No parent ever wants to find out that their child has suffered a serious injury before, during or shortly after birth. Unfortunately, every year, preventable birth injuries arise due to the negligence of physicians, surgeons and nurses. If you believe that your child’s birth injury or medical condition stems from a careless or wrongful act committed by a health care provider during your birthing experience, please contact The Law Firm of Aaron A. Herbert, P.C. for assistance. Our Dallas birth injury attorneys can review your case for free and help you understand your legal options as a family.
Why Choose Our Birth Injury Law Team?
- We are passionate about helping families seek justice for medical negligence. We started our law firm out of a true desire to help others and will be there for you during this difficult time.
- Our lead attorney, Aaron A. Herbert, is one of only 2 percent of attorneys in Texas who are board-certified in personal injury trial law.
- Our birth injury attorneys operate on a contingency fee basis. This means that you will only pay your lawyer out of a settlement or verdict won – and only if we win.
What Is a Birth Injury?
A birth injury is damage to a child’s body or bodily functions done by an adverse occurrence at birth. Although some birth injuries naturally arise from complicated deliveries, if the adverse occurrence can be traced to the fault of one of the attending physicians or another health care practitioner, the child’s parents will have the right to file a birth injury lawsuit in Texas. This is a civil claim that demands financial compensation to make a family whole again after a preventable birth injury changes a child's life.
What Causes a Birth Injury?
An infant could sustain a birth injury under many different circumstances. A complicated birth could lead to the infant getting stuck in the birth canal, for example, and injuries inflicted in the ensuing effort to get the baby out safely. There are some situations, however, where a birth injury is caused by the carelessness or medical error of a practitioner in charge of the delivery. Examples of this civil tort include:
- Failing to diagnose a maternal condition during pregnancy
- Failing to monitor fetal vital signs during labor and delivery
- Poor communication among staff members
- Improper use of birth-assistive tools, such as forceps
- Failing to react appropriately in an emergency, such as ordering a C-section
- Yanking on a child’s arm or using improper birthing techniques
- Failing to properly sanitize medical tools and devices
- Making a surgical mistake during a C-section
- Dropping or injuring an infant shortly after birth
- Failing to diagnose and treat infant jaundice
These preventable errors and acts of medical malpractice can lead to devastating birth injuries that affect both the infant and mother. If you aren't sure what caused your child’s injury, our attorneys can investigate on your behalf. If we believe that your child’s injury gives you the right to file a birth injury lawsuit in Dallas, we can help you gather evidence against one or multiple defendants to build your claim.
Common Examples of Birth Injuries
Negligence or recklessness on the part of a health care practitioner before, during or after delivery can cause many different types of birth injuries. Some of these injuries may heal within a few days or weeks, while others – such as brain damage – can last for the victim’s lifetime. Although infants are resilient and can bounce back quickly from many injuries, they are also vulnerable to permanent disabilities when a trusted medical provider makes a critical error at a delicate moment.
Medical malpractice can result in many serious birth injuries and related medical conditions, including:
- Broken bones
- Soft-tissue injuries
- Nerve damage
- Brain damage
- Hypoxia
- Cerebral palsy
- Shoulder dystocia
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
- Erb’s palsy
- Klumpke’s palsy
- Spinal cord injuries
- Maternal injuries
If your child gets diagnosed with an injury – even if your child is a toddler or older at the time of the diagnosis – it is worthwhile to consult with a birth injury lawyer in Dallas about a potential lawsuit. If there is evidence of medical negligence in connection to the condition, your family may be entitled to financial compensation to pay for your child’s medical care, physical therapy and rehabilitation, surgeries, medical devices, medications, special education, emotional distress, lost quality of life, and more.
Signs That Your Child May Have a Birth Injury
Some birth injuries are immediately obvious; you may notice physical marks on your child that are indicative of an injury right away, such as bruising or bleeding. Others, however, take weeks, months or even years to show noticeable symptoms. The following are signs that may point to a birth injury:
- Persistent, high-pitched crying
- Facial paralysis
- Muscle spasms or involuntary movements
- Lack of muscle tone or development
- Trouble breathing
- Vision and/or hearing problems
- Developmental delays
- Cognitive impairments
- Seizures
Take your child to see a pediatrician immediately upon noticing something amiss. Explain why you believe the issue could be connected to a birth injury, such as a difficult birth, premature birth, low birthweight or complications that arose during your birth experience. Request copies of your child’s medical records if he or she is diagnosed with a birth injury.
When Can Parents Sue for a Birth Injury in Dallas?
If there is evidence that a medical practitioner reasonably should have prevented your child’s birth injury, such as by being more prepared for birth complications or checking for fetal distress signals, your family may have grounds to file a civil lawsuit against the practitioner and/or hospital in Dallas for financial compensation.
Although nothing can ever make up for a birth injury, filing a lawsuit can hold a negligent medical provider accountable. It can push for changes on an institutional level at the hospital or birthing center to prevent similar incidents to other children in the future. It can also reimburse your family for related economic and noneconomic losses.
Speak to Our Dallas Birth Injury Lawyers Today | Request a Free Consultation at (214) 200-4878
If you suspect that your child has any type of birth injury in Dallas, Texas, please contact our local birth injury lawyers at The Law Firm of Aaron A. Herbert, P.C. to request a free consultation. We have the experience, resources and passion for justice to help you and your family with this complicated type of case. We will make sure that your family has everything it needs in the fight for justice. Call (214) 200-4878 or contact us online today for a free case review.