Childbirth should be a joyous occasion, but this event can quickly become memorable for all of the wrong reasons when a healthcare provider acts negligently and injures your child as a result. A Westchester birth injury lawyer from Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette, P.C., can investigate your case and help sort out what went wrong while fighting to hold the negligent healthcare provider responsible for the harm they caused your newborn.
When Birth Injuries Are Medical Malpractice
Birth injuries are medical malpractice when all of the following facts apply:
- The mother and/or the baby had a physician-patient relationship with the defendant, which established a duty of care.
- The defendant breached the applicable standard of care, which is the level of care that another healthcare provider in the same specialty and geographic area would provide under similar circumstances.
- The defendant’s breach of the duty of care was the actual and proximate cause of the injury.
- You or your child suffered damages as a result.
An experienced medical malpractice attorney from our personal injury law firm can carefully review your case to determine if you have legal grounds for a medical malpractice claim.
How Can a Birth Injury Lawsuit Help Your Child?
Birth injury lawsuits can tremendously help families who have experienced trauma and hardship due to a medical mistake during the birthing process. Birth injury claims can help by providing:
- A sense of accountability and justice: This type of legal claim holds the negligent healthcare provider legally and financially responsible for the mistake they made, giving the family a sense of justice after they have been wronged.
- Payment for medical bills: The costs associated with treating a birth injury are often exorbitant and can financially devastate a family. A successful birth injury claim can
- Compensation for future care needs: Birth injury claims can help pay for ongoing medical treatment, therapies, specialized care, medical equipment, and other care needs.
- Financial security: Birth injuries can sometimes have lifelong implications. They can prevent your child from ever working or turn you into a full-time caregiver. A birth injury claim may help provide the funds necessary to compensate for these losses and provide for your family’s long-term needs.
- Awareness: Your child’s case may help draw awareness to dangerous doctors and result in meaningful change that can prevent other families from going through the same type of ordeal that your family has experienced.
Evidence That Can Support Your Birth Injury Claim
One of the most important roles of birth injury attorneys is obtaining the evidence necessary to establish their clients’ legal claims. Evidence that could help support your birth injury claim might include:
- Fetal monitoring strips, which interpret variable decelerations, late decelerations, and Category III tracings that indicate fetal distress
- Nursing notes, which may indicate early signs of potential problems that may not have been properly communicated
- Apgar scores that indicate your child’s injuries
- Umbilical blood gas results
- Placental pathology reports
- Medication management protocols
We can work with pediatric neuroradiologists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, pediatric neurologists, neonatologists, and other medical experts to help provide valuable insight and testimony into how the injuries occurred.
Contact Us Today for a Free Consultation
If you suspect your child’s birth injury was due to medical malpractice, reach out to the dedicated legal team at Morris Wilson Knepp Jacquette for a free case review.