Birth injuries—cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, developmental delays, brain damage, and others—can lead to a lifetime of care and expenses. When these injuries are caused by a medical mistake that could have been prevented, you and your little one have rights and may be entitled to compensation.
Having a Phoenix birth injury lawyer on your side gives you the best chance of building a case that allows you to receive justice and the money you need to move forward after this trauma. At The Goldwater Law Firm, we have been fighting for justice for families like yours for more than 20 years.
Contact us today for a free consultation with our team.
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Our Phoenix Birth Injury Law Firm Partners Know How Devastating This Is
There are few things as devastating as your child suffering an injury that could forever affect their life. One careless medical mistake from a doctor or nurse can turn what’s supposed to be one of the most joyous experiences of your life into one of the most traumatic.
In addition to the emotional anguish you’ve been through, you now have to worry about paying for a lifetime of medical bills and care for your child. As the Gold Standard of Injury Law, it’s our goal to fight for the compensation you need to care for your child now and in the future. Contact us today for the dedicated legal help you need.
Our Co-Counsels Understand the Applicable Birth Injury Laws in Arizona
Strictly speaking, a birth injury is any kind of damage that a newborn suffers before, during, or immediately after birth. While some birth injuries are unavoidable, many birth injuries could have been prevented had the proper precautions been taken by the medical professionals involved.
There are certain standards that all medical professionals are expected to live up to, and when they fall short, their patients pay the price. This can be especially devastating when the patient in question is a newborn.
A Phoenix birth injury attorney can help you establish the following:
- The medical professional owed you a duty to uphold their field’s standard of care.
- The medical professional failed to uphold that standard of care.
- The failure caused your baby’s injuries.
- You sustained damages.
Let a Phoenix Lawyer Explain What Causes Birth Injuries
While there are countless potential causes for birth injuries, listed below are some of the most common:
Improper Forceps Use
Forceps are often used to help with the delivery of a baby that is in an odd or improper position. Caution must be taken, however, as forceps can also harm the baby.
Improper Vacuum Use
Like forceps, vacuum devices help guide the baby through the birth canal. If the vacuum isn’t placed properly, however, the baby can suffer catastrophic injuries.
Pulling or Tugging on the Baby
Improper delivery techniques can lead to brachial plexus injuries, broken bones, and other significant harm to the newborn. In cases of shoulder dystocia, the doctor should recognize the risk early and order a C-section delivery.
Hypoxia
Hypoxia occurs when a baby’s brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen. This can occur for many reasons, including a tangled umbilical cord around the neck. It’s a common medical practice to monitor the baby for oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery, but sadly, some medical professionals may miss the signs. This can lead to brain injury and lifelong complications.
Waiting Too Long to Order a C-Section
Several conditions can warrant an emergency cesarean section delivery. It’s up to the medical team to detect these conditions and take the necessary measures to protect both the mother and child. For example, when a baby is in fetal distress from lack of oxygen, they could suffer brain damage if the doctor does not perform an emergency C-section.
Our Law Firm Knows the Possible Effects of Birth Injuries
The long-term effects of birth injuries can vary depending on the nature of the injury. They can range from bruises or shallow cuts to potentially fatal injuries.
A few examples of conditions caused by birth injuries include the following:
- Brachial plexus injuries, such as Erb’s palsy
- Cerebral palsy
- Klumpke’s palsy
- Facial paralysis
- Torticollis
- Clavicle fracture
- Brain damage and cognitive concerns
A Phoenix Attorney Can Determine If You Have a Birth Injury Case
Every birth injury lawsuit alleges that the injury was caused due to a medical practitioner’s failure to uphold the standard of care.
Cases are typically filed against hospitals or the individual doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners involved in the injury. Medical professionals have a legal responsibility; if they fail to uphold that responsibility, they may be held accountable for the damage they cause. However, proving that a medical professional’s carelessness was the direct cause of your child’s injury can be more difficult than it seems.
If you’re wondering whether you have a case, contact The Goldwater Law Firm today to discuss your legal options and how we can help. Having our network of law firm partners on your side can make navigating the difficult legal process and fighting against big insurance companies much easier for you and your family.
