A new child being born into the world is one of the most profound experiences in any family’s life. That’s why medical staff undergo intensive training to be able to safely monitor the mother and her growing baby and deliver the newborn safely when it is due.
When expectant mothers in Fort Lauderdale go to one of our city’s many hospitals to give birth, they rightfully expect to be taken care of by competent medical professionals and look forward to bringing their healthy new baby home with them. Sadly, this is not always the case, and not all doctors and nurses take their responsibility to their patients as seriously as they should.
Inexperience and negligence can lead to errors in all types of medical procedures, but these errors are especially devastating to fragile newborns and delivering mothers, and can result in severe, even lifelong injuries and disabilities.
Along with being emotionally devastating, these injuries can create extreme financial hardship for families seeking medical treatment, therapy, special education, and more for their child.
However, it’s not always easily to tell if a baby’s injury or disability was caused by a medical error during the delivery. Doctors are not forthcoming when they make grave mistakes. That’s where an experienced birth injury attorney can help.
Our attorneys at Morgan & Morgan’s Fort Lauderdale office have decades of experience advocating for families victimized by birth injuries and other forms of medical malpractice. We will fight on your behalf to try and recover the compensation needed to cover expensive medical bills, special education, disability equipment, and more.
If you or someone you love is the victim of a birth injury, fill out our free, no-risk case evaluation form to learn how our attorneys can help.
Common Birth Injuries
The most common birth injuries to newborns include:
- Cerebral palsy;
- Brachial plexus palsy, including Erb’s palsy and Klumpke’s palsy;
- Brain damage;
- Hemorrhaging;
- Paralysis;
- Spinal cord damage; and
- Wrongful death.
Mothers may also suffer injuries during the delivery, including:
- Vaginal tears;
- Ruptured uterus;
- Episiotomy;
- Preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced hypertension);
- Spinal cord damage;
- Hemorrhaging;
- Sepsis; and
- Wrongful death.
This list is by no means exhaustive, and you may have suffered medical malpractice or a birth injury in a variety of ways. A knowledgeable Fort Lauderdale attorney can investigate your claim.
Causes of Birth Injuries
Because newborns are so fragile during the birth process, there are any number of ways they can be seriously harmed by the inattentiveness or negligence of a medical professional. Some of the more common causes of birth injuries that are cited during birth injury lawsuits include:
Improper Equipment Use: The improper use of equipment designed to assist the birth process, such as forceps or vacuums, can cause devastating injury to a newborn. Forceps can cause nerve damage in the child’s chest or neck if used improperly, and vacuums can potentially cause severe injuries to both the mother and the newborn if not used correctly, according to Mayo Clinic.
Hypoxia: If the child’s brain does not receive enough oxygen, due to a tangled umbilical cord, infection, or damage to the placenta, severe mental and physical disabilities can occur. Medical professionals are trained to detect hypoxia in advance — failure to do so can result in a birth injury.
Delaying an Emergency Caesarean Section: If the baby is in distress, an emergency c-section is ordered in order to save the baby. Uterine ruptures, cord prolapses, placenta previa, and other urgent conditions will generally require a C-section as well. If a doctor fails to recognize one of these conditions and delays in ordering an emergency caesarean section, the mother and child can both be seriously harmed.
Birth injuries resulting from any of the following may also have been caused by medical negligence:
- Improper use of labor-inducing drug Pitocin;
- Failure to recognize and address changes in the baby’s condition;
- Insufficient testing throughout pregnancy;
- Failure to diagnose and proper treat complications during birth;
- Neglecting to communicate problems to other doctors; or
- Failure to refer high-risk patients to specialized physicians.
How Our Attorneys Can Help
Birth injury lawsuits, as with any lawsuits that involve medical errors, are complex and should be handled by an experienced attorney. A skilled birth injury lawyer in Fort Lauderdale will fight on your behalf to try to get you the compensation you deserve by holding your medical staff liable for their negligence.
Although past victories don’t guarantee future results, our attorneys have recovered millions for clients who have suffered from a birth injury. If your claim is successful, you may be able to recover monetary damages for losses suffered due to the medical provider’s negligence. These damages may include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Additional healthcare costs (e.g., occupational therapy, counseling, in-home care, special vehicles or equipment, home modifications)
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of society and companionship
- Loss of life’s enjoyment
If you or your newborn baby sustained a serious injury while receiving medical care in Fort Lauderdale as a result of a medical error, our attorneys want to hear from you. Fill out our free, no-risk case evaluation form to learn how our birth injury lawyers may be able to recover compensation for your medical bills, pain and suffering, and more.