Toledo Birth Injury Lawyer

When women think about giving birth, they expect a certain amount of pain. What few consider is the possibility that they or their babies could be severely injured during this process. Unfortunately, though, birth injuries aren’t uncommon, even in modern society. If your doctor acted negligently and it led to an injury to you or your baby, contact a Toledo birth injury lawyer right away.

Work With Spangenberg Shibley & Liber

The team here at Spangenberg Shibley & Liber has handled countless medical malpractice claims in our many decades in practice, including birth injury cases. We’ve helped our clients recover millions of dollars for injuries suffered at the hands of physicians they believed they could trust. We can help you, too. *

Reasons to Hire a Birth Injury Lawyer

Although birth injuries are relatively uncommon in modern America, one 2021 study found that 29 per 1,000 live births involve some form of injury. The same study found that scalp injuries were among the three most frequent types of birth trauma. Birth injuries can range in severity from extremely minor to deadly. If yours was serious, it’s worth it to hire a birth injury lawyer to help you with your case.

Your Toledo birth injury attorney can assist you with every aspect of filing a claim. We can:

• File paperwork for you.
• Make sure you don’t miss any deadlines.
• Analyze the medical records for you and your baby.
• Construct a coherent narrative of the event.
• Use the information we uncover to negotiate with insurance companies.
• Take your case to trial if we are unable to reach a fair settlement agreement outside of court.

Some mothers wonder if it’s worth hiring a birth injury lawyer. If you or your baby has sustained serious injuries during a vaginal childbirth or as a result of a delayed C-section, the answer is almost always yes. Your lawyer can help you make sure that you’re offered fair compensation for the harm you’ve suffered.

Causes and Types of Birth Injuries

Birth injuries are often defined as injuries to babies that occur during labor or delivery, though some people also consider harm to the mother as a result of childbirth to be a form of birth injury. Injuries to babies or their mothers can result from:

• Medical negligence, either during the mother’s labor or her delivery
• The improper use of medical devices
• The administration of certain prescription drugs
• A failure to diagnose complications like preeclampsia

The types of birth injuries vary depending on the source of the harm done to the baby. Some of the most common of them are:

• Hypoxia, aka birth asphyxia
• Shoulder dystocia
• Brachial plexus injuries
• Brain injuries

Unfortunately, fetal distress can lead to long-term issues for the child and their family, particularly if there is any brain damage involved. A lack of oxygen due to hypoxia, for example, can lead to cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy.

Differences Between Birth Injuries and Birth Defects

It’s important to distinguish between birth injuries and birth defects. Sometimes, they can have the same results. This is the case with cerebral palsy, which can result from either oxygen deprivation to the baby during labor, an often preventable birth injury, or an unavoidable birth defect.

As a general rule, birth injuries are caused by accidents or mistakes made during the delivery process. Birth defects, on the other hand, occur due to issues that happened either before or during the woman’s pregnancy.

Around one out of 33 babies born in the United States has a birth defect. Birth defects can be caused by:

• Genetic factors
• Environmental influences
• The use of certain drugs during pregnancy
• Alcohol consumption during pregnancy
• Drug use during pregnancy
• Unknown causes

It is more difficult to successfully file a claim for a birth defect than it is for a birth injury case, as the latter typically has a clearer cause.

Hypoxia and Brain Damage

Oxygen deprivation during the birthing process often leads to serious injuries. Hypoxia, also known as birth asphyxia, can cause cerebral palsy and a number of other brain injuries. It can result from:

• Tangled umbilical cords
• Fetal distress
• Prolonged labor

Swift medical intervention may minimize damage in cases of fetal asphyxia. A lack of timely medical care, on the other hand, can exacerbate hypoxia and make the child’s birth injury worse. If your baby didn’t receive swift medical care for hypoxia and has suffered brain damage as a result, you may be able to file a birth injury claim.

Brachial Plexus Injuries

Not all birth injuries are due to a lack of oxygen. Some occur due to physical trauma. Brachial plexus injuries are a good example. This network of nerves, located near the neck, sends signals from the spine to the baby’s shoulders, arms, and hands. When the nerves get stretched, compressed, or ripped, it can lead to weakness, loss of feeling, or paralysis. Erb’s palsy is a common type of brachial plexus injury that affects the upper arm. Causes include:

• Excessive pulling. Healthcare professionals may need to help pull a baby out, but pulling too hard can cause brachial plexus injuries.
• Shoulder dystocia. When a baby’s head passes through the birth canal, but its shoulders become stuck, that’s known as shoulder dystocia. This issue can increase the risk of brachial plexus injuries.
• Use of forceps. Doctors sometimes use forceps and other tools to help deliver babies. If used improperly, they can lead to nerve damage.
• Complications from C-sections. Even babies delivered through C-sections can still experience brachial plexus injuries and subsequent nerve damage if complications arise during the procedure.

Some brachial plexus injuries are unavoidable, but many are caused by practitioner negligence or errors.

Who Holds Liability for a Birth Injury?

Medical professionals and companies can both be held liable for birth injuries. Depending on the circumstances of the injury, liable parties could include:

• Doctors
• Nurses
• Anesthesiologists
• Pharmacists

Hospitals can also be held vicariously liable for their employees’ actions in many circumstances. Drug manufacturers may hold some of the blame if the birth injury occurred due to the use of a prescription drug that didn’t offer sufficient warnings to physicians of the drug’s potential dangers.

