Representing Clients Nationwide
The labor and delivery process is an unpredictable event that could present complications at any time. Physicians and delivery nurses are specially trained to anticipate, identify, and react to problems during delivery, and to apply quick decision-making to ensure a healthy and successful birth.
Expecting parents trust that their labor and delivery team is competent, qualified, and ready to handle any scenarios that may arise. However, this is not always the case. Thousands of medical malpractice cases are filed each year in the United States by parents who suspect that bad decisions during labor and delivery caused their children’s birth injuries.
How Birth Injuries Happen
Factors like miscommunication, misinterpretation of labs, ultrasounds, and other tests, inexperience, and fatigue may contribute to a bad decision in the delivery room. Whether the injury can be traced back to one bad call or a combination of several errors in judgment that eventually caused the physical harm, the experienced lawyers at Chávez Law Group have the connections and resources to find answers for confused and frightened parents dealing with an injured child.
Types of Birth Injuries
Two of the most common types of birth injury are cerebral palsy and Erb’s Palsy. Caused by restricted oxygen flow to the brain, cerebral palsy is a group of disorders characterized by nerve dysfunction and restricted movement resulting from brain damage. Erb’s palsy indicates a physical injury to the brachial plexus, the network of nerves in the neck, often resulting from using excessive force on the head and neck during birth.
With many of these birth injuries, children may not show signs that something is wrong until months or even years after birth. Birth injuries may respond well to physical therapy and other treatment, or they may impact a child’s life well into adulthood.
Birth Injury Lawsuits
Lawsuits against labor and delivery staff are not aimed at punishing the medical professionals for the fact that a problem arose. These claims are centered around the fact that the medical experts did not handle the problem in a reasonable manner, thus resulting in injury.
In malpractice cases like these, we use a strategy of comparison to show negligence — so the actions of the suspected careless doctor or nurse are compared to industry standards. If it is determined that the medical professional acted in a manner that was inconsistent with what a reasonable, competent professional would have done in the same situation, the behavior is a deviation from the accepted standards of care and therefore may be considered medical malpractice.
You don’t have to have proof that medical negligence occurred to hire Chávez Law Group to help your family. If you suspect medical malpractice, please contact us as soon as possible. Our legal team will listen to your story, give you valuable advice, and evaluate your case for free.