Our firm can handle a range of birth injury cases, including:
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Brain bleeds
- Cerebral palsy
- Developmental disabilities
- Erb’s palsy
- Failure to perform a C-section
- Hydrocephalus
- Improper use of birth-assist tools
- Infections
- Intellectual disabilities
- Neonatal brain injuries
Our legal team can provide compassionate care for families in West Virginia whose child experienced a birth injury. We use all available resources to show that another medical professional would not have caused harm under similar circumstances. Those responsible for causing harm should be held liable for the injury.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
One of the most common types of birth injuries is cerebral palsy or CP. Symptoms of this disorder often manifest as muscular weakness and exaggerated difficulties with motor control. CP can also be accompanied by learning and developmental challenges.
It is widely accepted that severe birth injuries involving oxygen deprivation are one of the more common causes of cerebral palsy among infants and newborns.
Oxygen deprivation can occur due to:
- Fetal distress: When an unborn child is showing signs of serious complications, the umbrella term is called fetal distress. Oxygen deprivation is one of the more common and dangerous telltale signs of fetal distress.
- Umbilical strangulation: While a child is being delivered, incorrect positioning or manipulation can cause the umbilical cord to wrap around the child’s throat and strangle them. Doctors need to pay close attention to a child’s position during birth in order to avoid umbilical strangulation.
- Placental abruption: If the placenta becomes separated from an unborn child, it will cause that child to no longer adequate nutrients. In severe cases, placental abruption can also cause oxygen deprivation, leading to fetal distress and possibly CP.
Obstetricians are medical professionals who specialize in monitoring and maintaining a pregnant woman’s health and that of her unborn child. If oxygen deprivation occurs before birth, then the obstetrician could be liable for the child’s injuries. On the other hand, if a child’s CP originates from a medical mistake during delivery or after, then a doctor or nurse could be liable.
What is Erb’s Palsy?
It is also worth discussing Erb’s palsy in more detail because it is also one of the more common and permanent forms of birth injuries. Erb’s palsy is caused by a tearing of the upper nerves of the arm, which stretch to the shoulder and lower neck region. Nerves rarely heal on their own, so Erb’s palsy at birth can cause a lifetime of weakness or disability in the affected arm.
Erb’s palsy can be caused by a doctor pulling too harshly on a child’s arm during delivery. If a newborn becomes stuck while being birthed, then the attending doctor needs to carefully manipulate the child to finish the delivery safely. Pulling on the child’s arm too suddenly or forcefully will likely result in this permanent injury.
Lifelong Damages Caused by Birth Injuries
Birth injury claims are hard-fought by insurance companies that represent individual medical practitioners or hospital groups because the damages associated with them are often severe. After all, an injury that occurs before or at the moment of birth and stays with the child in some way for the rest of their life is bound to be costly. Our Princeton, West Virginia birth injury attorneys know how much could be at stake for your birth injury claim, which is why we always strive to go above and beyond your expectations by calculating not just the damages you have already experienced but also those that you will likely experience far into the future.
The damages in a birth injury claim will often include:
- Mother’s hospital costs
- NICU costs
- Years of medical treatments or therapies
- Living adjustment costs for the child’s family
- Emotional traumatization
- Future loss wages the child will experience due to his or her injuries and damages
- Pain and suffering
Medical Malpractice or a Mistake?
Was your child hurt due to medical malpractice or a doctor’s mistakes? Although the difference might not be obvious at first, it is there – and it is important.
Birth injuries are always known risks of any pregnancy, but they are not always signs of medical malpractice. A defining factor of medical malpractice is whether or not another medical provider in the same or similar circumstances would have done anything differently to avoid harming the child. If a birth injury is caused but the medical provider failing to follow the accepted standard of care, then you may have a claim for your child’s injuries and damages as a result of that medical provider failing to follow the standard of care. However, if the medical provider followed standard medical procedures, then the validity of a birth injury claim could be jeopardized.
You do not need to worry about the details of your claim’s validity, though, not when you get our legal team on your side. We can investigate your claim and the evidence of medical malpractice on your behalf, allowing you to rest and spend time with your child, undistracted by the complexities of your birth injury case.
Helping to Restore the Respect & Dignity You Deserve
If you or your child suffered during the pregnancy, labor, or delivery process, the West Virginia birth injury lawyers from Katz, Kantor, Stonestreet & Buckner are zealous patient advocates. We don’t back down when advocating for our clients against a doctor, hospital, or insurance company. Our goal is to maximize the outcome to allow you and your child to live with the respect and dignity that you deserve.
We have decades of experience advocating or victims of birth injuries and can give you a voice during this stressful time. Set up an appointment at (304) 713-2014
