Birth Injury 101

Birth Injury 101 - We're here to help.

​Have you been told that your baby has cerebral palsy?  Or Erb's palsy? Did your baby suffer from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy?  Does your child need life long medical care?  Are you wondering how you are going to pay those medical bills?  Are you scared of what will happen to your child if something happens to you?

​When a physician or other health care provider was negligent in the delivery of a baby, and injury results, we call it a "birth injury" or "birth trauma" case.  It is a sub-type of medical malpractice.  But at Hoffer & Sheremet we handle birth injury cases a little differently from a typical medical malpractice case.  We keep an eye on the future and do what we can to make sure your child will be taken care of in the years to come.  Contact our birth injury lawyers today for a free case review.  Read on to learn more about birth injury lawsuits.

How do medical malpractice cases work?

(If you have already read Medical Malpractice 101, skip down to learn how birth injury litigation is different.)

Medical malpractice” refers specifically to negligence committed by a licensed healthcare provider, such as a doctor or nurse, or a licensed health facility, such as a hospital or doctor’s office.

To prove the healthcare provider was negligent, the patient must establish the applicable standard of care and prove that standard of care was “breached” (i.e., not followed) - this is what is commonly referred to as "negligence".  A healthcare provider is “negligent” when he or she failed to act as a reasonable doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant or other healthcare provider. What is reasonable is determined by what a healthcare provider with ordinary knowledge, training, and experience would have done in the same or similar circumstance.   Just proving the healthcare provider, or facility, was negligent is not enough to recover “damages” (monetary compensation for losses). The patient must also prove that the negligence caused an injury and that the injury resulted in damages (i.e. lost wages, medical expenses or pain and suffering).  We prove negligence, causation, injury and damages through the litigation process.  Litigation doesn’t just mean going to court and having a trial.  The litigation process starts months before a lawsuit is even filed, and oftentimes ends before a trial. 

Here is an outline of the process:

Areas We Cover

  • Cerebral Palsy
  • C-Section
  • Improper Fetal Monitoring/Fetal Distress
  • Umbilical Cord Compression
  • Uterine Rupture
  • Infections
  • Forceps/Vacuum Extraction
  • Erb's Palsy
  • Shoulder Dystocia
  • Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia
  • Hypoxia
  • HIE
  • Brain Injury
  • Placental Abruption

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