Giving birth can be a joyful time; however, there are serious risks associated with the labor and delivery process, which is why medical care providers are expected to provide high-quality care. Sometimes care providers fail to live up to this obligation, and the mother and baby are put at risk. Infants can sometimes suffer permanent and lifelong damage or even fatal injuries when things go wrong, and care providers need to be held accountable when that happens.
Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C., can help. Our skilled Conshohocken medical malpractice lawyer can work with you to determine the cause of your birth injury and to identify those who are accountable for it, so you can get the compensation you need to provide your child with the very best possible care or so you can rebuild and move forward from devastating loss.
To find out more about the assistance we can offer, give us a call at (610) 825-0500 or contact us online today to speak with a Conshohocken birth injury lawyer who can fight for you.
Causes of Birth Injuries We See in Conshohocken
Mistakes can be made during prenatal care or during the labor and delivery process that cause harm to a child. Some of the most common medical mistakes that lead to birth injuries include:
- Not monitoring the pregnancy carefully enough
- Failing to provide appropriate prenatal testing
- Misinterpreting ultrasound results or missing serious issues in an ultrasound
- Causing harm when repositioning the baby during delivery
- Using assistive devices like forceps incorrectly
- Offering or administering a C-section without informed consent
- Allowing delivery to go on too long
- Mistakes in administering the epidural
- Failure to monitor the baby’s condition during delivery
- Allowing an unsafe water birth
- Failing to diagnose medical conditions at birth or in the immediate aftermath
In many cases, birth injuries can have lifelong consequences, especially if a baby is deprived of oxygen for too long during the birthing process and experiences brain damage as a result.
If a birth injury can be traced back to the failures of a medical provider, including an obstetrician, gynecologist, neonatologist, or midwife, then the parents may be able to take legal action through a Conshohocken Cerebral Palsy lawsuit to recover compensation for the damage that results from these care providers not providing an appropriate level of care.
Common Birth Injuries That Result In Malpractice Claims
A child can suffer many different kinds of injuries because of inadequate prenatal or postnatal care or because of problems with the labor and delivery process. Some of the most common types of birth injuries that we have seen with past clients include:
- Broken bones, including fractures of the clavicle, femur, humerus, ribs, or skull
- Swelling of the scalp (Caput succedaneum) or blood pooling under the scalp (Cephalohematoma)
- Cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy
- Nerve damage, including facial nerve paralysis
- Lacerations (cuts)
- Subconjunctival hemorrhages or other eye injury
- Internal organ damage
- Spinal cord injury
- Subgaleal hemorrhages
These are just a few of the many injuries that can result from problems during the labor and delivery process. In many cases, these injuries can have lifelong consequences for children and their families. In others, children may be able to recover, but only with extensive and expensive medical care.
If the injuries can be traced back to medical negligence, the care provider who caused the harm should cover economic and non-financial loss resulting from the damage.
Compensation For Birth Injuries
If a child suffers a birth injury, it’s important for the doctor to make the child and family whole. This means providing compensation for:
- All medical care that the child needs over the course of the rest of his or her life
- Any reduction in earnings that could result from lasting impairments suffered by the child
- Pain and suffering endured by the child due to the medical issues that developed due to the birth injury
- Emotional distress that occurred because of the serious ailments of the child
- Lost companionship or loss of the customary relationship between parent and child if the child’s medical issues make a standard parent/ child relationship difficult or impossible
- Adaptations to the home that are made necessary as a result of caring for a handicapped child who has been harmed as a result of medical failures
An experienced Conshohocken birth injury lawyer can help you demonstrate the extent of your loss and prove how severe your damages are, so you can make sure you are fully and fairly paid by those who were responsible for damaging your family.
How Does A Conshohocken Birth Injury Lawyer Help You?
At Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C., our legal team has a long history of successfully helping parents whose children were harmed by birth injuries. We’ll work with you from day one to:
- Fulfill the legal requirements of making a claim. This includes filing your med mal claim within the statute of limitations and obtaining a certificate of merit within 60 days of filing, as required by PA law.
- Identifying all defendants, including your healthcare providers and their employers, who are liable to you for your losses. Employers can be vicariously liable for the on-the-job actions of staff, or for negligence in policies such as failure to have appropriate guidelines for hiring doctors or monitoring mothers and babies.
- Negotiating an out-of-court settlement. Our skilled negotiators can work with malpractice insurers to try to resolve claims outside of court to avoid the stress and uncertainty of a trial.
- Going to court to present your case. We have recovered millions of dollars in compensation in court proceedings for clients who suffered birth injuries.
Our firm has been recognized for our skill as trial lawyers, and we know the ins and outs of birth injury claims in Conshohocken.
Contact Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C., Today for Help
When you are ready to get legal help after a birth injury, reach out to Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C. at (610) 825-0500 to schedule your free consultation with a Conshohocken birth injury lawyer who can fight for you.