St Louis Birth Injury Lawyer
All pregnant women worry about the health and safety of their babies during labor and delivery. Although childbirth is a natural process, it can also be dangerous if something goes wrong, leaving a newborn with severe long-term damage.
If your baby is born with a birth injury, you may feel like your life has been turned upside down. It can be challenging for birth injury victims and their families as they struggle to understand what happened and how to move forward.
Has your loved one suffered a birth injury? Our St. Louis birth injury attorneys from Injury Lawyer Team, sponsored by Rosenfeld Law Offices, can help you understand your rights and determine if you have a case with a free consultation.
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Birth Injury Statistics
March of Dimes reports that 7 out of 1000 babies are born with a birth injury yearly. The injury often results from medical malpractice or negligence of the medical professional, hospital, or medical facility.
Birth injuries can range from mild to catastrophic and can happen to the mother or the child during labor and delivery. The injuries often require expensive medical treatment and long-term care.
Some common birth injuries include:
- Fractured collarbones: This is the most common type of injury, occurring in as many as 15 out of 1,000 live births.
- Brain injuries: These can lead to cerebral palsy, which is the most common childhood motor disability. Cerebral palsy occurs in 1.5 to 4 children per every 1,000 births.
- Erb’s palsy: This type of birth injury limits the use of the arm, shoulder, and hand. 12,000 babies born each year develop Erb’s palsy due to an injury at birth.
- Genetic disorders: Some genetic disorders can be detected before birth. If your child is at risk for a genetic disorder, your doctor may recommend prenatal testing.
Causes of Birth Injuries
Medical negligence during birth can cause various birth injuries. The type of injury can depend on the act of medical negligence and the severity of the damage.
Birth injuries can range from mild bruises and scrapes to more severe injuries such as brain damage, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy.
Some common causes of birth injuries include:
- Improper use of medical instruments or tools: Medical professionals may sometimes use too much force when delivering a baby. It can cause physical birth trauma to the baby and lead to birth injuries.
- Lack of oxygen: If the baby does not get enough oxygen during delivery, it can cause brain damage and other serious health problems.
- Maternal infection: If the mother has an infection during pregnancy, it can be passed to the baby and cause health problems.
- Undetected fetal distress, incorrect use of instruments, and faulty equipment could lead to the child’s birth injury.
- Premature birth: Babies born prematurely may have a higher risk of developing childbirth injuries.
- Failure to diagnose or treat critical pregnancies or any underlying condition such as gestational diabetes or high blood pressure.
- Genetic defects: Some birth injuries are caused by congenital defects beyond medical professionals’ control.
- Failure to promptly respond to complications: If medical professionals do not react quickly to difficulties during delivery, it can lead to childbirth injuries.
- Improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors: The forceps and vacuum extractors are medical instruments that are sometimes used during the birth canal delivery process. The injury occurs if they are misused.
- Delayed delivery or failure to perform a c-section when necessary: If the delivery through the birth canal is delayed or a c-section is not performed when necessary, it can lead to birth injuries.
- Mishandling the baby during delivery: Doctors or nurses may sometimes mishandle the baby during delivery. It can lead to childbirth injuries.
Signs and Symptoms of Birth Injuries
The signs and symptoms of childbirth injuries can vary depending on the type and severity of the injury.
Some common signs and symptoms include:
- Head injuries are a common type of birth injury. They can range from mild concussions to more severe brain damage.
- Spinal cord injuries can cause paralysis and other serious health problems.
- Cerebral palsy: Cerebral palsy is a type of birth injury that can cause paralysis and other serious health problems.
- Erb’s Palsy affects the nerves in the arm. It can cause paralysis and other serious health problems.
- Physical trauma: Birth injuries can sometimes cause physical trauma. It can include bruises, cuts, or scrapes.
- Bruising or swelling: Birth injuries can sometimes cause bruising or swelling.
- Broken bones: Birth injuries can sometimes cause broken bones.
