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Cincinnati Birth Injury Lawyer
Experienced Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati Birth Injury Attorneys
It is highly likely that no medical professional would ever purposefully injure a mother or child, but unfortunately, errors can and do happen. There are a number of birth injuries that can occur if adequate medical standards of care are not followed. They can occur at any stage of pregnancy, from your first ultrasound all the way through post-delivery. Medical malpractice, such as inexperience, a lack of attention, or other forms of negligence, is frequently the cause of such injuries.
You may be entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering, medical costs, and other damages if you or your infant were injured during childbirth due to preventable injuries. At TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, our Covington and Cincinnati birth injury lawyers are experienced in helping birth injury victims and their families recover the compensation they deserve for the toll that medical negligence took on them.
We understand that birth injury cases can alter the lives of victims and their families forever. Our Ohio and Kentucky malpractice lawyers will help you assert your rights against the negligent medical and nursing professionals who contributed to these injuries. To learn more about the potential of your birth injury lawsuit, call our office today at (800) 698-4054 or reach out online today.
What is a Birth Injury?
Any sort of damage to a newborn that occurs during or shortly after birth is referred to as a birth injury. Although some birth injuries are mild and have no long-term consequences, others can cause lifelong impairments that impede the child’s cognitive, emotional, and/or physical development. In many situations, doctors may avoid birth injuries by following a set standard of care, closely monitoring the mother’s and child’s health, and immediately resolving any suspected concerns that develop throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
A birth injury claim falls under the umbrella of medical malpractice law, which is an area of tort law that works to hold negligent medical professionals responsible for their failure to accomplish these tasks, leading to preventable birth injuries.
Birth Injuries vs. Birth Defects
Birth injuries and birth defects, while both serious conditions, are distinct in their causes and nature. A birth defect is a structural or functional abnormality that occurs during the baby’s development in the womb, often due to genetic factors or environmental exposures. In contrast, birth injuries occur during the process of childbirth and are typically the result of physical trauma, improper medical treatment, or complications during delivery.
More often than not, a birth defect is one that is not preventable, while a birth injury typically is. If you or your child suffered injuries from medical negligence during labor or delivery, you may be able to recover compensation for the damages and losses you’ve experienced through a birth injury lawsuit. Birth injury lawsuits arise from cases of medical malpractice, where negligence during delivery leads to preventable harm.
The Longterm Effects of Childbirth Injuries
Many children who suffer birth injuries may never recover. Even those without obvious physical injuries may be left with seizures, behavioral problems, speech and language impairments, learning disabilities, developmental delays, cognitive impairments, or intellectual deficiencies.
Some children with a permanent injury or disability will never be able to walk, talk, or eat, and even the ones who can do those things may require the long-term care of their parents and other healthcare professionals.
Common Types of Birth Injuries
There are a number of different types of birth injuries, all with their own challenges and uphill hurdles for injured children and their families. Some of the most common birth injury cases we see here at TLF include:
- Cerebral Palsy: Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders affecting movement and muscle tone or posture, often caused by damage that occurs to the immature brain as it develops.
- Intracranial Hemorrhage: Bleeding within the brain, often due to traumatic delivery or the use of forceps or vacuum extraction.
- Cephalohematoma: A collection of blood between a baby’s scalp and the skull, often caused by the use of forceps or vacuum extraction during delivery.
- Cranial Nerve Injuries: Damage to any of the twelve cranial nerves, which can result in various issues such as difficulty swallowing, facial movement problems, and other neurological impairments.
- Facial Nerve Injuries: Nerve damage that can occur if pressure is applied to the baby’s face during delivery, potentially causing temporary or permanent facial paralysis.
- Spinal Cord Injuries: Damage to the spinal cord during birth, which can result in varying degrees of paralysis.
- Shoulder Dystocia: A birth injury that occurs when a baby’s shoulder gets stuck behind the mother’s pelvic bone during delivery, leading to potential nerve damage or fractures.
