Roswell Birth Injury Attorneys

What is a Birth Injury?

A birth injury is an injury that a newborn suffers before, during, or slightly after childbirth. The risk of a birth injury can increase based on the baby’s position, size, and overall health, as well as the overall health of the mother. However, many of the worst cases of birth injuries can be linked back to a medical professional’s mistakes or negligence that should have been preventable.

Common examples of birth injuries include:

• Cerebral palsy (CP): A group of disorders commonly characterized by skeletomuscular conditions that result in complications with the child’s movement, posture, and articulation.
• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE): The result of oxygen deprivation, often during childbirth, that triggers a potentially permanent brain injury.
• Erb’s palsy: Nerve damage to the newborn’s arm and shoulder, caused when the infant is too forcefully pulled during childbirth.
• Head and face injuries: Misuse of a birth-assisting tool like forceps or a vacuum extractor can cut, bruise, or scar the newborn's head or face.
• Cephalohematoma: A pooling of blood beneath the baby’s scalp, often caused by unrelieved pressure during delivery.
• Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS): The inhalation of the meconium (the infant’s first stool) before or during birth, possibly causing a serious respiratory illness.

Malpractice That Can Cause Birth Injuries

Birth injuries can be caused by natural complications with pregnancy and childbirth, such as an abnormally large baby or genetic predispositions to certain health conditions. When considering a birth injury lawsuit, though, the birth injury must have been caused, worsened, or related to a medical provider’s negligence. Our Roswell birth injury attorneys can investigate your case, review medical records, consult with trusted third-party medical experts, and more to determine the root cause of your child’s birth injury and see if that cause justifies a claim or lawsuit filed against the defendant(s).

Forms of medical malpractice that may cause a birth injury can include:

• Failure to monitor: Medical professionals must constantly monitor a baby’s vital signs during delivery to look for signs of fetal distress. If monitoring is not routine, or vital sign data is misinterpreted, it can put both the child and the mother at risk of a birth injury.
• Unsafe use of force: A medical professional must carefully manipulate and pull on a child to assist during childbirth. Using too much force can cause permanent nerve damage that leaves the child with a disability from the moment they are born.
• Unsafe use of medical equipment: If a medical professional does not know how to use forceps, vacuum extractors, and other pieces of medical equipment to assist during childbirth, it can be the direct cause of serious harm to the newborn.
• Delayed C-section: When a mother is struggling to give birth, the medical team supervising her health and the delivery needs to decide if an emergency C-section is necessary. Any delay in this decision and the surgery could constitute medical malpractice if it results in a birth injury.
• Failure to prevent infection: Both the mother and the baby may be at a higher-than-usual risk of infection during childbirth for a variety of reasons. Medical providers must take careful steps to prevent infections and react quickly if the signs of an infection are noticed.

Compensation in Birth Injury Claims

What compensation is owed to you and your child after a birth injury changed both your lives, possibly forever? It depends on the details of your case. Every birth injury claim is unique, so we always approach each case we take with deliberate care to fully understand the extent of the harm and the costs and losses that harm has incurred. Our goal is to secure every last penny available in compensation, so your child has the most opportunities to live as comfortably as possible as they grow up.

The compensation that might be available in your birth injury case could include the following and more:

• All medical expenses for past and future medical bills related to your child’s birth and ongoing care due to a birth injury.
• Cost to get your child specialized care, education, and other necessities based on their special needs.
• Non-economic damage based on your child’s pain, suffering, and hardships caused by the birth injury and any disability.

Let James Wood Law Help – Call Now

Our Roswell birth injury attorneys are standing by to hear from parents whose children have suffered birth injuries and disabilities caused by a medical provider’s negligence. If your child was born with a birth injury, please talk to us to see if you have a claim, even if your medical provider or pediatrician says there is no correlation between the injury and medical malpractice. An investigation from our legal team might prove otherwise, and you might have the grounds to take legal action.

Get more information about birth injury claims and lawsuits filed in New Mexico. Call (505) 906-6774 and ask for your no-cost, confidential case consultation.