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Pregnancy, labor, and delivery are difficult processes for mothers and babies. Yet most expectant mothers and infants make it through with few long-term adverse effects. 

Occasionally, the mother, baby, or both will experience a traumatic birth. The injuries they suffer could jeopardize their lives. The effects of birth trauma could permanently disable or disfigure a child. In many of these situations, the injured patient can seek compensation from the healthcare provider who contributed to the traumatic birth. 

Grounds for a Birth Trauma Claim 

You can pursue a claim for birth trauma that resulted from medical malpractice, which is also called “professional negligence.”  

Negligence is a legal doctrine that allows victims to pursue legal claims against those who unintentionally harm them. The victim only needs to prove the other party knew or should have known that their actions created an unreasonable risk of injury or death. 

Not all adverse outcomes will meet this standard. There was no malpractice if a doctor met the professional standard of care by providing reasonably competent, knowledgeable, and skilled treatment. 

Instead, the patient must point to some act or omission performed by a healthcare professional who failed to meet the standard of care. In other words, you and your lawyer must show that your medical provider did something that fell outside of the actions expected of a reasonably competent medical provider in the same circumstances. 

Victims often need expert witnesses to prove that birth trauma resulted from medical malpractice. This expert can review medical records and the testimony of other people in the room to determine whether the doctors, nurses, and other medical staff provided reasonable care. 

Examples of Birth Trauma Claims 

When you, your lawyer, and your expert witness review what happened during a traumatic birth, you may look for several of the following elements that could support a medical malpractice claim. 

Physical Injuries 

Many forms of birth trauma involve physical injuries. Broken bones, bruises, and cuts can result from rough treatment or the misuse of instruments like forceps or suction devices. While they may result in costly treatment and cause your child pain and suffering, these injuries often heal without any long-term effects. 

Nerve damage, on the other hand, can last a lifetime. Squeezing or pulling on the baby can compress, stretch, or tear nerves in their face, shoulder, or legs. Nerve damage can cause paralysis, weakness, and limited movement in the affected area. 

Failure to Monitor 

When an ob-gyn or anesthesiologist fails to monitor you and your baby during labor and delivery, they might miss the early signs of distress. Without this early warning, you or your child could suffer a preventable injury. Some examples of conditions that doctors should try to detect through monitoring include: 

• High or low maternal blood pressure 
• High or low fetal heart rate 
• Hemorrhaging 
• Low respiration or oxygen levels 

These conditions can lead to serious injuries or even death when a doctor or their staff fails to identify, diagnose, and treat them promptly. 

Failure to Diagnose 

When a healthcare provider identifies a possible problem, they must try to diagnose the cause and prescribe an appropriate course of treatment. Diagnosis errors can happen in a few ways, such as: 

• Non-diagnosis, where the doctor dismisses the problem 
• Delayed diagnosis, where the doctor recognizes the problem too late 
• Misdiagnosis, where the doctor identifies the wrong condition as the cause 

Diagnosis errors can lead a doctor down the wrong treatment path. Even if the doctor provides the correct treatment for a misdiagnosed condition, it will not help the patient. 

Incompetent Treatment 

Treatment errors, including medication errors, can cause harm to patients. These errors might arise from a lack of competence or skill.  

For example, a doctor might nick the mother’s bowel during a C-section, leading to a massive infection. Or they might fail to move the umbilical cord from around the baby’s neck, causing hypoxia and permanent brain damage. 

Compensation Available for Birth Trauma 

You can seek compensation for economic and non-economic losses after a birth injury.  

Since birth injuries can affect both parents and their child, the plaintiff might file one claim that seeks reimbursement for the child’s medical costs, the mother’s medical expenses, and the mother’s income losses if she missed work due to the traumatic birth. 

If the child has suffered permanent disabilities from the birth injury, they might need ongoing medical care and physical therapy. The disability might also affect their earning capacity over their entire life. The child’s parents can include these considerations in their claim. 

Speak to Experienced New York Birth Trauma Lawyer 

A traumatic birth can alter the course of your child’s life. The birth injury lawyers at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos fight for your child’s future. We understand the importance of securing financial resources for your child. 

Contact us today for a free consultation to discuss the birth trauma you and your child experienced and learn what our medical malpractice attorneys can do to help.