How To Prevent Birth Injuries
You can do a few things during pregnancy to lower your risk of birthing injuries. Giving birth by cesarean section may help prevent some childbirth injuries, but this is major surgery with its health risks.
If you’re planning on giving birth vaginally, try to avoid getting too tired during labor. There are a few things you can do during pregnancy to help prevent childbirth injuries:
- Exercise regularly – make sure you do pregnancy-safe exercises: Routine practice might include:
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- Taking a brisk walk for 30 minutes every day
- Doing pregnancy-safe workouts at the gym
- Eat healthily – a nutritious diet will help you have more energy and avoid obesity, making labor harder. Try to eat:
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- Plenty of fruits and vegetables
- Whole grains
- Lean protein
- Low-fat dairy
- Get enough sleep – aim for at least 7-8 hours every night. It can be challenging during pregnancy, but try to nap and go to bed early.
- Take breaks during the day – if your job is physically demanding, take plenty of breaks during the day to rest.
- Avoid smoking and drinking alcohol – both of these can harm your baby’s health.
- Strengthen your pelvic muscles with pelvic floor exercises every day.
- Avoid constipation and straining on the toilet, as this can weaken your pelvic muscles.
Cerebral Palsy, Erb’s Palsy, and Brachial Plexus Injury
Birth injuries can occur when a doctor or other medical professional is negligent in their duties.
Negligence can lead to several childbirth injuries, including cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, and brachial plexus.
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a debilitating brain condition that can limit a child’s motor functioning, speech, and intellectual ability. It is caused by damage to the brain either before, during, or after birth.
Damage like the above can directly result from a lack of proper medical care. For example, if a doctor fails to monitor the baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels during labor and delivery, the baby suffers. As a result, this could be considered negligence.
Erb’s Palsy
Erb’s palsy is a type of neonatal brachial plexus palsy caused by damage to the brachial plexus. It is a network of nerves around the shoulder.
Doctors can cause nerve damage during delivery by forcing the infant’s head and neck to the side, pulling on the infant’s arm, or mismanaging a breech birth. This trauma can result in weakness or paralysis in the affected arm.
Brachial Plexus
Brachial plexus injury damages the brachial plexus, a network of nerves around the shoulder. Doctors can cause this injury during delivery by forcing the infant’s head and neck to the side, pulling on the infant’s arm, or mismanaging a breech birth. This trauma can result in weakness or paralysis in the affected arm.
The injuries sustained during the berthing pregnancy, the birthing process, and years afterward lead to lifelong disabilities and expensive future medical needs for physical therapy, medical care, surgeries, and rehabilitation throughout the child’s life.
Birth Injury Medical Malpractice
Birth-related medical malpractice is a serious issue that can have lifelong consequences. The negligence could involve childbirth injuries to the mother or infant, wrongful birth, or wrongful pregnancies.
- Birth Injuries (birth trauma) is an injury to the mother, child, or both that occurs during the delivery process. It can be caused by many things such as doctor or hospital staff negligence, failure to monitor a pregnant woman’s health, misdiagnosis of a birth defect, and giving a woman misinformation about her fertility status.
- Wrongful Birth is when a doctor or hospital staff member acts negligently and causes a birth defect. Problems can arise when the doctor fails to properly monitor the pregnant woman’s health and the baby is born with a birth defect.
- Wrongful Pregnancy can occur when a woman is given misinformation about her fertility status and undergoes costly and unnecessary fertility treatments. It can happen if a woman is misdiagnosed with a birth defect.
The damages in these cases can be very severe. They can include compensation for past and future medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages, and loss of earning capacity. In some cases, punitive damages may also be awarded.
Have you or your child been the victim of one of these situations? It is essential to speak with an experienced St. Louis birth injury attorney who can evaluate your case in a free consultation and help you recover compensation for the personal injury you have suffered.
Make sure you have a free consultation to discuss your case with an experienced lawyer in St. Louis, MO.
