Birth Injuries

Georgia Birth Injury Lawyers

Birth injuries arise from events that cause harm to the baby or mother during or immediately after labor and delivery. Whatever the cause, families dealing with birth injuries face emotional and challenging times. While some newborns make full recoveries after mild trauma, serious injuries may cause life-long disabilities requiring medical treatment, loss of wages, and emotional suffering.  If you are ready to get started, complete our Medical Malpractice / Birth Injury intake form.  To learn more about our firm and how we litigate birth injury lawsuits, read on.

Birth Injury Claims

Although advances in medical care have made birth injuries less common, they are still devastating for families who experience them. When negligence or malpractice leads to newborns suffering injury, the doctor, hospital, or medical professionals involved can and should be held accountable, so other families do not experience the same pain.

In cases where the birth injury was preventable, mother and baby are eligible for compensation. Both are entitled to all necessary medical costs, including any future medical treatment to ensure the baby receives the care and support they may need. Mothers are also eligible for the loss of wages resulting from birth injury.  In some cases, the father can also recover for loss of consortium.

Sometimes the effects of a birth injury may not develop immediately. The state of Georgia allows for 2 years to file a claim against a doctor for medical malpractice. For birth injuries, the statute of limitations does not begin until a child’s 5^th birthday. At the Wetherington Law Firm, we seek to ensure families get the resources to pay for necessary costs and allow you to focus on giving your newborn the time and care to maximize their chances of a full recovery.

Birth Injuries Claims we Accept

Newborns and their mothers may suffer serious injuries when hospital officials fail to act or notice changes in condition, delay in ordering treatment or specialists, or use instruments such as forceps or suction improperly during the birth. Some of the most common birth injuries include:

• Bleeding in the newborn’s brain
• Bone fractures
• Cerebral palsy
• Loss of oxygen
• Nerve damage leading to paralysis
• Spinal cord injury
• Erb’s or Klumpke’s Paralysis from Brachial Plexus
• Internal bleeding

Brain injuries may result from oxygen deprivation or improper use of birth-assisting tools. Cephalohematoma, bleeding underneath the cranium, is one example of a brain injury which can result in jaundice, anemia and hypotension. Other times, brain injury can develop into chronic seizures or cerebral palsy, neurological conditions which may require mobility aids and help from medical professionals throughout a child’s life. Nerve damage from birth injuries sustained when guiding out a newborn can result in facial nerve palsy when too much pressure is on the head or Erb’s palsy from damage to the brachial plexus, nerves connecting the arm and hand to the brain. Newborns may recover from these forms of paralysis within a few months of birth; however, some children need lifelong medical care and therapy. Clavicle fractures are one of the most common seen during delivery of a baby when infants are pulled on too hard. Internal bleeding in the brain or other body organs can lead to long-term physical or cognitive disabilities. It is important to contact someone who can help determine what future needs a child suffering from birth injury may have.

What Constitutes Medical Malpractice?

Birth injury can occur because medical professionals make mistakes or fail to provide a “medical standard of care”. The “Medical Standard of Care” is defined as the type and level of care a reasonably competent health care professional, with the same training and experience, would provide in the same medical community and under the circumstances that led to the alleged negligence or malpractice.  You can read much more about our medical malpractice work here.

Why Hire an Atlanta Birth Injury Lawyer?

Birth injury claims can be complex and expensive to litigate. At the Wetherington Law Firm, we perform extensive investigation into your case to determine who can be held responsible and what the exact circumstances that led to the birth injury were. If the hospital or medical professionals are at-fault for the injury suffered by your child, we work with medical experts to help prove failure to provide a reasonable level of care and pursue the claims to provide your family the financial security and long-term private, professional care you need to raise your child.

How to Hire the Best Birth Injury Lawyers in Atlanta

Hiring a birth injury lawyer is one of the most important financial decisions you can ever make.  There are a number of attorneys who hold themselves out as “experts” who have never tried a case or even settled a case involving medical malpractice.  It is important that you ask any prospective attorney about his or her experience with medical malpractice lawsuits, specifically with regard to the medical specialty at issue in your case.

Call or email us today for a free consultation.  If we accept your case, it will be on contingency.  That means that you do not pay anything up front and only pay us if we win your case.  If we do not accept your case, we will help you find a lawyer who can.  We generally only accept cases involving significant injuries.  However, we know many good medical malpractice attorneys and will make sure that you do not have to search around for someone to accept your case.