- Brachial Plexus Injuries: Injuries to the network of nerves that send signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm, and hand, often caused by stretching or tearing during delivery.
- Erb’s palsy: A type of brachial plexus injury resulting from nerve damage during delivery, leading to weakness or paralysis in the arm.
- Klumpke’s Palsy: A specific type of brachial plexus injury that affects the lower nerves of the arm, leading to paralysis or weakness in the hand and wrist.
- Hypoxic or Ischemic Brain Injuries (HIE): A type of brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation and limited blood flow to the brain around the time of birth.
- Fractures and Broken Bones: Fractures and broken bones, particularly the clavicle (collarbone), can occur during difficult births.
- Perinatal Asphyxia: A condition caused by insufficient oxygen supply before, during, or immediately after birth, potentially leading to brain damage.
- Fetal Acidosis: Fetal acidosis is a medical condition where there is an excessive buildup of acid in a fetus’s blood and tissues, typically resulting from insufficient oxygen supply.
Common Causes of Birth Injuries
There are several ways in which negligence may occur and result in an injury to either mother or child during the birthing process. Failure to properly monitor, failing to order a C-section, and the misuse of medical instruments are among the many factors contributing to birth injuries. These injuries can range from minor issues like lacerations or bruises to life-threatening complications like spinal cord or brain damage.
At TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, we are experienced in all of the following types of birth injury claims:
- Vacuum extraction injuries
- Forceps injuries
- Failure to perform a C-Section
- Prolapsed umbilical cord
- Compressed umbilical cord
- Cervical ripening drugs
- Mismanaged or undiagnosed diabetic ketoacidosis in pregnancy
- Uterine rupture
- Cervical dystonia
- Placental abruption
- Nurse/midwife errors
- Negligent fetal monitoring
- Perinatal stroke
- Preeclampsia
- VBAC injuries
- Mismanaged labor or delivery
Wrongful Death Birth Injury Claim
When medical malpractice occurs before, after, or during childbirth, it can lead to severe complications, resulting in a baby’s birth injury or even the wrongful death of the newborn child or mother. Such tragic outcomes may arise from any type of negligence during delivery, from the improper use of medical equipment to the failure to address critical conditions promptly.
Pursuing justice in these cases is essential, and the Kentucky and Ohio wrongful death attorneys at TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm are here to help victims and their families do just that. If you have a birth-related wrongful death case, we encourage you to reach out to our experienced attorneys today to ensure you receive the support and compensation you deserve for your immense losses.
What To Do After a Birth Injury
When a medical error leads to a baby’s injuries, new parents are naturally very distraught, confused, and oftentimes feel completely hopeless. Luckily, there are some simple steps that parents can take to ensure a viable birth injury claim.
To begin, parents must first assess the situation. It’s completely normal to panic when a baby is harmed during birth. Parents often place a high level of confidence in the doctors who deliver their children, and they frequently develop a strong bond with them as the pregnancy progresses. However, to prevent mistakenly assuming the blame for a scenario in which they are the victims, our Ohio personal injury attorneys urge new parents to discontinue communicating with the delivery doctor and hospital.
Next, ensure your injured child has proper medical care. Things like quadriplegia, paralysis, shoulder dystocia, and cerebral palsy are all common ailments in newborns. These injuries should be identified right away, and the baby will almost certainly need to be taken to receive emergency care. However, some birth injuries that cause harm to the brain, nerves, and muscles may not be immediately apparent. If you notice that your newborn infant is having any problems at any time, you should seek medical help right away.
Finally, after you have obtained the treatment you require from your healthcare practitioner, contact a Covington or Cincinnati birth injury lawyer from TLF as soon as possible. If your child was injured at birth, an attorney on our team can help you understand your legal options and decide if you have a viable medical malpractice claim against your doctors.
How Long Do You Have to Sue for a Birth Injury in Ohio?
