When a child is diagnosed with a birth injury, the happy occasion of their birth can turn into every parent’s worst nightmare. Financial compensation can help with medical bills, caretaking needs, equipment, and more.
However, filing a claim requires demonstrating that the doctor acted negligently during the birthing process. The following steps will help parents get the compensation they deserve. Hiring Birth Injury Law Firm will be your best option.
Seek Medical Attention Right Away
When a child suffers a birth injury, parents often have a lot of questions and concerns. Some of the most pressing questions involve how to get medical care for their child and whether they can file a compensation claim.
It is important to seek medical attention as soon as you notice any signs that something may be wrong with your child. Some injuries, like hematomas, are obvious at the time of birth, but others might not show up until days, weeks, or even months after birth.
If you notice bruising, unusual eye movements muscle weakness, or paralysis, your child’s doctor should immediately be notified and they should conduct tests to determine the cause of these symptoms. These tests may include MRI or CT scans, blood work, and umbilical cord blood analysis to test for HIE (hemorrhage in the brain).
If there is a problem with your child’s health, treatment should be provided immediately. This includes physical therapy and medications to help with the symptoms that you or your child is experiencing. Some children may also require adaptive equipment such as wheelchairs, crutches, or leg braces. In some cases, surgery is needed to correct the injury.
Depending on the type of birth injury, treatment is usually available. The goal of the treatment is to promote independence and ease discomfort. Often, children who receive proper treatment can live long and happy lives.
However, some children may never be able to lead full and independent lives. This can be emotionally and financially devastating for families who are already struggling with the effects of a birth injury. Compensation from a successful birth injury lawsuit can help pay for necessary treatments and care and allow families to focus on helping their injured child thrive. It is vital to act quickly, as it can be difficult to prove that a medical professional’s mistake was preventable once too much time has passed. It is also easier to track down evidence before it disappears or memories fade.
Talk To a Lawyer
There’s not much in life that can compare to the joy of welcoming a new baby into your family. But what happens when something goes wrong with your child’s birth? If you think medical negligence was involved, it is important to get legal help right away. Whether you choose to file a lawsuit or pursue financial compensation through insurance companies, an experienced lawyer can help guide your decision-making process and ensure that the appropriate steps are taken promptly.
Small medical mistakes are sometimes made during labor and delivery that can cause serious complications for both mother and child, such as a spinal cord injury. These injuries can be devastating and can impact your child’s life in several ways, including severe physical, emotional, and cognitive impairments. A skilled attorney will review your case and determine the best options for seeking compensation to pay for your child’s ongoing treatment.
When you work with a lawyer, make sure that they have experience handling birth injury cases. They will know how to gather and examine the necessary evidence and what deadlines you need to meet to file a lawsuit. This includes notice requirements and statutes of limitations, which vary by state and can affect how long you have to seek compensation.
Your attorney will also work with specialists who can provide crucial insights into your child’s condition and how it may be treated or rehabilitated. For example, if your child has cerebral palsy, your lawyer will collaborate with therapists and other medical professionals who are familiar with treating children with this disorder. This will help you gain access to resources that are not widely known and can improve your child’s quality of life.
In addition to helping families affected by birth injury, lawyers also strive to enhance medical practices and procedures by conducting thorough investigations and pushing for changes within the field. This can ultimately prevent future birth injuries from occurring in other families.
Gather Evidence
Whether your child suffered an injury during labor or the delivery process, there are specific steps you should take to document and gather evidence. This will help ensure that all damages are accounted for and that any legal claim you file is as strong as possible.
The best way to do this is to start saving all records about the injury and any effects that result from it. This includes medical bills, therapy costs, and expenses related to necessary assistive devices or accommodations, such as a wheelchair or braces. It is also helpful to keep a journal or diary that details how your child’s injuries have affected their quality of life. This can be used as powerful testimony in court or during negotiations with the hospital or doctors responsible for the injury.
As you go through the process of filing a legal claim, your attorney will work closely with medical experts to demonstrate how the injury occurred and the role that negligence played in its cause. This will be used to support your claim and help you secure the financial settlement you deserve.
In addition to gathering medical records and other evidence, you should reach out to anyone who was present at the time of the birth and could provide information under oath. This may include nurses, anesthesiologists, doctors, and any other medical professionals who were involved in the delivery process. Your attorney can subpoena their employment records to look for evidence of previous acts of malpractice or negligent care.
A birth injury lawsuit cannot undo the damage caused by a medical error, but it can bring the resources your family needs to cope and motivate medical providers to improve safety training in the future. Contact a birth injury lawyer with extensive experience in personal injury law to learn more about how to pursue a claim.
Although every case is different and a lawyer should be the only person to provide a precise timeline for filing a claim, there are some basic guidelines to follow. You should seek medical attention immediately, call a law firm with experience handling these cases, and begin to collect evidence as soon as possible.
Focus on Coping Strategies and Support Systems
Many of us will experience some form of trauma at some point in our lives, and birth injuries are no exception. While traumatic experiences can have both physical and emotional impacts, it is important to remember that you are not alone and that there is help available. You may need to seek support from a therapist or counselor who specializes in trauma, perinatal mental health, or both. If your partner has also experienced birth trauma, you may need relationship counseling to rebalance your relationships and help you move forward.
It is common for parents to feel like they let their baby down or didn’t do a good enough job during the birth, especially if their labor went wrong. You may feel that your body betrayed you or that you couldn’t get the baby out without a lot of pain. You might feel upset or annoyed by other people’s birth stories, as though theirs all went well and yours didn’t.
Injuries to newborns can be caused by a variety of factors, including fetal size, position, and a medical intervention like forceps or vacuum-assisted delivery. Injuries can range from minor swelling and bruising to brain damage and nerve damage. They can also be caused by complications during labor, such as a delayed birth (which puts pressure on the infant’s head) or oxygen deprivation.
Newborns who have a traumatic birth are at risk of several health problems, including breathing difficulties and infections. If they have an injury to the brachial plexus (the nerves that control movement and muscle tone in the arm and hand), they could struggle to breathe. They could also have a condition called cerebral palsy, which is a group of disorders that affect movement, speech, and posture.
When you have a new baby, it’s natural to focus on caring for them, which can make it easy to neglect your own needs and well-being. But you should try to get some time for yourself as often as possible. That could mean spending some time with friends, getting a massage or a manicure or simply taking some time out of your day to sit and just breathe. You should also make sure you are eating well, resting, and keeping hydrated.