Recoverable Damages With Help From a Phoenix Birth Injury Lawyer
While taking legal action cannot reverse the damage that’s been done to your child, it can hold the negligent medical professionals responsible for their actions and possibly prevent them from harming another child.
Filing a birth injury lawsuit can also help ease the financial burdens your family will face in the future. There are several types of compensation you may be eligible for, including:
- All related current and future medical expenses
- Any necessary medical equipment
- Physical therapy and psychological counseling
- Parent’s lost wages
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Pain and suffering
- Funeral or burial costs in the case of wrongful death
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Frequently Asked Questions
If your newborn suffered a birth injury because of negligence from a medical professional, you may qualify to file a birth injury lawsuit.
While we can tell you the general types of damages you can recover, what a case is worth can vary widely. Your Phoenix birth injury lawyer needs to sit down with you to review the specifics of what happened so they can determine the degree of injury your child has suffered, whether it is long-term or life-threatening, and a range of other factors.
Only then will we know how much we can demand from those who hurt your child. That’s why it’s so important not to wait and to get in touch with The Goldwater Law Firm for a free case review today.
The best way to know whether you have a birth injury case is to talk to a birth injury lawyer. Contact Goldwater Law Firm today for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’re here to help you navigate this difficult time.
If we can help, we’ll connect you with an experienced birth injury lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona, who can handle your case while you focus on your newborn.
Unlike birth defects, birth injuries can usually be avoided by providing the expected standard of care during the birthing process. If your baby suffered a birth injury due to a medical mistake, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact The Goldwater Law Firm to learn more about your legal options today.
Suppose your doctor gave you every reason to expect your baby would be normal and healthy, but something occurred before, during, or right after labor and delivery that caused their injury. In that case, you could be dealing with medical malpractice.
In these cases, it’s always best to speak with a qualified birth injury attorney who can review the facts of your case and help you determine the best way to proceed.
Hospitals and general health care providers put a lot of resources into defending themselves from medical malpractice lawsuits. As such, it’s in your best interest to have a legal professional by your side to even the playing field and give yourself the best chance of recovering everything you and your child need.
Under Arizona Revised Statutes section 12-542(1), some medical malpractice victims only have up to two years to sue, so act quickly.
You won’t have to pay a penny upfront when you contact The Goldwater Law Firm. As the Gold Standard of Injury Law, we strongly believe every parent should have access to experienced legal representation. Our law firm partners work on a contingency fee basis and won’t charge you a dime unless you get money for your case.
Every case is different and unique. That means there’s no easy answer regarding how long your case might take to resolve. Your Phoenix birth injury lawyer will work to hold the defendants responsible for what happened to your child, no matter how long it takes.
Most cases don’t end up in court. Trials are long, expensive, and tend to be all or nothing. Healthcare companies and doctors don’t like to end up in court because it brings them bad publicity, and they don’t like admitting they did something wrong.
For this reason, most cases get settled through negotiation and never go to court. If our negotiations stall, though, we may have to appear at a trial; if we do, we’ll fight for every dollar you need.
Negligence is the core of every personal injury case, including birth injuries. To show negligence on the part of your healthcare provider, our law firm partners will need to demonstrate four factors.
- Your lawyer will need to establish that your doctor owed you a duty to uphold the standard of care.
- Your lawyer must show that the provider breached that duty by acting in a way that’s so irresponsible that no reasonable professional in the same situation would act that way.
- Your birth injury attorney needs to demonstrate that the provider’s irresponsibility led to the injury and that your child’s injury would not have happened if the medical professional wasn’t so irresponsible.
- Your birth injury attorney must also show that you suffered damages.
Never sign anything an insurance adjuster gives you without first letting your birth injury lawyer look at it. Insurance adjusters may pretend to be on your side, but they want to pay as little as possible. If they can, they’ll get you to sign away your rights to compensation and even your rights to talk about what happened to your baby.
That’s why it’s so important to have your attorney review any paperwork they give you. You don’t have to talk to them; just send them our way.
Discuss Your Child’s Birth Injury With Our Team for Free
At The Goldwater Law Firm, we provide free consultations for families whose babies suffered preventable birth injuries. We can explain how a Phoenix birth injury lawyer will approach your case and connect you with our co-counsel for your next steps.
Contact us today to get started.