Birth Injuries

Bringing a child into the world can be one of life’s most joyous moments. When a child is a victim of a birth injury, however, that initial joy can quickly be overtaken by other emotions like confusion, anger, and sorrow. How did this happen? Was it preventable? How will we be able to afford the medical care that this injury will require? Rockland County birth injury lawyer Valerie J. Crown handles many medical negligence cases, including injuries resulting from a failure to treat complications during childbirth and other types of malpractice.

A “birth injury” is typically defined as harm to an infant that happens during the labor or delivery process. (By contrast, a “birth defect” involves harm to a baby in utero before the birthing process begins.) While not every birth injury happens because an obstetrician or another medical professional made a mistake, many birth injuries do occur due to the negligence of a doctor, nurse, or hospital. Birth injuries can also happen because of the actions (or failure to act) of a pharmaceutical company or medical device manufacturer. The improper use of anesthesia can also cause harm to infants during the birth process.

In most cases, the parents of a child are the plaintiffs in a birth injury case. To recover compensation for a birth injury resulting from an act of medical malpractice, the plaintiffs must prove the traditional elements of negligence (duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages) through the use of expert witnesses who can explain the applicable standard of care to the jury. The experts can give a professional opinion as to how the defendant medical providers violated that standard of care. Experts also can testify as to the severity and future prognosis of the injuries suffered by the infant and whether those injuries were proximately caused by the health care professional’s deviation from the standard of care that would have been followed by a reasonable medical provider. A birth injury attorney can help Rockland County residents retain experts to establish each of these elements.

Just as with other types of medical negligence cases, such as those arising from a misdiagnosis, claims for malpractice resulting in a birth injury must be filed within both the statute of limitations and the statute of repose. Because of the many procedural challenges that can arise during the litigation of a medical malpractice case, it is always advisable to seek the services of a knowledgeable lawyer as soon as possible if you suspect that your child or you has been harmed by a doctor or nurse’s mistake. Building a case of negligence can be time-consuming and detail-dependent, so getting an early start can be helpful in recovering fair compensation as soon as possible.

The amount of damages available in a medical malpractice case arising from a birth injury can vary considerably from case to case. However, compensation is often available for the costs of future treatment and care that the child will need throughout the rest of their life. Valerie J. Crown can help you pursue fair compensation in a negligence case involving a birth injury in Westchester, Ulster, Dutchess, Rockland, or Orange Counties, as well as elsewhere in the Greater New York area. For a free consultation, call us at 845.708.5900 or contact us online, or you can call Valerie’s cell phone at 845.598.8253. We also handle dental malpractice claims, as well as medical negligence claims arising from lack of informed consent and other types of neglect. We accept many birth injury and other malpractice cases on a contingency basis; this means that no attorney fees are required to be paid upfront because we do not get paid unless you receive a settlement or judgment. Since we are a small firm, we are very selective about the cases that we accept. Our goal is to give each family whose case we take the individual attention and focus that they deserve. If you need a birth injury lawyer in Rockland County or the surrounding areas, we are ready to advocate for your rights.