The birth of a child should be one of the happiest moments of your life. Parents trust doctors and medical professionals to provide care throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Most of the time, that trust is well placed. However, when medical mistakes occur during childbirth, the results can be tragic.
Some birth injuries result from medical malpractice. This is when a healthcare provider fails to meet accepted medical standards, and that failure causes harm. In these circumstances, the family may have the right to pursue a medical malpractice claim.
What Is a Birth Injury Case?
A birth injury occurs when a baby or mother suffers harm during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. While some birth injuries are unavoidable, others may result from negligent medical care.
Birth injuries can occur for many reasons. Some are unavoidable and occur even with the best treatment. Others result from preventable mistakes made by healthcare providers.
Common examples of birth injuries that may be caused by medical negligence include:
- Cerebral palsy
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Erb’s palsy
- Brain injuries
- Skull fractures
- Nerve damage
- Spinal cord injuries
- Maternal injuries during delivery
Birth injury cases are often more complicated than other personal injury claims. In many cases, families must rely on medical experts to explain what went wrong and how the provider’s mistake caused the injury. Georgia law also generally requires an expert affidavit when filing a medical malpractice lawsuit, which is one reason these cases require careful preparation from the start.
Why Medical Malpractice Cases Are Different
Medical malpractice cases are more complicated than ordinary personal injury claims. Birth injury claims usually involve:
- Detailed medical records
- Specialized medical standards
- Multiple healthcare providers
- Long-term damage calculations
Because medicine is highly technical, proving negligence requires extensive investigation and analysis. Regardless of the complexity, every birth injury case usually requires proof of four essential elements.
Duty of Care
The first element of a birth injury case is establishing that a healthcare provider owed a duty of care. When a doctor, nurse, or other professional agrees to provide treatment, a professional relationship is created. This relationship creates a legal obligation to provide care meeting accepted medical standards.
Medical providers who generally owe a duty of care include:
- Obstetricians
- Labor and delivery nurses
- Hospitals
- Neonatologists
- Midwives
Once a provider undertakes treatment, they owe a duty to provide competent medical care.
Breach of the Standard of Care
The second element requires proving the healthcare provider breached the standard of care. The “standard of care” is the level of care that a reasonably competent professional would have used in similar circumstances.
Examples of potential breaches include:
- Failure to monitor fetal distress
- Delay of a necessary cesarean section
- Improper use of forceps or vacuum extraction devices
- Failure to diagnose complications
- Medication errors
- Failure to respond to oxygen deprivation
- Inadequate monitoring during labor
A poor outcome alone does not prove malpractice. Instead, there must be evidence that a provider’s actions fell below accepted standards.
Causation
The third element can sometimes be the most heavily disputed. Even if a healthcare provider made a mistake, there must be proof that the mistake actually caused an injury.
Healthcare providers and insurers may argue that:
- The injury was unavoidable.
- The condition existed before delivery.
- Genetics caused the injury.
- Other medical factors were responsible.
Because birth injuries may involve complicated medical issues, proving causation may require expert medical testimony. You must show that the injury would not have occurred if proper care had been provided.
Damages
The final element of a birth injury claim is proving that actual damages resulted from the negligence. Even if a provider breached the standard of care, there is no malpractice claim unless the breach caused measurable harm.
Birth injury damages can be significant. This is because many injuries affect a child for the rest of their life. Damages may include:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical treatment
- Rehabilitation costs
- Specialized therapy
- Assistive devices
- Home modifications
- Educational support services
- Lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
The extent of available compensation depends on the severity of the injury, the child’s long-term needs, and the overall impact the injury has on the family’s life.
Call Georgia Baby Safety to Arrange a Free Consultation With an Atlanta Birth Injury Lawyer
Birth injury cases are emotionally and legally complex. Families who suspect medical negligence should understand the four elements that form the foundation of a medical malpractice claim.
When all four elements can be proven, Georgia law may provide a pathway for families to recover compensation. If you believe a preventable medical error contributed to your child’s birth injury, don’t wait. Contact us today at Georgia Baby Safety today for a free consultation with an Atlanta birth injury attorney.
We are proud to serve clients throughout Atlanta, Fulton County, and the surrounding communities.
The Moses Firm
3490 Piedmont Rd NE #1206, Atlanta, GA 30305
404-995-6033