this injury, it is important to know what caused the harm and how the person or mother can use the cause to initiate a lawsuit.
- What to Do if Your Child is Injured at Birth
It is a nightmare scenario nobody wishes to face: what should be one of the happiest moments of their life becomes one of the most tragic when their newborn experiences injuries during birth.
- Wrongful Birth Claims Against Doctors
Wrongful birth usually occurs when the doctor does not inform the parents that the child has a genetic or physical disorder or defect that could reduce the quality of life significantly. In these cases, the parents may want to sue the physician for a wrongful birth when they would have rather aborted the child when only a fetus.
Birth Injury Law Articles
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