Charleston Birth Injury Attorney

Each year, countless mothers and their babies suffer unnecessary harm during the labor and delivery process, often due to their doctor’s errors or someone else’s negligence. While many victims are fortunate enough to survive what they go through, their future is forever impacted because they suffer life-altering injuries or illnesses due to the malpractice they experience.

Here at Hendrickson & Long, PLLC, we don’t believe that newborns and their mothers should have to pay the price for the preventable harm caused by their healthcare providers. This is what motivates every Charleston birth injury lawyer to seek out top-dollar settlements on behalf of our clients after they are harmed by others’ negligent actions.

By working with our Charleston childbirth injury attorneys, you can rest assured that we have a comprehensive understanding of how to handle West Virginia civil cases like yours. We know what evidence is needed to build a strong case, one that proves liability when birth injuries occur.

If you want to discuss your case and the right you have to secure compensation, get in touch with our West Virginia law firm now. Initial consultations with our lawyers are always free.

The Most Common Causes of Injuries During Childbirth

Our role as attorneys who represent Charleston birth injury victims is to investigate why these incidents occurred. In our experience, the most common causes include:

• Ineffective prenatal care: Pregnant mothers are prone to developing hypertension, gestational diabetes, and other conditions, which can not only adversely impact their health but also that of the baby, leading to childbirth injuries. Doctors should be proactive in diagnosing any conditions during pregnancies and try to help their patients manage them. If unsuccessful, physicians should aid their patients in implementing a birth plan that minimizes the chances of injuries to mom and baby, especially since mothers who are overweight or have diabetes tend to have heavier babies which may experience difficulty in navigating the birth canal.
• Negligent use of birthing instruments: It’s not uncommon for obstetricians to use surgical tools such as forceps or medical devices like vacuum aspirators to deliver babies stuck in the womb. Improper use of these instruments can potentially harm both mom and baby. Babies run the risk of developing lacerations, hematomas, skull fractures, brain damage, and even shoulder dystocia, which can severely damage the brachial plexus nerve when these devices are utilized. In addition, mothers can suffer uterine perforation and other significant injuries if these tools are misused.
• Ineffective monitoring: This can apply when a baby is still in utero. Ultrasound techs must look for situations like oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), or if the baby’s body is breached, and report these findings to doctors immediately. Also, physicians must monitor a mom’s and baby’s vital signs, like blood pressure, oxygenation, pulse, etc., during pregnancy and childbirth and respond accordingly to keep both safe.
• Failure to act expeditiously: A baby being stuck in the birth canal for too long can compress their brain, causing them to become distressed. Additionally, a fetus that has an umbilical cord wrapped around their neck may face oxygen deprivation. If monitored for and quickly dealt with, the injuries that typically result in situations like these, like brain damage, may be avoided.
• Medication errors: Obstetricians must be particularly cautious when prescribing pregnant women any medications that may cause harm to mom or baby. Doctors should also be careful when administering drugs to induce labor, such as Pitocin, which has the potential to change the rhythm of contractions. Likewise, anesthesiologists must be careful in administering epidurals and other drugs intravenously to not over-sedate patients or cause unnecessary nerve damage.

What Can I Do If My Child or I Suffered an Injury at Birth in West Virginia?

West Virginia law allows patients hurt during childbirth due to mistakes made by their doctors, nurses, and other providers to file an insurance claim or lawsuit against the parties who caused them harm.

It’s commonplace for doctors to have medical malpractice insurance and hospitals to have liability insurance for errors like these. When you file a claim, while the doctor, nurse, or facility is listed as a defendant, any settlement awarded is paid by their insurer as opposed to by that defendant directly.

The way our West Virginia legal system views cases like this is that filing a civil case and recovering monetary compensation for your losses makes you, as the victim, “whole” once again.

