Birth Injury Attorney
Medical negligence can lead to injuries during birth. Tragically, this can have lifelong ramifications for your child.
Rubin & Machado, Ltd. has a proven record of success in attaining compensation for clients, including multimillion-dollar settlements.
Learn how our Chicago, IL, birth injury lawyers can help you win compensation when medical malpractice affects your child.
What Is a Birth Injury?
A birth injury is a physical injury that occurs during delivery. This differs from a birth defect, which is a health condition caused by genetic or congenital problems. Birth injuries may be the result of naturally occurring health conditions that were not preventable. They may also be due to the physician, medical staff, or hospital failing to provide reasonable care. Negligence can include:
- Overlooking signs of distress in the mother or infant
- Faulty or incorrectly used equipment
- Improper handling of the umbilical cord
- Delaying the decision to perform a C-section
- Failure to detect a health complication
- Failure to monitor vital signs
Birth injuries may be minor, or they may result in lasting complications. In some devastating cases, birth injuries can cause wrongful death. Birth injuries can lead to permanent disability and the need for lifelong medical care.
Securing Compensation Can Help
Though nothing can turn back the clock on medical malpractice, compensation can at least ease the financial ramifications. Birth injuries caused by a medical professional's mistake may mean your child faces a lifetime of medical expenses. Damages won in a birth injury lawsuit help cover these costs, which can include:
Surgeries
Depending on the type of birth injury and its complications, one or more surgeries may be needed to repair torn nerves, drain excess blood from the brain, and more.
Therapy
Physical therapy can help increase muscle strength, flexibility, and coordination. Occupational therapy can also help disabled children learn to perform basic tasks.
Devices
Your child may need assistance from a wheelchair, scooter, or walker. Home modifications such as wheelchair ramps and widened doorways may be needed to accommodate these.
Birth Injuries Carry High Medical Costs
Why You Need a Birth Injury Lawyer
Even if your healthcare provider or their insurance company offers a settlement, a birth injury lawyer can potentially recover a much larger amount that will cover your child's long-term needs.
To win a birth injury case, it must be proved that the injury was caused by the healthcare provider's negligence. These cases combine the complexity of the legal system with the intricacies of medical care. Birth injury attorneys can investigate the case, collect evidence, pull in medical experts, and navigate a settlement or take the birth injury case to trial.
Your healthcare provider has legal counsel building their case. You should as well. Our Chicago law firm is here to help.
Statute of Limitations Don't Wait to Seek Damages
Complications stemming from a birth injury may not be apparent until your child reaches school age. However, it's likely not too late to file a birth injury lawsuit.
For patients under 18, Illinois state law allows a medical malpractice lawsuit to be filed up to 8 years after the incident occurred. If your child sustained a birth injury leading to complications or wrongful death, contact our Chicago, IL, birth injury lawyers to determine if there's still time to file your case. Don't wait until it's too late—pursue the compensation you and your child need.
Choose Rubin & Machado, Ltd.
The injury lawyers at Rubin & Machado have more than 50 years of combined practice in personal injury law. Some examples of compensation our attorneys have won include:
- $12 million birth injury settlement for a delayed birth that caused oxygen deprivation to the infant's brain, resulting in cerebral palsy.
- $6.5 million for a brain-injured infant whose pediatrician overlooked an infection that caused her to stop breathing, resulting in severe impairment.
Our birth injury attorneys are dedicated to winning the compensation you and your child deserve after medical malpractice. If your child suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence, request a free consultation at our Chicago, IL, office by contacting us online or by calling:
(312) 327-1840
Even if your healthcare provider or their insurance company offers a settlement, a birth injury lawyer can potentially recover a much larger amount that will cover your child's long-term needs.
How Birth Injuries Can Occur
Forceps
When an infant is poorly positioned or labor is stalled, a doctor may use forceps gripped around an infant's head to guide them through the birth canal. Used incorrectly, this can cause facial injuries as well as nerve and brain damage.
Vacuum Extraction
A vacuum extractor is a cup attached to a vacuum pump that helps guide a baby through the birth canal. When not performed properly, vacuum extraction can cause skull fractures, bleeding within the skull, and scalp wounds.
Umbilical Cords
Doctors must identify and quickly respond to umbilical cord problems. An umbilical cord wrapped around a baby's neck, or one that leaves the womb before the baby, can cut off an infant's blood and oxygen supply.
Pitocin
Pitocin (oxytocin) is given intravenously to induce labor or to increase contractions. Since rapid contractions impact a baby's heart rate and oxygen level, excessive or unnecessary Pitocin can cause heart problems and brain damage.
Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring
A fast, slow, or irregular fetal heart rate can indicate if a baby is in distress during birth. Failing to monitor heart rate or to respond to heart rate signs of fetal distress can lead to many complications, from paralysis to cognitive impairment.
Common Complications From Birth Injuries
Our Chicago birth injury lawyers frequently represent clients who have been affected by:
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders marked by impaired muscle coordination. Symptoms vary greatly depending on the site of brain damage but can include involuntary movements, exaggerated reflexes, seizures, problems swallowing, intellectual disability, trouble focusing the eyes, and unstable walking. Cerebral palsy can be caused by a head injury or oxygen deprivation during birth.
Brachial Plexus Injuries
The brachial plexus is the group of nerves that transmit signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm, and hand. The brachial plexus can be damaged if an infant's shoulder becomes wedged within the birth canal, or if doctors pull too hard during delivery. If the upper nerves are damaged, the baby may have a condition called Erb's palsy, which is a loss of function in the arm. Damage to the lower nerves can affect the forearm and hand, a condition called Klumpke’s palsy.
Other Birth Injury Complications
Facial Paralysis
Injury to the facial nerves during delivery can lead to an infant having little or no movement on one side of the face. This may be caused by pressure from forceps or other sources of compression during delivery.
Skull Fractures
Skull fractures result from trauma to the head during delivery, often from vacuum extractors or forceps. Fractures may put pressure on the brain or result in the brain growing through the gaps of the fracture.
Cephalohematoma
A cephalohematoma is a pool of blood between the scalp and skull. The condition is caused by blood vessel damage. While it often resolves without issue, failure to diagnose and treat the condition can lead to permanent disabilities.
Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy
Also called perinatal asphyxia, this brain injury occurs when there is insufficient oxygenated blood to the infant, causing brain cells to die. It can lead to cognitive issues and developmental delays.
Our law firm reached a $12 million birth injury settlement for a delayed birth that caused oxygen deprivation to the infant's brain, resulting in cerebral palsy.
