When a healthcare practitioner’s action leads to a newborn’s harm, it may be medical negligence. If that is the case, the injured child’s parents are entitled to recover monetary compensation from the at-fault medical care provider in a birth injury lawsuit.
Birth Injury Lawsuits are Medical Malpractice Cases
Preparing for a winning birth injury lawsuit is no small task as it is a type of medical malpractice claim. Medical malpractice cases are difficult to pursue due to the complicated legal procedures and the layers of evidence and documents needed to support a claim. To prepare a successful suit, three key things will make all the difference in your case.
Find a Qualified Birth Injury Attorney to Handle Your Lawsuit
The first is hiring a lawyer. Of course, you do not need a lawyer to pursue compensation in a malpractice claim, but it might be wise. An experienced birth injury lawyer will be knowledgeable about the legal process pertaining to your case and can facilitate the other two key things you absolutely MUST do to win a birth injury lawsuit: prove negligence and gather evidence.
Proving Negligence in a Malpractice Claim for Birth Injuries
Common law informs us that four elements of negligence must be shown to win a medical malpractice case successfully:
Duty
The first prerequisite for establishing negligence is showing that the at-fault medical provider had a duty to provide care to you and your baby free of harm. This is simple to show when you are an expectant mother going through prenatal care and delivering the baby at a hospital.
Breach of Duty (or Violating the Medical Standard of Care)
Once it is clear the healthcare professional owed you a duty of care, you must show that they breached that duty. In malpractice claims, this means showing that they did not provide the standard of medical care they should have provided in the situation.
Simply injuring your baby during the birthing process is not enough. If they did everything they should have done to keep you and your baby safe, but an injury occurred anyway, you do not have a medical malpractice claim. Instead, it must be proven that they did not act in a manner that another medical professional in the same area of medicine would have under the same circumstances.
Damages
This is where you prove that your infant was injured during pregnancy or birth. You must show that your baby suffered a physical birth injury and that it led to other injuries or losses. This could be cognitive impairment or extensive medical bills for which you can be compensated, collectively known as “damages.”
Causation
Proving causation means demonstrating that the doctor’s violation of medical standard of care caused the injuries to your baby and resulted in the additional damages associated with your birth injury case.
Gather Evidence to Support Your Birth Injury Claim
Winning a birth injury suit requires copious amounts of evidence. The type of evidence a birth injury lawyer will collect to help you win your case includes:
A Certificate of Qualified Expert provided by a medical professional trained in the same area of medicine as the practitioner named in your case. This letter will attest that the care you received fell below the standard of care that should have been provided. It forms the foundation of your medical malpractice case and is required according to Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. Code § 3-2C-02.
Medical records of the mother and infant’s treatment during prenatal care and delivery. It also includes medical records documenting the birth injury and the baby’s required treatment.
Employment history and record of disciplinary action for the medical practitioner who is the subject of your lawsuit.
Complaints from previous patients or medical personnel against the physician, nurse, or other healthcare professional or medical facility named in your lawsuit.
Witness testimonies from medical personnel who assisted in delivery or during prenatal care, as well as those familiar with the injuries you and the baby suffered.
Expert testimony from experts in the field of medicine, such as obstetricians, pediatricians, and nurses. Testimony should also be gathered from experts in other fields that may impact your case, such as life-care planners, psychological or cognitive development experts, educators who specialize in working with students with disabilities, and financial experts.
Photos and video showing the extent of the birth injuries your baby suffered and the impact it has had on your lives.
Medical bills listing all of the medical costs you are responsible for paying due to the birth injury.
Other bills, receipts, estimates, paystubs, or work schedules indicating additional costs associated with your birth injury claim, such as medical supplies, assistive technology or devices, home modifications, essential services, and supplies to aid you in caring for your infant, rehabilitation, travel expenses, and missed time at work.
Brown & Barron Knows How to Prepare Successful Birth Injury Lawsuits
If your child suffered a birth injury due to negligent care from a medical professional, you could seek damages in a medical malpractice claim. A birth injury attorney at Brown & Barron can help. Our firm specifically concentrates on medical malpractice cases. We have the financial resources, connections, and experience to prepare for a winning birth injury lawsuit. We do not charge a fee unless we win your case. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.