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Compassionate Support for Families Affected by Birth Injuries

Birth Injury

Birth injuries can cause considerable emotional distress on top of physical and financial harm. Like other forms of medical malpractice, birth injury claims can also be difficult to win. Proving malpractice and receiving fair compensation requires medical evidence and thorough knowledge of the law. For more than forty years, Nelson MacNeil Rayfield has helped members of the community pursue medical malpractice claims, including those involving birth injury. If you believe you have a birth injury claim, the attorneys at Nelson MacNeil Rayfield will be happy to answer your questions.

What Can An Attorney Do? 

A birth injury attorney can help walk you through the troubling situation of injury to either the parent or baby. Using their compassion, legal expertise, and resources, a birth injury attorney will help you sort out the complexities of a claim, including: 

  • Navigating the complicated malpractice personal injury claim process 
  • Collecting medical records and evidence 
  • Interacting with witnesses and insurance companies 
  • Taking your case to trial, if necessary 
Have Questions?
Birth Injury

Birth injury refers to damage or injury to the child before, during, or just after the birthing process. Many newborns have minor injuries during birth, but infrequently, nerves are damaged or bones are broken. Most injuries resolve without treatment. A difficult delivery, with the risk of injury to the baby, may occur with extremely large fetuses or when the fetus is lying in an abnormal position in the uterus before birth. Serious birth injuries are now quite rare as compared with a few decades ago due to improved prenatal assessment, limited use of forceps, and doctors often doing cesarean delivery if they foresee an increased risk of birth injury.

What is Birth Injury?

Birth injury cases arise when an injury occurs during pregnancy, at the time of birth, or shortly after the time of birth. Birth injuries range from mild to very severe and can even lead to death. Additionally, evidence of some injuries may not appear until considerable time has passed. When such an injury occurs as a result of negligent actions by medical professionals such as physicians or nurses – i.e., medical malpractice – the person responsible may be held liable through a birth injury lawsuit. If the injury results in death, a wrongful death action may also be pursued.

Delayed birth Oxygen deprivation Maternal infections Fetal distress Twisted umbilical cords Premature birth
Injury to the baby

There are a variety of injuries that a newborn infant can encounter on its way into the world. Sometimes, these are minor bruises or lumps (caput succedaneum), that will heal and pass with time. These are normal to the birth process, and will heal with time in most instances.

When there is difficulty getting a baby through the birth canal, anything from fractures, to brain injury, to bleeding on the brain can occur. Though rare, these can have serious impacts on the infant’s livelihood.

What causes birth injury to a baby?

A birth injury is an injury to an infant during the birthing process. These injuries can be caused by illness, difficult labor or medical malpractice. Some birth injuries are temporary and resolve relatively quickly, while others are debilitating both physically and neurologically and can last a lifetime. Birth injuries can occur simply because of the pressure and resistance involved in giving birth vaginally. When the baby moves through the birth canal, there's pressure on its skull and body from the mother's pelvic bones. Large birth weight (more than 4kg) can increase the risk of injury during childbirth. Other causes of birth injury to a baby include a difficult or prolonged labour, the shoulder becoming stuck in the birth canal and cephalopelvic disproportion (if the mother's pelvis isn't large enough or shaped in a way that allows for a vaginal birth).

Difficult labor Infant illnes Cephalopelvic disproportion Large birth weight Shoulder dystocias Neurological injury

What Makes Us Different

With over 70 years of collective legal and trial experience, our malpractice lawyers will answer your questions at no cost, help point you in the right direction, or if need be, represent you and your malpractice claim in court. A successful claim requires a lawyer who understands the intricacies of a malpractice case, ranging from thoroughly investigating the claim to understanding the state-by-state regulations for filing.

Finding a reputable malpractice law firm with attorneys who are understanding, compassionate, and willing to fight on your behalf is essential. When choosing a law firm to handle your malpractice case, look for:

  • Experience you can trust
  • Specialty in malpractice litigation
  • Satisfied clients
  • Fair fee structure
  • Ethics
  • Responsiveness

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