Birth Injury

One of the most devastating types of medical malpractice involves mistakes made during labor and delivery. A birth injury can leave a healthy baby with a long-term disability, brain or nerve damage, and a poor start to life. In the very worst cases, a birth injury can end a life just as it was about to begin.

At Van Sant Law, we are committed to helping the parents of injured babies find justice in the wake of a botched labor and delivery. We will examine the evidence in your case, determine whether negligence was a factor in your child’s injury, and help you fight the hospital and insurance company to secure fair compensation.

When you make the decision to give birth in a hospital, you are putting your health and the health of your baby into the hands of the doctors and nurses who work there. You expect the utmost care, concern, and attention from those around you. You do not consider that even a small medical mistake can have devastating and lasting consequences for your family and baby.

Birth injuries can result from a number of errors and poor decisions. For example, a doctor may simply not act fast enough when a baby’s heart rate drops. Or a nurse may give a baby the wrong medication (or the wrong amount of medication). In other cases, a doctor may use too much force when extracting a baby with forceps or a vacuum.

In any instance in which your infant is harmed by medical personnel due to negligence or a preventable mistake, you may have grounds to file a Georgia birth injury claim.

Birth injuries can be as minor as swelling or bruising that resolves on its own, or as catastrophic as paralysis, severe brain damage, and death. Nevertheless, whatever the severity of your infant’s birth injury, you have a right under the law to collect compensation for any birth injury that causes damage and loss. This could include:

• Fractures and broken bones
• Brachial plexus injuries (spinal cord injuries)
• Cerebral palsy
• Erb’s palsy
• Klumpke’s palsy
• Perinatal asphyxia (lack of oxygen during birth)
• Hemorrhage in the brain, skull, or eye
• Facial paralysis
• Nerve damage
• Brain damage
• Death

At Van Sant Law, we want you to know that in many cases, these birth injuries could have been avoided or minimized. As in medical malpractice cases, it is vital to find and document the factual cause of the incident. With labor and delivery mistakes, it is important to analyze fetal monitoring tapes, lab results, medical charts, and fetal PH scalp samplings. These and other records can be utilized to show who is at fault and who is legally responsible for compensating for the injury.

Our legal team will review all of the facts of your case and determine whether a medical mistake or medical negligence caused your baby’s injury. We will also determine how much your case may be worth.

If your child has suffered a birth injury be you should speak with an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Please contact us online or call our office directly at 855-GA-INJURY or 404-991-5950 to schedule your free consultation.