When you, a loved one, or your child suffers an injury at the hands of a negligent medical professional, it’s important that you act in a timely manner to preserve the integrity of your case. In Ohio, the statute of limitations for how long after a birth injury a plaintiff can file a claim is typically one year from the date of the injury.
However, if the plaintiff provides proper notice of the impending lawsuit to the medical provider in question, they may be granted a 180-day extension. If the infant died as a result of the injuries, the statute increases to two years from the date of death.
How Long Do You Have to Sue for a Birth Injury in Kentucky?
Kentucky’s statute of limitations for birth injury claims also requires filing within one year from the date of the birth injury or the death of the child. If the injury is discovered after a year has passed, the claim must be filed within an additional three years.
Why Do You Need a Birth Injury Attorney?
When your child experiences a birth injury, a qualified birth injury lawyer can assist you in asserting your legal rights and holding negligent parties responsible for the injuries suffered by your child. It is often very difficult for parents to tell if a doctor or other healthcare provider breached the standard of care and caused an avoidable birth injury. This determination typically requires an independent medical examination of the medical data in collaboration with a skilled Covington or Cincinnati birth injury lawyer who is familiar with these types of claims.
Your attorney will assess the immediate and long-term needs of your child throughout your child’s lifetime (including medical and long-term care needs, attendant and respite care, pain and suffering, loss of life enjoyment, and more) and use these factors to calculate a fair amount of compensation to obtain maximum recovery on your behalf.
Why Choose the Covington and Cincinnati Birth Injury Attorneys at TLF?
At TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, our Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati birth injury lawyers understand the needs of injured children and their families and work tirelessly to recover the compensation they deserve. We are dedicated to helping families who have children with cerebral palsy and a variety of other birth injuries improve the quality of their own lives and the quality of life for the family unit as a whole. Our legal team, equipped with experienced attorneys, paralegals, and registered nurses, devote themselves to achieving compensation for victims’ families to ease the burden of caring for children with injuries that were caused by the negligence of others.
Our attorneys understand the devastation and hopelessness felt by families with birth-injured children. When we pursue a birth injury claim, we are not only seeking to recover compensation for the infant and their family, but we are seeking to recover compensation and medical care for the injured 70-year-old that the infant will someday become. Allow us to walk you through the legal process and fight for your right to fair and just compensation. Call today!
Fighting for Maximum Compensation for Your Child’s Birth Injuries
The birth injury lawyers here at TLF are dedicated to helping families seek fair compensation for their child’s injuries resulting from birth-related incidents. By meticulously examining the circumstances surrounding each case, we work to properly calculate and seek damages that cover all immediate and long-term needs. This means we’ll fight for everything from medical bills, including all immediate and ongoing treatment, hospital stays, surgeries, medications, and physical therapy, and other expenses, to the emotional pain and suffering that you and your family have suffered as a result.
Leave it to us to seek justice and fight for a positive outcome in your case while you focus on your and/or your child’s recovery and future well-being.
Call an Experienced Birth Injury Attorney at TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm for a Free Consultation Today
A birth injury or wrongful death caused by negligent medical doctors, hospital staff, or nurses is devastating. If your infant was disabled or fatally injured during childbirth, you need to ensure that you are able to pursue a successful legal claim against every medical professional or entity responsible for your baby’s injuries.
If your child has suffered a birth injury, do not hesitate to contact our firm for a full investigation. We handle a wide variety of medical malpractice cases and know what it takes to seek compensation that meets the current and long-term needs of our clients. We will obtain medical records, contact witnesses, and consult with experts regarding your claim.
For a free consultation regarding your Northern Kentucky or Cincinnati birth injury claim, call our toll-free number at (800) 698-4054. You can also reach our Ohio office directly at (513) 651-4130, our Kentucky office at (859) 578-9130, or contact us online today.
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You Pay No Fees Unless We Win!
We are happy to offer a free consultation to evaluate your case. If you hire us as your legal counsel, we will represent you on a contingency-fee basis. You will pay no attorneys’ fees unless we recover financial damages.