Columbus Birth Injury Lawyer

Bringing a child into the world is usually a time of celebration for new parents. Unfortunately, some births have complications, causing infants to suffer severe injuries that could lead to permanent disabilities. These situations are even more tragic when they are caused by the negligence of a medical professional.

While filing a legal claim is not the first thing that parents think of in these situations, it can provide compensation to manage the physical, emotional, and financial damages of their newborn's injuries. If you are in this difficult situation, you need representation from an experienced Columbus birth injury lawyer to help recover all of the compensation you are entitled to. The experienced Columbus personal injury attorneys at O'Connor, Acciani & Levy will thoroughly review your claim to find out if negligence played a role in your baby's injury. We have a successful track record of negotiating maximum compensation for victims of negligence.

Types of Child Birth Injuries

A birth injury is damage to a baby that occurs before, during, or after the delivery, often due to medical malpractice or negligence. Birth injuries can have severe effects on the fetus or newborn, including cerebral or Klumpke's palsy, Erb's, cleft palate, swelling of the scalp, or missing parts of the brain or skull.

Other types of severe, potentially life-altering injuries that can occur during childbirth include:

Mothers can also suffer severe injuries due to medical negligence during the delivery, such as:

If you or your baby suffered an injury during childbirth that you think was caused by negligence, you should consult a Columbus lawyer right away to find out your legal options. You may be able to recover compensation for your injuries through a lawsuit.

The birth injury attorneys at O'Connor, Acciani & Levy have a detailed understanding of the laws governing negligence among medical professionals. We know how to construct a solid case that can stand up to challenges from doctors and their insurance companies.

Birth Injury Negligence

Injuries during childbirth are often the result of reckless actions by doctors and others involved in delivering the baby. For example, doctors can cause brain, spinal cord, and brachial plexus damage if they are careless when using forceps or a vacuum to help deliver the baby. Medical professionals must also be cautious when using labor-inducing drugs, as they can put the life of the baby and the mother at risk if they are administered improperly.

Additionally, doctors and other medical professionals can cause birth injuries through their failure to monitor the mother and the baby. For example, if medical professionals fail to properly monitor the mother and the baby for signs of distress, the baby could lose oxygen and suffer a permanent brain injury. Failure to monitor also covers testing of the mother and the fetus to detect problems. If medical professionals do not perform tests or misinterpret test results, the mother and fetus could be at risk.

Another way that medical professionals can cause injury is by failing to act at the appropriate time. For instance, doctors should know when it is necessary to perform a cesarean section to avoid injuring the mother or the baby. If you believe negligence played a role in your baby's condition, consult our Columbus birth injury lawyers today for a free, no obligation consultation.

Proving that Negligence Occurred

Your Columbus attorney must establish four things to prove that negligence occurred during childbirth and that it caused you or your baby to suffer an injury:

• A doctor/patient relationship. Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists and others involved in the childbirth process have a doctor/patient relationship with the mother and the child. Because of this, they are held to a duty of care that obligates them to act as other medical professionals would if they were in a similar situation.
• Breach of the duty of care. Your lawyer must prove that a medical professional was negligent in some way and failed to act in an appropriate way as others in the situation would have. Unfortunately, this is the most difficult thing to establish in a birth injury claim.
• There was an injury. You must also establish that the medical professional's negligence caused an injury to the baby or the mother.
• The injury resulted in damages. Your attorney must establish that the injury caused physical, financial or emotional damages.

Proving all of the elements of negligence requires an in-depth investigation by knowledgeable attorneys. Our dedicated birth injury lawyers will review medical records, interview witnesses, consult experts and review the history of the hospital and medical professionals involved. Our priority is to get you all of the compensation you are entitled to help you move forward from this awful chapter of your life.

Recovering Damages for Childbirth Injuries

Birth injury compensation is a form of civil recovery for damage caused during childbirth due to medical malpractice or doctor negligence. A birth injury lawsuit could cover many forms of compensation, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, rehabilitation and physical therapy costs, lost wages, and in-home health care expenses.

Compensation is obviously not the first thing on your mind after your new baby suffers a birth injury. However, while it cannot change the past, it can help you manage the expenses the injury has caused.

Consult a Columbus Birth Injury Lawyer Today

The Columbus birth injury lawyers at O'Connor, Acciani & Levy have helped many victims of negligence recover various forms of compensation. Contact us today to review your claim in a free consultation. We work only on a contingency fee basis, so we do not receive compensation unless our clients do first.