Birth is typically a joyous time, but if any problems occur it can be extremely stressful. In the majority of instances labor goes smoothly, but if a physician or a nurse makes a mistake the consequences can be very severe.
Current estimates state that for every 1000 babies born in the United States, five will suffer from a birth injury. According to FindLaw, a birth injury is an injury a baby sustains at birth because of a complication occurring during labor.
How is a birth injury different from a birth defect?
It can often be very difficult to tell the difference between birth injuries and birth defects. In contrast to a birth injury, a birth defect is some form of harm the baby experienced prior to birth. Usually, birth defects are due to something that happened over the course of a woman’s pregnancy.
A birth injury, on the other hand, happens during the process of birth itself in the majority of instances. Birth injuries are potentially the fault of a medical professional whereas a birth defect is not.
My child suffers from a birth injury: do I have a case?
It is possible that your child’s birth injury necessitates a medical malpractice case, but this is not true all of the time. Occasionally, certain complications happen during labor that a medical professional cannot prevent or manage even if they use competent and reasonable skill.
For a birth injury to result in a medical malpractice case, you must prove that the birth injury resulted due to a lack of proper advice or proper medical care either during your pregnancy or your delivery.