Few events in life are more disturbing to expecting parents than a birth injury. As a parent of an injured child, you have numerous questions about what mistakes may have occurred during labor or the delivery process. If an examination of your son or daughter reveals a common birth injury due to birth trauma, you must take immediate steps to decide whether medical malpractice played a part. Contact the Houston birth injury attorneys at McDonald Worley to help you get answers and the compensation you deserve.
The truth is that nurses, physicians, midwives, and other medical professionals typically make needless mistakes at the time of birth and after a baby’s delivery. These errors produce unfortunate birth injuries. Medical errors could disfigure a child or cause a disability that necessitates a lifespan of continuous medical treatment and medical care.
For years, our law firm has focused on helping birth injury victims and their parents in Houston and throughout Texas. We understand how to examine and take legal action in challenging cases efficiently. Most of all, we are serious about getting compensation for the parents we represent.
Call us today for a consultation. One of our birth injury lawyers will look over your case, respond to any questions about your choices and legal rights. Let our attorneys put their experience and skills to work for you.
Our Experience with Birth Injury Lawsuits in Houston, Texas
Every one of our birth injury legal experts possesses a background in managing birth trauma cases. We’re known around the Houston, TX area for win substantial birth injury settlements and verdicts on behalf of our clients.
When it comes to birth defects and medical malpractice, our knowledge level lets us understand the legality of these types of cases..
It also offers us keen insight into how birth injuries affect children, parents, and family members. We understand the emotional, financial, and physical challenges that parents face after a birth injury. Our goal is to better our clients’ lives.
Our lawyers get all the pertinent information for your lawsuit during the initial consultation. For example, we will need to know when you first had suspicions that something wasn’t right with your child. Moreover, our attorneys will need to see your child’s birth injury’s impact on your child and your loved ones.
Our legal team will go over your legal case with medical experts. These professionals help us decide whether a nurse, delivery room doctor or midwife is responsible for the birth injury. They also assist us in determining the monetary amount for damages to seek in your case.
If the responsible party doesn’t want to pay, you should file a lawsuit and try your case in the courtroom.
Our Houston trial lawyers are ready to present the most significant case possible on your behalf. Our experience in court including providing notable exhibits and expert witness testimony. It’s vital to remember that you could get a birth injury settlement during the trial or after the verdict’s reading. If a judgment or settlement goes in your favor, our attorneys will work swiftly to get your monetary compensation.
What Is a Birth Injury?
A birth injury damages an infant’s structure or bodily functions due to adverse treatment before, during, and after birth. A birth injury is interchangeable with birth trauma, a physical injury received by an infant during the birthing process.
Birth Injury Causes
Childbirth injuries typically go into two categories: those due to oxygen deprivation and those due to physical trauma. Birth injuries have a host of causes that differ significantly from case to case. However, they usually all have one common fact: they started with a childbirth problem mishandled.
Birth Injury Types Caused by Medical Negligence
Based on a recent study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), birth defects occur around 1 in every 33 births.
In some cases, “normal” circumstances could cause oxygen deprivation in labor and delivery. For example, the umbilical cord can get twisted or compressed. Or the baby could be too big to go through the birth canal. In most situations, birth injuries to the brain are due to errors made by doctors, other medical professionals, or hospitals during a difficult delivery.
Medical mistakes that produce birth injuries include:
- Not addressing and detecting issues during pregnancy like pregnancy-induced hypertension, gestational diabetes, or infections.
- Prescribing medication with harmful side effects to a pregnant woman.
- Failing to remedy immediately fetal distress, bleeding, or umbilical cord entanglement.
- Postponing a C-section when issues present themselves.
- Incorrectly using forceps or a vacuum extractor.
- Not checking the baby’s or mother’s condition right after birth.
- Providing an incorrect amount or type of medication.
- Failure of communication between the medical staff.
- Genetic testing problems
This list isn’t complete, and any one of these problems by itself doesn’t guarantee to result in a birth injury. It is the negligence of these types of conditions that could lead to a birth injury. A childbirth injury could create disfigurement, severe medical conditions, and permanent disabilities.
Common Types of Birth Injuries
Various types of birth injuries could cause a child to endure permanent disfigurement or a lifetime disability. Examples of birth injuries that our team of attorneys encounters while protecting children’s rights and their parents in Houston, Texas, include:
- Erb’s Palsy
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Brain damage
- Cerebral palsy
- Intracranial hemorrhage
- Spinal cord injuries
- Facial nerve palsy
- Perinatal asphyxia
- Extra cranial injuries
- Collar bone fractures
Birth Injuries vs. Birth Defects
A birth injury and a birth defect (also known as congenital disability) are conditions that people mix up all the time. While they can generate similar outcomes, they vary in substance. A birth injury is a distress experienced by a baby in childbirth. A birth defect is a chemical or physical defect displayed at birth. This defect is typically due to environmental factors or genetics.
Usually, birth defect attorneys don’t take legal action for congenital disability cases unless the birth defect results from hazardous medications, a different litigation type altogether.
Get Help Today from Our Houston Birth Injury Attorneys
The law office of McDonald Worley can calculate a fair and full compensation amount that your birth injury attorney will seek on behalf of you and your child. Our Houston birth injury lawyers base your monetary amount on medical records and feedback from a knowledgeable medical provider and family planning expert.
We might also seek punitive damage if the proof points out that your baby’s birth injury resulted from wanton conduct.
If your infant died from a birth injury, our Texas-based birth injury law firm would seek a separate array of damages with a wrongful death claim.
Suppose you believe that there was negligence during birth and you, the parents, want to file a birth injury claim. In that case, the knowledgeable medical malpractice and personal injury lawyers of McDonald Worley are ready to help.
When you’re ready to take legal action, contact our law firm by phone or online at our website. Our birth injury attorneys’ actions deliver maximum compensation and positive results.