When Should You Contact a Birth Injury Lawyer?

If your child has suffered a birth injury, you may need to speak with a birth injury lawyer. Some birth injuries are preventable. When the negligence of a delivery team led to your child sustaining a birth injury, your family may be entitled to recover compensation that can help you provide your child with the care they may need for their injury. 

 

Common Causes of Birth Injury

Common causes of birth injuries arising from medical provider negligence include:

• Failure to monitor a baby’s development
• Failure to diagnose and treat a mother’s medical conditions during pregnancy, such as diabetes or an infection
• Failure to analyze potential risks of vaginal delivery, such as a large fetus or the mother having had prior cesarean sections or abdominal surgeries
• Failure to monitor fetal condition during delivery or to respond to signs of fetal distress, including breech birth, umbilical prolapse, or shoulder dystocia
• Failure to promptly perform an emergency cesarean section in response to complications during delivery, or if delivery begins taking too long
• Lack of communication among the delivery team
• Improper use of birthing assistance tools such as vacuum extractors or forceps

Examples of Birth Injuries

Examples of birth injuries that may be suffered by infants include:

• Brachial palsy, or damage to the nerve bundles that run into the arms and hands
• Caput succedaneum, or swelling of the tissues on the scalp
• Cephalohematoma, or bleeding or fluid buildup around the skull or brain, which can lead to jaundice as blood cells break down
• Facial paralysis
• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injury

Birth injuries also refer to physical harm to a mother due to complications during delivery. Examples of birth injuries suffered by mothers include:

• Excessive bleeding
• Uterine rupture
• Preeclampsia

When Should You Contact an Attorney?

Your family should contact an attorney as soon as possible after a delivery where the baby or mother has suffered a birth injury. Under Pennsylvania law, you have only two years from the date of injury caused by negligent care (or the date that the injury was discovered to have been caused by negligent care) to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. If you file suit after this two-year period expires, your family may lose the legal right to pursue a claim for compensation. 

Investigating medical malpractice claims can take a long time due to the complex medical issues involved. To ensure that your family’s claim can be timely filed, you need to speak with an attorney as soon as possible to give your lawyer the maximum opportunity to prepare your case. 

What Are Your Rights If You or Your Child Suffered a Birth Injury?

If you or your child has sustained a birth injury because of negligent care, your family may be entitled to recover financial compensation for losses such as:

• Medical treatment and rehabilitation expenses
• Long-term care costs, including home health service or special education services if your child sustains permanent disability or impairment because a birth injury
• Loss of wages or income when a mother misses time from work to recover from a birth injury she suffered
• Loss of future earning ability due to permanent disability 
• Physical pain
• Emotional distress

Contact A Medical Malpractice Attorney for a Consultation About Your Birth Injury Case in Pennsylvania

Were you or a loved one injured due to medical malpractice in Pennsylvania? Then you need to talk to an experienced medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible for guidance on how to proceed. The Pittsburgh birth injury attorneys at Matzus Law LLC are prepared to assist you with your legal claim. We represent victims of negligent surgeons, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists throughout Pennsylvania, including Butler, Cranberry Township, Greensburg, and Washington. Call us today at (412) 206-5300 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a consultation. Our main office is located at 310 Grant St., Suite 3210, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.