Understanding Your Birth Injury Lawsuit: Steps to Secure Compensation

What is a Birth Injury Lawsuit?

Advancements in technology have granted us the safest medical procedures to date. While we are all very lucky to live in this advanced time period, it doesn’t mean that medical negligence or malpractice doesn’t happen anymore.

One common form of medical malpractice that we see is birth injury. So what does that mean?

A birth injury can look a few different ways; however, they usually involve complications with newborns. These injuries can occur before, during, or after delivery, usually affecting nerves or some sort of traumatic brain injury.

Following a baby’s injury sustained in the hospital, it’s important to file a birth injury claim. A birth injury lawsuit is a type of medical malpractice claim filed against the doctor, hospital, or health care professional responsible for the injury.

These specific lawsuits can provide compensation to families in order to help pay for the medical expenses incurred, emotional distress, and the ongoing care required for the child’s birth injury.

Anywhere that hospitals or medical malpractice are involved, things quickly become complicated. With many forms of liability waivers to protect themselves, hospitals and doctors tend to walk away unmarred by the experience. Birth injury lawsuits are best handled by professionals due to their complexity and unique challenges. Working with a personal injury attorney is key to winning and getting the compensation you deserve.

Types of Birth Injuries

As we mentioned, birth injuries are complicated and can look different for different people. These types of injuries stem from a physical injury. Common examples include:

• Cerebral palsy
• Bruising or swelling of the head or body
• Bleeding under the skull
• Facial nerve injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Clavicle fracture

While the injuries are a result of physical harm, they can lead to mental, emotional, developmental, and behavioral problems for the child. Sometimes, birth injuries require lifelong medical care that is often too much for families to afford. This is why filing a birth injury claim right away is crucial to getting compensation.

The Birth Injury Lawsuit Process

Filing a Claim

If your child has suffered brain damage or another birth injury, filing a claim is the first place to start. You can get a free consultation from the experts at Carl Reynolds Law that will give you insights into what happens next in order to have a successful case. The key is working with an experienced birth injury lawyer.

During this process, a member of our legal team will listen to your story, ask you questions about your child’s birth injury, and help you determine if you have a strong case. Next, we prepare a demand letter that formally requests compensation with evidence and facts that support your allegations against the hospital or medical professionals involved.

Collecting Evidence

If you have a strong case that we can help you proceed with, as your birth injury lawyer, it becomes our mission to aid you through every step of the process. Our legal team will conduct a thorough investigation and collect all the evidence we can to help you build an even stronger case.

Birth injury lawsuit evidence often includes medical records, witness statements, and expert testimony in court. While this can sound a bit intimidating, it is worth the fight if it means getting justice and compensation for your child’s birth injury.

We then use the evidence obtained to prove medical negligence or malpractice.

Factors Affecting Birth Injury Settlement Amounts

So, how is compensation determined?

This ultimately weighs heavily on the severity of your child’s birth injury. More severe birth injuries often result in higher payouts, especially if their injury will require lifelong medical care.

Additional factors include:

• Medical expenses
• Quality of life of the child
• Lost wages of the parents
• State where baby was born
• Legal team’s skill level

Working with a highly skilled birth injury lawyer is critical to receiving due compensation for the devastating effects of birth injuries.

Benefits of Working with Birth Injury Lawyers

The birth injury lawyers at Carl Reynolds Law can help you navigate the complex process of filing a birth injury lawsuit. An experienced birth injury attorney, like someone from our legal team, can help you secure the maximum compensation possible for your child’s injury.

Birth injury lawyers can also help provide you with the emotional support you need during this hard time. Facing the reality that your child suffered or might live with a birth injury for the rest of their lives isn’t just traumatic for the child; it weighs heavily on parents, too. Working with an experienced birth injury lawyer gives you the confidence and support you need to help your child.

With our knowledge of the legal process, we can steadily guide you the whole way through.

Who Can File a Birth Injury Lawsuit?

Is there a way to know in advance if filing a birth injury lawsuit is the best option for you? You likely have a good case if:

• Your child was sent to the NICU
• Experienced seizures
• Missed important milestones
• Has limp muscles
• Has underdeveloped or undeveloped motor skills

Just because an injury is sustained at birth does not always mean that it appears right away. Keep this in mind as your child grows. Malpractice claims involving children can happen when the child reaches 12-24 months of age, as this is when many injuries begin to appear.

What Damages Can Be Pursued in a Birth Injury Claim?

Taking things a step further, understanding what kind of birth injury lawsuit settlements you can reach is an important part of the process.

Generally, plaintiffs can seek two types of damages in a birth injury claim: compensatory and punitive.

Compensatory damages are awarded to account for the financial costs of a birth injury (economic) and the distress and changes that a birth injury can cause (noneconomic).

Punitive damages would involve going beyond compensatory damages. This would aim to punish the defendant. In the case of medical negligence or medical malpractice, it might look like seeking for an employee or health care professional to be fired.

How Long Does a Birth Injury Lawsuit Take?

Time is of the essence with birth injury lawsuits. These types of lawsuits can take up to a year or more, especially if you want to maximize your financial compensation.

You can always opt for a birth injury lawsuit settlement earlier on in the process, but that can do more harm than good if you end up having lifelong medical bills for your child’s birth injury.

What is a Birth Injury Settlement?

A birth injury settlement is a private financial agreement between a plaintiff (injured child and family) and a defendant (negligent medical professional and/or facility).

The terms of a settlement are final and binding when both parties sign. That’s why being sure about your decision and listening to your personal injury lawyer is so crucial throughout the process.

Choose Carl Reynolds Law

There is no pain like the pain of seeing your child suffer. A birth injury lawsuit can provide compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and can help remedy some of that pain and suffering.

Working with an experienced birth injury lawyer can help you secure the maximum compensation possible for your child’s injuries. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help – you deserve justice and compensation for your child’s injuries.