The birth of a child is one of the most important events in a parent’s life, and, understandably, many families in Georgia want to record it on video as a result. However, hospitals sometimes prohibit filming during the labor and delivery process. You might assume this is a decision the hospital has no right to make, but that’s not quite the case.
While hospital policies aren’t laws, these facilities do have the authority to set rules about what happens inside their walls. The reasons behind filming restrictions are worth learning about on their own merit, but they become much more significant if something goes wrong during the delivery and a birth injury occurs. Read on to learn more about why hospitals limit filming and what it could mean for your legal rights.
Why Hospitals Don’t Want You Filming
Hospital filming policies can vary from one facility to the next, though the reasoning behind these restrictions tends to be consistent.
Some of the most common reasons include:
- Video footage of a delivery can be used as evidence in a medical malpractice lawsuit if the baby or mother is injured. Banning cameras is one of the simplest ways for a hospital to limit that exposure.
- Doctors, nurses, and other members of the delivery team each have the right to decline being recorded. If any one of them doesn’t consent, the hospital may shut down filming entirely.
- A family member trying to capture the right shot can physically get in the way of medical staff during a procedure where speed and focus are critical. Any type of distraction in an emergency can have devastating consequences.
- What looks perfectly normal to a trained physician can appear rough or dangerous to a layperson watching it after the fact. Hospitals don’t want routine deliveries misinterpreted as negligent care.
Some hospitals apply blanket policies that ban all recording during medical procedures, while others may allow filming after the baby is delivered but not during labor itself.
How Filming Restrictions Connect to Birth Injury Claims
This is where the issue becomes especially relevant for families. If your child is injured during delivery, video footage could serve as some of the best evidence available that something went wrong. Without it, establishing what happened in the delivery room becomes harder, though it’s far from impossible.
Birth injury claims in Georgia fall under the state’s medical malpractice laws, including the requirement that an expert affidavit be filed with the complaint. This essentially amounts to a sworn statement from a qualified medical professional confirming that malpractice likely occurred. If this affidavit isn’t included, the court can dismiss your case for that reason alone.
That said, your attorney can still potentially build a case on your behalf using other forms of evidence aside from video. These commonly include:
- Medical records from the labor and delivery
- Fetal monitoring strips and diagnostic data
- Expert testimony from qualified specialists
- Statements from those present during the birth
As for deadlines, Georgia law provides specific rules for birth injury cases. Under state law, if your child was under five at the time of the injury, the statute of limitations doesn’t start running until their fifth birthday. That means the claim must typically be filed before the child turns seven. For claims brought by the parents on their own behalf, the standard two-year deadline applies, though there are exceptions there as well for certain circumstances.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Georgia Birth Injury Attorney at Georgia Baby Safety
You don’t need video footage to hold a negligent healthcare provider liable in a birth injury case. Families throughout Georgia have pursued successful claims through medical records, expert analysis, and other available forms of evidence.
Contact a birth injury attorney at Georgia Baby Safety today for a free consultation to review your case and your best course of action going forward. The sooner you take that step, the better positioned your legal team will be to preserve the evidence that matters most.
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
Available 24/7