Birth Injuries Caused by Medical Negligence | Hourigan Kluger & Quinn
Learn how preventable medical errors during pregnancy, labor, or delivery may lead to serious birth injuries.
Birth Injuries Can Have Lifelong Consequences
Birth injuries can affect a child and family for years, especially when the injury results in developmental delays, physical limitations, or long-term medical needs.
Not every birth complication is malpractice. Labor and delivery can involve real medical risks. However, negligence occurs when a healthcare provider fails to comply with the accepted standard of care and that failure causes harm.
Birth injury cases may involve delayed C-section decisions, failure to appropriately monitor fetal heart rates, failure to respond to fetal distress, improper use of forceps or vacuum devices, shoulder dystocia mismanagement, medication errors, or failure to respond to maternal complications.
Evidence may include prenatal records, fetal monitoring strips, labor and delivery notes, medication records, operative reports, newborn records, and expert medical review.
Common birth injuries include brain injuries, nerve injuries, fractures, oxygen deprivation injuries or other conditions that require lifelong treatment or therapy.
In Pennsylvania, a Certificate of Merit is generally required in order to pursue a medical malpractice case such as a birth injury case. This means a qualified medical expert must review the case and confirm that there is a reasonable basis for the claim.
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Understanding Your Legal Rights After Medical Harm
Understanding your legal rights after a birth injury is important because these cases must be filed within certain timeframes and require detailed review of the medical records and literature to determine if there was negligence and whether the injury could have been prevented.
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