Filing a Birth Injury Lawsuit
Did you or your child suffer an injury during birth? You may be considering filing a lawsuit.
Birth injuries can have lifelong consequences for the victim, and you must understand your legal rights and options by speaking to a specialized St Louis birth injury lawyer.
Below are nine steps to help guide you through filing a birth injury claim. Remember that every case is unique, and these steps should not be taken as legal advice.
Consider having a free case evaluation with a St. Louis birth injury attorney from our law offices before making any decisions about your case.
- Gather Evidence: Review medical records, speak to witnesses, and collect any other evidence that will support your claim.
- Determine the Statute of Limitations: All states have a deadline for filing a birth injury case. If you miss this deadline, you will not be able to file a claim.
- Determine Who to Sue: In a birth injury lawsuit, you may be able to sue the doctor, hospital, or other medical providers involved in your care. For this reason, our St. Louis birth injury lawyers know they will need access to information that might be under the doctor-patient relationship protection.
- Prove Negligence: To win a birth injury lawsuit, you must prove that the medical provider was negligent. The evidence shows that the child’s birth injury occurred because the staff did not provide the standard of care that a reasonable doctor would have provided in the same situation.
- Calculate Your Damages: You will need to determine how much money you seek for damages. A birth injury claim might include medical bills, lost wages, pain, and suffering.
- File Your Medical Malpractice Claim or Lawsuit: Once you have gathered the necessary information, you will file your lawsuit in court.
- Negotiate a Settlement: Your St. Louis, MO lawyer will present some of your evidence during a settlement meeting while negotiating a resolution to drop the lawsuit in exchange for sufficient financial compensation.
- Go to Court: The defense, or their insurance company, might make unreasonable demands to drop the case by offering only minimal compensation. The next step to recover compensation for the child’s birth injuries is to attend court hearings and present your case, including testifying, presenting evidence, and cross-examining witnesses.
- Collect Your Damages: The courts will order the defendants to pay all owed damages in successful birth injury lawsuits.
Our St. Louis birth injury lawyers have successfully resolved hundreds of medical malpractice cases like yours. Contact our personal injury lawyers today to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your baby’s injuries.
Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Sadly, many childbirth deliveries result in stillbirth and genetic birth defects. However, in many birth injury cases, the medical provider’s negligence led to a severe childbirth injury, culminating in the newborn’s death.
In some medical malpractice cases, a lawsuit for wrongful death can be filed. A wrongful death case is a civil action that may award damages to the deceased’s family members.
The term “wrongful death” refers to a situation where someone’s death was caused by another person or entity’s negligence or recklessness.
A typical wrongful death claim might be the result of:
- The medical provider’s failure to adequately monitor the mother and baby during pregnancy and labor
- The doctor’s failure to detect and treat fetal distress
- The medical provider’s use of excessive force during delivery
- The staff’s failure to properly treat a child’s injury after delivery
If your baby died due to a birth injury, you and your family might be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit founded on medical malpractice.
Contact one of our experienced St. Louis birth injury attorneys for a free consultation to learn more about your legal rights and options.
Many personal injury cases, citing wrongful death, take years to resolve how and why the medical malpractice victims have died.
Call our personal injury attorneys to schedule a free consultation. All confidential or sensitive information you share with our legal team remains private through an attorney-client relationship.
Hire a St. Louis Birth Injury Lawyer to Resolve A Compensation Case
Do you suspect your injured child suffered needlessly when the medical provider made a mistake during your pregnancy, delivery, or after birth? The St. Louis birth injury attorneys at Injury Lawyer Team are legal advocates for children and families suffering a childbirth injury in St. Louis, MO.
Contact our St. Louis, MO, personal injury lawyers today to schedule a free case evaluation. Let us review your claim to determine your birth injury case worth.
We accept all personal injury cases and wrongful death lawsuits on a contingency fee basis, meaning no upfront fees are paid until we resolve your claim through a negotiated settlement or jury award.