Personal Injury Lawyer
Birth injuries can be painful for many reasons, but they can hurt a mother for physical and emotional reasons. Giving birth to a child is a beautiful time, and most women do not go into the hospital expecting to leave with injuries. This can be extremely traumatizing to a mother and can leave her feeling unprepared for taking care of her new family. If you have been the victim of a birth injury and would like to speak with an attorney, do not hesitate to contact a birth injury lawyer. This should be a special time for you, but instead, you are dealing with personal injuries. You should have an attorney on your side you can trust to take care of this case and to help get you the compensation you deserve. We are here to talk when you are ready.
How do I know if I have the right to sue?
Your attorney can go over the details of your birth injury case with you and help you determine if suing the doctor or the hospital is the right course of action. It is important to know that just because you leave the hospital with an injury does not mean medical malpractice occurred. Unfortunately, there are times when a doctor, nurse, or other medical staff member made the right decision and an injury occurred anyway. However, if your doctor’s negligence caused your birth injury and it was something that could have been avoided, this is a good indication that medical malpractice happened. When a doctor is taking care of their patient, they must use a reasonable standard of care.
Who can birth injuries happen to?
A birth injury can happen to the mother or the baby during birth.
Who can sue and what can they sue for?
It is certainly possible for someone to sue on their own behalf if they suffered from a birth injury, but parents can also sue on behalf of their sick or deceased child if the child was a victim of a birth injury. If you do sue, it is possible to receive three different types of damages.
- General Damages
- Specific Damages
- Punitive Damages
General Damages. If you sue for general damages, you may be suing for things like emotional pain and suffering, a loss of enjoyment of life, and physical pain and suffering.
Specific Damages. If you sue for specific damages, you can sue for things on behalf of your child such as their medical bills, the cost of various medical items they may need like a wheelchair, crutches, or braces, or even to receive money to use for special needs education.
Punitive Damages. If the medical professional acted in a way that seemed to have complete disregard for the safety of the mother and/or the baby and caused serious birth injuries, a judge may award punitive damages as a means for punishing the medical professional.
Thank you to the experts at MartinWren, P.C. for their input on birth injuries.
