CALL (800) 863-5312 to speak with birth injury lawyers now
Giving birth is an exciting but anxiety-filled journey. It requires you to trust the doctors and nurses involved with safeguarding your life and the life of your baby. Unfortunately for some new parents, doctors and nurses who attended the births of their new babies violated their trust and did not perform their duties at an acceptable level. Physicians can be negligent at any of the three stages of labor; birth injury lawyers understand how mistakes at each stage can cause particular injuries to your newborn. While your doctor may not have intended to injure you or your child, he or she should still be held accountable for negligent actions. That’s why it’s important to call experienced birth injury lawyers now.
If you and your family do not know your rights after a birth injury, call a Zinda Law Group medical malpractice lawyer at (800) 863-5312 today. You’ll receive a free case evaluation and learn how you can proceed.
Birth injury faqs
You might be curious about some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about birth injuries before even talking to a birth injury attorney. Consider the following when deciding whether you should pursue your claim. Keep in mind: none of the answers to these questions are a sufficient replacement for the guidance a personal injury lawyer could offer you.
Can I Sue for a Birth Injury?
The short answer to this question is: Yes, you can always sue for a legal wrong that someone has caused you. However, there is never a guarantee that your claim will be successful or even accepted in a court of law. You do not want to risk the possibility that your case will be tossed out because you do not meet one of the strict procedural rules or because you failed to substantively state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
Read further to see whether your case can meet all of the necessary elements for you to be compensated—or better yet, take advantage of a free consultation with one of our medical malpractice attorneys.
What Are My Rights after a Birth Injury?
After you have suffered a birth injury, you could have a legal right to compensation. Whether you have that right depends on whether your doctor was medically negligent while treating you at any of the three stages of labor. A birth injury lawyer is familiar with these stages and the common ways that physicians can be negligent while delivering a child.
Compensation under personal injury law usually comes in the form of economic damages and noneconomic damages and sometimes comes in the form of punitive damages. Economic damages include those with a measurable price tag, such as medical bills and missed wages from time off of work; noneconomic damages include compensation for harms that cannot be so easily measured, such as the pain and suffering that you experienced from the injury. A court can use punitive damages to punish the negligent doctor and deter other doctors from making the same error.
Why Should Birth Injury Lawyers Know the Three Stages of Labor?
Any specialist in the professional world should be familiar with his or her area of practice, and lawyers are no different. In the same way that you would expect your doctor to be familiar with delivering children, you should expect a medical malpractice lawyer to know how that doctor can be held accountable for unacceptable mistakes made in the delivery room. The next section of this article will go into more detail about the three stages of labor and what a birth injury lawyer should know to evaluate your case.
The three stages of labor that birth injury lawyers must know
A birth injury, sometimes called birth trauma, is harm that your baby experiences during or shortly after labor or delivery. Medical malpractice lawyers help parents whose children have suffered birth injuries such as cerebral palsy, skull fracture, brain damage, or wrongful death.
We have already discussed that it is important for a birth injury attorney to know about the three stages of labor in order to determine when and how your physician was negligent. Now we will elaborate on what the three stages of labor are before outlining common birth injuries that can occur at each stage.
First Stage: Early and Active Labor
Early labor is when you first start noticing contractions. It is the longest part of any of the three stages, though the length varies immensely for each person, from hours to days. At this part of the first stage, you can mitigate discomfort by changing positions, going for a walk, or practicing breathing techniques.
Active labor occurs once your cervix starts dilating and your contractions become stronger and closer together. If your water has not yet broken, it will at this part of the first stage. You will likely experience pain and may need to ask for pain medication.
During the transition from labor to giving birth, you will feel pressure in our lower back and your rectum and may feel the urge to push. However, pushing before you are fully dilated can waste your energy and make your cervix swell. Your doctor should be able to tell you when to push.
Second Stage: Birth of Child
The birth of your child could take just a few minutes or a few hours. Your physician must communicate with you about when to bear down and push versus when to rest. Not taking enough time to rest might result in tearing rather than stretching.
Once you have delivered the baby’s head, the rest will follow soon after. The doctor will clear the baby’s airway if necessary and cut the umbilical cord.
If you have a C-section instead of giving birth vaginally, your physician might know ahead of time and be able to prepare you by telling you to not eat before giving birth, since food in your stomach could cause complications.
Third Stage: Delivery of Placenta
The last thing to do is to deliver the placenta. You will continue to have contractions and might even be given medication to continue your contractions and help you give a final push to expel the placenta.
complications at each labor stage that can cause injury
A medical malpractice lawyer will have experience with cases like yours and know the questions to ask to determine when and how your doctor was negligent. We will list here just a few of the complications that can happen at each stage of labor and delivery; a medical malpractice attorney can help you prove your doctor negligently caused your complications.
Early and Active Labor:
- C-section delivery
- Breech position, in which child is positioned to come out feet-first instead of head-first
- Epidurals, which can slow the delivery
Birth of Child
- Vaginal delivery after C-section
- Mishandling instruments such as forceps
- Failure to properly monitor and respond to signs of fetal stress
Delivery of Placenta
- Retained placenta that must be surgically removed
Statute of limitations
The extent of your child’s injuries may not be immediately apparent. A personal injury attorney can work with you to ensure that you file your claim within the statute of limitations; the statute of limitations is the law that determines how long you have to file your lawsuit from the time the injury occurs. The rule you must follow regarding the statute of limitations varies based on your state and the type of injury.
A birth injury attorney can help you decide whether to use the wait-and-see method, which is exactly what it sounds like. Under this method, you can wait to see the extent of your child’s injuries and have a grasp of the appropriate amount of compensation you deserve. However, given the statute of limitations, a medical malpractice attorney might advise you to file sooner rather than later.
Our medical malpractice lawyers are here to help
If you are reading this article, your child has probably had a difficult start to life. It is not fair for you to cover not only the medical and financial costs of your child’s injury, but also the emotional pain and suffering you carry on behalf of your child. Your negligent doctor who caused the injury should foot the bill for his or her contribution to the toll the injury is taking on your family.
Our skilled birth injury lawyers understand how the three stages of labor impact the injuries that your child could receive when a doctor is negligent. A medical malpractice attorney could help you recover against your doctor and the insurance companies that have hurt you.
If your child has suffered the side effects of a birth injury, call the Zinda Law Group medical malpractice lawyers at (800) 863-5312 to schedule your free consultation. We want to help you make the situation right after your doctor has wronged you. Ask us about our No Win, No Fee Guarantee that ensures that you do not pay us unless we win your case for you.
Meetings with attorneys are available by appointment only.
