Birth Injury Lawyers

Standing By Families Affected by Birth Injuries

If your child was born with a birth injury, you’ll be faced with heartbreak and challenges. At James Wood Law, we are passionate about helping the people in our communities through thick and thin, which is why we offer compassionate legal counsel for anyone who needs to file a birth injury claim. By holding negligent medical professionals accountable, we hope to make a meaningful difference for you and your family while also deterring medical providers from making similar mistakes ever again.

James Wood Law is here to help. Call (888) 579-3866 and ask for a FREE case review.

Examples of Common Birth Injuries

A birth injury occurs when a baby is born with an injury, which usually occurs while in utero, during labor, or shortly after delivery. Some birth injuries affect mothers, too, due to labor complications. When a birth injury would have been preventable with better medical care, it constitutes medical malpractice that can result in a birth injury claim or lawsuit.

More common forms of birth injuries include:

• Cerebral palsy (CP): A group of disorders affecting movement, muscle tone, or posture, often caused by lack of oxygen or blood flow during labor and delivery.
• Erb’s palsy (brachial plexus injuries): Nerve damage affecting an arm, hand or shoulder, often resulting from excessive pulling of the baby’s head during delivery.
• Fractures: Broken bones, such as collarbone or skull fractures, caused by improper handling during delivery.
• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE): A brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen or blood flow during labor or delivery.
• C-section injuries: Injury to the mother or baby during a c-section. 
• Subgaleal hemorrhage: Bleeding between the baby’s scalp and skull caused by trauma during delivery such as from an improperly placed vacuum extractor.
• Facial nerve damage: Injury to facial nerves often resulting from the improper use of instruments such as forceps.
• Failure to timely recognize and timely treat infections: An infection that is not appropriately recognized and/or treated can result in permanent harm to the mother or baby. 

How Birth Injuries Happen

Birth injuries often occur due to preventable medical errors, bad judgment or healthcare system failures during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or soon after birth. While complications can naturally arise, healthcare providers are responsible for recognizing and addressing these challenges to protect both the mother and baby. When they fail to do so, serious permanent harm can result that otherwise would have been avoidable. 

Common causes of birth injuries include:

• Medical negligence during prenatal care: Failure to diagnose or treat conditions such as gestational diabetes or preeclampsia.
• Bad judgment during labor and delivery: Improper use of tools such as forceps or vacuum extractors. Delayed decision-making, such as failing to perform a necessary C-section in time to prevent permanent harm.
• Failure to monitor for maternal complications: Ignoring signs of fetal oxygen deprivation or caused by maternal bleeding or placental abruption.
• Failure to competently monitor fetal heart rate: Fetal heart rate monitoring during labor allows providers to see whether or not the fetus (unborn baby) is getting enough oxygen. Unborn babies can go into fetal distress during labor for a variety of reasons, and failing to monitor or accurately interpret the fetal heart rate increases the risk of permanent brain damage.
• Medication errors: Administering the wrong dosage or improper monitoring after administering medications or anesthesia.
• Untreated infections: Allowing infections in the mother or baby to go untreated during pregnancy, labor, delivery  or soon after birth.

Filing Claims on Behalf of Injured Children

When a birth injury occurs, parents have the legal right to file a claim on behalf of their child to seek compensation and justice. The process of pursuing a claim may feel overwhelming and a little confusing because you won’t be filing it for yourself, but it might be a necessary step in providing for the child’s needs and future care. After all, you will be challenged to find a medical provider that will admit fault and give you compensation upfront without the need for legal action.

Damages in a Birth Injury Case

A successful birth injury claim can provide financial relief for the substantial costs and emotional burdens that your family will likely face due to the challenges created by a birth injury. At James Wood Law, we fight to ensure families receive the full amount of compensation they are entitled to, giving them the resources necessary to meet their child’s long-term needs.

The damages in your birth injury case might include:

• Economic damages:
  • Medical costs: Covering surgeries, therapies, medications, and ongoing medical care for the injured child.
  • Specialized care needs: Costs for special education, assistive devices, or necessary home modifications to accommodate the child’s injury.
  • Lost income for parents: For parents who must leave work or reduce their hours to provide care for their child.
• Non-economic damages:
  • Pain and suffering: Compensation for the physical and emotional suffering endured by the child and family.
  • Loss of enjoyment of life: Addressing how the child’s quality of life and future opportunities have been affected.
  • Emotional distress: Compensating the family for the emotional trauma of the birth injury.

Need Legal Help? Call Our Firm Now

Every child deserves the chance to thrive, and no parent should bear the financial and emotional burden of a preventable birth injury alone. Our team of birth injury lawyers, and In-House Medical Consult are here to guide you through this difficult time with compassion, legal and medical knowledge, and tough determination to secure the justice your child deserves and the compensation that your household needs

Contact James Wood Law today at (888) 579-3866 for a free consultation—our birth injury attorneys are ready to discuss your case and provide you with a clear path forward.