What is birth injury malpractice?

Answer:

Birth injury malpractice occurs when a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare professional fails to provide the appropriate standard of care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or shortly after birth, resulting in harm to the baby or mother.

A birth injury can happen at different stages:

• Before birth (prenatal period): Untreated infections like Group B strep, placental problems (such as insufficiency or abruption), or preterm birth complications like brain hemorrhage and respiratory distress.
• During labor and delivery: Failure to recognize and respond to fetal distress, oxygen deprivation, or complications such as cephalo-pelvic disproportion (CPD), when the baby’s head is too large to pass safely through the mother’s pelvis. Improper use of delivery tools or delays in performing an emergency C-section may also cause preventable injury.
• After birth (neonatal period): Negligence in monitoring the newborn’s health or treating early medical complications can also lead to long-term damage.

Medical malpractice in these situations can lead to serious, lifelong conditions such as cerebral palsy, developmental delays, or permanent brain damage.

💡 Did you know? Our firm negotiated a $10 million settlement for a child who developed cerebral palsy due to medical and nursing malpractice. We’ve also secured numerous multi-million-dollar results for families affected by preventable birth injuries.