Available 24/7A birth injury can stay with a child and their family for life. The sad truth is that many birth injuries are preventable and only occur because someone has made a mistake. Meanwhile, your family is left to pay the price.
Attorney for Birth Injuries in Aiken, SC
Your family may be entitled to significant financial compensation if you can prove that someone’s negligence caused a birth-related injury. The Law Office of Taylor S. Braithwaite can provide your family with legal representation in a determined and caring manner. Contact us today to discuss your case and learn your legal rights from our birth injury lawyer.
Types of Birth Injuries
The child and the mother are at risk of birth injuries. Some may be temporary, and both can recover in time. Others are permanent injuries and can even cause death.
Examples of birth injuries that can result from medical negligence include:
- Detached placenta
- Uncontrollable maternal bleeding and hemorrhaging
- Cerebral palsy
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Fetal stroke
- Subconjunctival hemorrhage
- Cephalohematoma
- Caput succedaneum
Babies can suffer severe brain damage when their oxygen is cut off momentarily. For example, the baby can suffer a stroke or other injury when the umbilical cord is wrapped around their neck.
Cerebral palsy is a common birth injury that affects the child’s movement and other brain-related functions. Cerebral palsy often results from trauma to the brain during delivery.
Errors that Lead to Birth Injuries
All it takes is a momentary complication to cause an injury to the mother or child that can change the course of their life. As far as the child is concerned, a brief cutoff of oxygen or impact on the brain, and they can suffer a stroke or be left with a lifelong condition.
Errors can occur during the prenatal care process or in the delivery room. Here are some examples of negligence that can cause birth injuries to the mother or child:
- Failure to perform a C-section delivery in the face of a difficult labor or known risks
- Failure to diagnose certain complicating factors ahead of time during prenatal care
- Negligent use of forceps or vacuum during delivery
- Negligent monitoring of the mother or baby following delivery
- Poor medical decisions or care for the baby in the hours and days following birth
Who May Be Liable for Medical Malpractice in a Birth Injury Case
In most cases, the treating obstetrician would be responsible for the medical error that injured the mother or child. You could also sue a nurse, pediatrician, anesthesiologist or anyone else who had a role in labor and delivery or prenatal care, whose negligence led to the injury.
In most cases, you are allowed to sue the hospital where the birth injury occurred. A doctor is often an employee of the hospital. In any personal injury case, the employer is liable for the negligence of their employees while they are on the job.
In other cases, the doctor may be an independent contractor who has privileges at the hospital. Although the hospital is not the employer, they may still be sued if they allowed a doctor to practice there with a record of poor patient care.
Who May Be Liable for a Birth Injury?
It is not always easy to show that the doctor, or other medical provider, was negligent in a birth injury case. You are the one who has the burden of proof in the case. You must also overcome a jury’s natural presumption to give credibility to what a doctor said. Nonetheless, it is possible to win a birth injury case.
Your birth injury attorney has several means available to prove your case, using:
- Your medical records that contain a description of your treatment (your medical records belong to you, and you have a legal right to them)
- Evidence that you can gather through the discovery process, including deposition testimony from the treating doctor where they answer questions from your lawyer about what happened
- Testimony from medical experts who will explain what a reasonable doctor would have done under the circumstances and how this particular doctor fell short of the standard of care
Birth injury cases are very complex. They rely on a detailed knowledge of science and the medical field. Not everyone can try a medical malpractice case. Your child’s future and justice should not be left to chance.
What We Offer at TSB Injury Law
Our role in your case starts as soon as you contact us and speak with a lawyer for the first time. At this point, you are certainly upset and worried about what the future may hold. You also want justice when you or your child have been injured by a careless doctor.
While we could never guarantee any result in your case, we can commit to communicating clearly and often with you. Our clients know that they have a responsible advocate who is on their side.
We can do the following in your case as you seek the financial compensation that you deserve:
- Obtain the medical records that you need for your case (especially when the doctor or hospital is giving you the runaround)
- Select and work with medical experts to begin to build the case that the doctor or members of the facility were negligent
- Place a value on your damages, reviewing your child’s future care needs
- Develop your case through the discovery process, helping you get additional answers about what happened
- Attempt to negotiate a settlement agreement
- Present your case in court if it cannot be settled
Reach Out to an Aiken Birth Injury Attorney
In order to effectively represent your child and family, your lawyer needs to understand what you are facing. At TSB Injury Law, we listen to our clients and communicate with them — that’s always first and foremost. We will then work to hold the doctor or facility accountable and get you the financial compensation that you need when negligence is proven. You should reach out to an attorney, and we handle the details.
You can schedule a free initial consultation by sending us a message online or giving us a call at (803) 220-0000. We can even come to your home to meet you if you would like.