Elements of a Caregiver Malpractice Case

If you bring a claim against your doctor or another caregiver, your attorney will need to show four elements. They are:

1. Duty of care. The medical professionals who assist with a birth have a duty of care to the mother and the baby.
2. Breach of duty. When medical professionals act or fail to act in a way that upholds the standard of care for their field, it’s known as a breach of duty.
3. Causation. If the medical professional’s failure led directly to birth injuries, you could have an actionable claim.
4. Damages. You or the baby must have suffered actual compensable damages due to the injuries for your claim to be valid.

Your attorney can help you gather evidence, such as medical records and witness statements, to support your birth injury case.

Prescription Drug Claims

If the birth injury was caused by a prescription drug administered during pregnancy, labor, or childbirth, your attorney will need to prove five elements of the case:

1. The drug you took was prescribed by your physician.
2. You took it as prescribed.
3. The birth injury is not due to other factors.
4. The drug can cause birth defects.
5. The drug caused your specific birth injury.

In most cases, these claims are brought against pharmacists, treating physicians, or pharmaceutical companies. They’re based on the fact that the defendant(s) failed to warn the mother of the risks associated with taking the drug.

How to Prove Your Birth Injury Case

You’ll need to show that medical providers acted negligently during your delivery or birth to prove a birth injury case. Healthcare professionals are liable for any birth injuries that arise due to their conduct falling below a generally accepted standard of care in medicine. To establish this standard of care, your lawyer will most likely need to consult with an expert witness who has experience in the medical field of obstetrics.

The standard of care in childbirth refers to the degree of caution used by an average obstetrician. It is based on:

• Obstetric consensus
• Guidelines from related organizations
• Results from maternal and neonatal research
• Clinical wisdom

To prove that a doctor failed to uphold the accepted standard of care, an expert witness may need to testify as to:

• What’s expected during a normal pregnancy or delivery
• What could have been expected in your pregnancy or delivery had everything gone smoothly
• What actually happened, including descriptions of any complications
• Evidence of harm to the baby and/or the mother
• An opinion as to whether the harm resulted from avoidable complications

The expert witness will need to review your medical records and use the information within them to establish both a breach of the standard of care and the fact that the provider’s deviation from it resulted in your baby’s birth injury.

Damages Available in a Birth Injury Lawsuit

Birth injuries can lead to substantial medical bills and other expenses. Your damages in a birth injury claim could include:

• Hospital bills
• Out-of-pocket medical expenses
• Gas to and from doctor’s visits
• Ongoing therapy costs
• Future medical care
• Compensation for reduced quality of life
• Compensation for reduced future earning potential

The damages typically go to the child who suffered the birth injury, often in the form of a trust. Parents of children damaged by birth injuries or birth defects can also bring medical malpractice claims against doctors or hospitals for emotional distress from the damage done to the baby or, in the worst cases, wrongful death claims.

If you need to bring a wrongful death claim against a local hospital like ProMedica Toledo Hospital that was responsible for your baby’s death during childbirth, you need an experienced medical malpractice attorney. Our office can help.

FAQs

Q: What Is the Most Traumatic Birth Injury?

A: The most traumatic birth injury is hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a form of severe brain damage resulting from oxygen deprivation. This injury can lead to death or permanent disability. Other severe birth injuries include spinal cord damage, severe cerebral palsy, and organ injuries, which can be caused by excessive physical force applied during the delivery.

Q: What Is the Area Most Likely to Tear During Birth?

A: The area most likely to tear during birth is the perineum. This area of the skin is located between the vaginal opening and the anus. Some amount of perineal tearing is very common during childbirth, with up to 90% of women who give birth naturally experiencing some tearing during a vaginal delivery. Only around 5% of women experience more serious third- or fourth-degree tears, and most perineal damage heals on its own or with minimal medical intervention.

Q: Do Doctors Prioritize the Mother or the Baby When Something Goes Wrong During Childbirth?

A: When something goes wrong during childbirth, doctors usually prioritize the mother. Making sure the mother survives is usually the most important key to saving the baby, as well, and separate teams of doctors sometimes care for both patients simultaneously. Of course, the goal of modern medicine is always to save both the mother and the baby, but the mother is the primary patient.

Q: What Are the Signs of a Traumatic Birth?

A: The signs of a traumatic birth vary depending on the type of birth injury suffered. They often include physical, emotional, and behavioral signs. Physical injuries can include bruising, swelling, or red marks on the baby’s face or head from a vacuum or forceps, or signs of nerve damage. Behavioral symptoms can include excessive stiffness or floppiness and high-pitched, persistent crying.

Your Toledo Birth Injury Lawyer

The birth of a child should be a joyous occasion, not a tragic one. If you or your baby experienced avoidable injuries during a vaginal childbirth, you may be eligible to receive compensation with the help of a Toledo birth injury lawyer.

The team here at Spangenberg Shibley & Liber has worked with many women who experienced traumatic births to seek compensation for their injuries or those of their babies. We know what it takes to hold doctors and other medical providers accountable for their negligence. Get in touch with us to schedule your initial consultation today.

*Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and must be evaluated on its own merits.