Potential Liable Parties in Charleston Childbirth Injury Cases

After discovering that your child has been injured, you want answers and to hold those responsible accountable for their actions. However, liability in these cases depends on the specific circumstances of your situation. Was there a medical error? Did the injury occur due to faulty equipment? An experienced Charleston birth injury lawyer will know what evidence to analyze to determine who was at fault.

Some of the liable parties may include:

Medical Professionals

If there was a medical mistake, then the individual providing care during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, such as doctors or nurses, could be responsible. In these cases, negligence by medical staff has led to birth injuries. This is often due to improper use of equipment, failure to monitor, or inadequate post-delivery care.

Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities

In some cases, the liability can extend to the healthcare facility. These entities are responsible for maintaining safe conditions and making sure that their staff follows proper protocols. If the hospital failed to provide adequate resources or hired unqualified staff, it could be responsible for these mistakes.

Other Potential Responsible Parties for Birth Injuries in Charleston, WV

In some cases, third parties, such as pharmaceutical companies or medical device manufacturers, may be liable if their products or services contributed to the birth injuries. For example, the manufacturers could be named in a product liability lawsuit if the forceps were defective and caused injuries.

Many of these claims center on medical malpractice, which directly results from errors or negligence before, during, or after birth. Contact our legal team to learn about your options.

The Statute of Limitations for Charleston Labor and Delivery Error Cases

Like any civil matter, a statute of limitations applies to cases like these. West Virginia Code §55-7B-4 specifies how that timeline would typically be two years from either your child’s birth (or the onset of your injury) or when you first discovered its existence.

And, if childbirth injury ultimately claimed the mom or baby’s life, then you would have two years from the date of that fatality to file suit.

While two years may seem like a long time and thus give you a feeling that you can delay and let life return to some sense of normalcy or that you can begin the grieving process and address any potential legal claim later on, it isn’t.

We know that you’re going through a lot and likely feel like you can’t handle anything more right now, but there’s no time like now to have a birth injury lawyer in Charleston like ours to help you compile evidence to prove liability in your case. This is especially true when it comes to witness accounts.

Why You Need the Help of a Charleston Birth Injury Lawyer in Building Your Case

In medical malpractice cases like birth injury ones, there are certain elements that you must be able to establish to move forward in taking legal action.  Those center around proving that a medical provider owed you a duty of care or was responsible for upholding a certain standard of care and that they breached it. You must also demonstrate causation.

This essentially means that you must show that there’s a connection between the injuries you and/or your baby suffered and the healthcare provider’s actions. Satisfactorily establishing these elements so you can move forward in filing a claim can prove challenging.

Aside from proving the elements of negligence above, it’s necessary to file a “notice of claim” and “screening certificate of merit,” the latter of which must be signed by a healthcare provider without any financial interest in the claim, per West Virginia Code §55-7b-6. Navigating this process can prove challenging if you’re dealing with recovery from a childbirth injury yourself, have a child with special needs, or are grieving.

Additionally, our state laws, specifically West Virginia Code §55-7b-8, cap the amount of money plaintiffs can recover for non-economic damages, such as damages for pain and suffering in medical negligence cases like these at $250,000. However, that amount increases to $500,000 when the harm done results in death or a permanent physical deformity or functional injury.

These amounts undergo annual re-adjustments for inflation. Childbirth injury attorneys in Charleston like ours are skilled in calculating the value of not easily quantifiable losses like non-economic ones, so you receive the fairest possible offer in your case.

The three examples above are just a few reasons you should get our legal team involved to assist you in preparing a solid claim with the strongest potential to yield a fair settlement for you.

Contact Us at Hendrickson & Long, PLLC for Assistance

Birth injuries, whether they affect mom or baby, can have a significant, long-term impact on one’s health and well-being. Associated costs can be significant.

Contact us today to discuss what you and your baby went through on what should have been the most joyous day of your life. A consultation with a Charleston birth injury lawyer is completely free, as is our work on your case. We only get paid if we are able to secure a settlement for you.