New York Birth Injury Attorneys

Advocates for Families Impacted by Negligence

Parents don’t typically plan for what to do if their child suffers a serious birth injury. Naturally, the first reaction in this emotionally draining time is to address any immediate health concerns for the child and how to access services that could minimize the possibility of increased impairments in the future. Among the constant feelings of worry for their baby, what parents may not initially consider is the possibility that their child’s disability was the result of birth malpractice. Even if the thought does cross their mind, many parents are unaware of how to explore this possibility and prove that medical negligence was to blame.

Physicians and medical staff are responsible for monitoring women closely throughout pregnancy and delivery in order to minimize the risk of birth injuries and prevent common issues from escalating, but this doesn’t always happen. Identifying and proving birth malpractice can be a sensitive and uncomfortable situation for parents. In addition, it’s difficult for most people to grasp the concept that healthcare professionals could make preventable mistakes that would leave children with physical or neurological deficits lasting the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, human error in the medical field is more common than we’d like to believe. Negligent doctors and medical staff do exist, making careless errors and falling below the standard of care, which places the health of unsuspecting mothers and infants at serious risk.

As an experienced birth injury firm, our team at Salenger, Sack, Kimmel & Bavaro, LLP understands the importance of the details. Determining whether or not physicians were negligent involves looking back at every step of the process: reviewing hospital and medical records, examining test results and scans, and even going as far as to monitor staff schedules and behaviors to pinpoint suspicious actions during your care. From these documents, witness testimonies, and expert analysis, our team looks to establish grounds for how your child’s birth injury could have been prevented and what the negligent behaviors were that caused them.

Common Birth Malpractice Areas

Although there are far more situations in which medical errors could occur, here are some of the most common examples of birth malpractice that are known for leading to significant birth injuries during pregnancy and/or delivery:

During Pregnancy

• Neglecting to properly monitor a woman’s overall condition
• Failure to refer a woman with a high-risk pregnancy to obstetricians who specialize in high-risk pregnancies
• Failure to perform tests during pregnancy that would reveal a birth defect or help avoid one
• Analyzing test results incorrectly
• Failure to properly monitor a baby’s movement throughout pregnancy
• Failure to explore reported issues during the pregnancy that could be signs of more serious health concerns

Labor & Delivery

• Improperly using labor-inducing drugs, such as Pitocin
• Failing to monitor the fetus properly during labor
• Failing to prevent premature delivery
• Improperly using forceps or vacuum extraction during delivery
• Failing to diagnose infection or treat existing infection
• Failing to prevent or act on conditions during delivery such as umbilical cord entrapment, placental abruption, placenta previa, or oxygen deprivation
• Failing to perform a timely C-section when a fetus is in distress
• Unnecessarily performing a C-section when risks outweighed the benefits
• Failing to properly resuscitate newborns

Mistakes in one or more of these areas could result in catastrophic disabilities and neurological impairments for a newborn baby. Determining whether the level of care was compromised during birth and delivery is not a task you should undergo alone; you need counsel that is experienced in the birth malpractice field.

Fighting Back for Your Child's Future

Birth injuries can be heartbreaking for new parents, leaving them obsessed with seeking a cause. However, not all cases of birth injuries and complications are grounds for birth malpractice lawsuits. Even when receiving the utmost quality care during pregnancy and delivery, injuries can still occur that are out of the realm of anyone’s control.

When seeking explanations for your child’s injuries, it’s helpful to know which types of birth injuries are more commonly related to incidents of medical malpractice than others, such as:

• Cerebral palsy
• Severe neurological defects
• Erb’s palsy
• Shoulder dystocia
• Brachial plexus injuries
• Cognitive impairments
• Development delays
• Motor impairments

If your child has been given any of these diagnoses, consider contacting a lawyer. Though we understand seeking financial compensation will never replace the health and wellness that was taken from your child at birth, securing the funds to access early intervention programs can dramatically improve their quality of life for the future.

Fighting Back for Your Child’s Future

Parents hold back from making allegations of medical malpractice for a number of reasons: Avoiding the act of soiling a physician’s reputation, dreading the commitment and consequences associated with filing a lawsuit, or fearing the knowledge that someone contributed to the birth injury of their child. For these families, it’s more important than ever to remember that coming forward with concerns about poor quality medical care is a positive action. It’s possible that the same negligent doctors and medical staff that contributed to your child’s injury have been allowed to practice for years or even decades. Holding these individuals accountable for preventable errors in care could benefit the lives of future children and families, who would have otherwise been put in harm’s way. It may also address and correct any ineffective institutional policies that have led to an increase in medical errors.

Experienced in Birth Malpractice Law

At Salenger, Sack, Kimmel & Bavaro, LLP, our birth injury attorneys are highly qualified and successful in filing birth injury lawsuits. We understand the complexity of these cases and the emotional toll they can take on a family. Our attorneys handle all our clients’ cases with the genuine care and respect they deserve, aggressively litigating their cases to hold negligent medical providers accountable for their quality of care. We value the trusting relationships we build with our clients and are dedicated to your case from start to finish. Salenger, Sack, Kimmel & Bavaro, LLP will not hold back in fighting for the justice your family deserves.

Call (800) 572-7246 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.