What is a birth injury lawsuit and why should you be aware of it as parents?

Childbirth is one of the best moments for any parent, however, it is also a scary process as well. When giving birth to a child, not only the mother’s safety and safe delivery of the baby is the topmost agenda, but to also do it without causing any medical blunders. However, as per the Centers for Disease Control, 7 in every 1000 children are likely to suffer from a birth injury. Seeing these high statistics, we surely feel the need to give you an overview of the birth injury lawsuit.

Here we will not only discuss, what is birth injury lawsuit, but we will also discuss how you can file this lawsuit, what are the factors of birth injury, and some more additional details about the topic.

We pray that you may never have to use this article, but if you have already been through this horrible experience as a parent, firstly, we are very sorry and secondly, don’t hesitate to file a birth injury lawsuit.

What is a birth injury lawsuit?

As the name suggests, a birth injury lawsuit is filed in lieu of if any damage is caused to a child during the delivery process and which results in either the death of the newborn or leaving the newborn with any lifelong impairment. Moreover, this lawsuit can also be filed, if a mother experiences a miscarriage due to medical negligence or if anything happens to the mother while giving birth to the child due to the mistake of medical professionals involved in the process.

Now that you are aware of what a birth injury is, let’s check out what are the two most common birth injuries.

Most common birth injuries

The two most common birth injuries are Cerebral Palsy and Erb’s Palsy. Cerebral palsy can be defined as a multiple disorder that affects the brain’s control over the nervous system and muscles. It happens due to brain damage right after birth or during birth. Erb’s Palsy, or in medical terms, Erb-Duchenne palsy, happens due to nerve damage at the time of birth.

The statistics show that over 17 million people globally are suffering from Cerebral palsy and as per the study results, conducted by Tanta University and Ken hospital, Erb’s Palsy cases are 1 in 1000 births.

Well, there could be other birth injuries as well, for example, communication error, which is when the parent in labor is not well communicated about how to proceed by her medical team. This is termed medical negligence.

Now you might be wondering, when can you file a birth injury lawsuit? Find below what is the limitation of a birth injury lawsuit and until when you are able to file it.

When can you file a birth injury lawsuit?

A birth injury may not be visible directly after the birth or delivery, for example, Cerebral Palsy cases. In a few cases like this, medical negligence may not be visible until the child is a few years old. So, when can you file a birth injury lawsuit?

In most states, you can file a birth injury lawsuit until after 2.5 years of the date from the delivery date. In New York, you have 10 years to file a lawsuit in case of a birth injury.

If we see the time limit to file the lawsuit in most states, we might wonder, what if the birth injury doesn’t get visible until after the child is 3 years old or four years old. For these types of special cases, there is a time extension given. Moreover, to be sure that your case is not dismissed, consult a professional attorney, who has a specialty in child injury cases.

However, to file a child injury lawsuit, your case must have four main elements present in it.

The four main elements that are required in the birth injury lawsuit

When filing a birth injury lawsuit, your attorney must ensure that your case has all the below-mentioned elements in it.

The first one is the duty, which means that you must establish that you and your medical practitioner were on the same page as far as the birth and delivery of your child were concerned.

The second is a breach of duty, which means that your medical practitioner’s care of your delivery and the birth of your child was below the standard and any other medical expert in the same domain would have opted for a different procedure or way.

Third is, showing what damages have occurred to your child and proving that it has affected his/her development. Even though you have proof of your medical practitioner’s error, you’ll still need to show that the error has caused your child to not meet the developmental criteria.

Lastly, you have to prove that the injury that your child is suffering has a direct connection to the error caused by the medical practitioner during the delivery of your child.

If your case consists of these four main elements, then your case is strong enough. Moreover, your attorney may also gather some pieces of evidence that might make your case stronger. The supporting evidence includes medical records of the mother from pre to post-pregnancy, the employment records of the doctor who is mentioned in the case, and their previous complaints. Moreover, eyewitness testimony and expert testimony may also be taken into account to secure your case fully.

Conclusion

We have covered all the major details that you must know about birth injury lawsuits and how to fight for them. We hope you may never suffer from this kind of experience. However, if by any chance you are going through, then don’t lose faith and fight for your’s and your child’s rights.