Jacksonville Birth Injury Attorneys

When Can Medical Negligence Cause Birth Injuries? 

During pregnancy and childbirth, medical malpractice can result in preventable harm to mothers and their babies. While not every birth injury is caused by negligence on the part of healthcare providers, it’s crucial for parents and families to understand the warning signs and take swift legal action if they suspect harm due to medical negligence.

Common types of medical negligence that may result in birth injuries include: 

• Failure to monitor fetal distress 
• Use of excessive force during delivery
• Improper use of forceps and other instruments
• Administering incorrect medications or dosages
• Delayed interventions and failure to detect or treat

If you or your child suffered a birth injury due to malpractice by healthcare providers during pregnancy or delivery, turn to our compassionate Jacksonville birth injury lawyers to relentlessly pursue justice on your behalf. With a history of record-breaking medical malpractice verdicts and decades of legal experience, our attorneys can aggressively protect your rights while advocating for the fair compensation you deserve.

Common Types of Birth Injuries

Medical negligence during childbirth can lead to a variety of birth injuries, each with potentially serious long-term implications for the child and their family. 

Common types of birth injuries resulting from medical negligence include:

• Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A type of brain damage that occurs when a newborn baby's brain doesn't get enough oxygen. This can happen during labor and delivery, or even before birth. Symptoms of HIE can include seizures, poor muscle tone, difficulty breathing, and a decreased level of consciousness. In severe cases, HIE can lead to long-term disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or developmental delays.
• Erb’s palsy: Also known as Erb-Duchenne paralysis, Erb’s palsy causes nerve damage to tissue connecting the arm and shoulder. This birth injury can result from medical negligence due to improper pressure or pulling on the baby’s shoulders, head, or neck during delivery.    
• Cerebral palsy: This movement disorder entails brain damage due to excessive force or pulling during childbirth and other forms of medical negligence, such as failure to detect and treat fetal distress or maternal infections.
• Shoulder dystocia: This complication occurs when the baby’s shoulder becomes stuck behind the mother's pelvic bone, leading to nerve damage and other birth injuries.
• Kernicterus: This birth injury entails brain damage due to high levels of bilirubin in the newborn's blood, a condition commonly caused by untreated jaundice.
• Spinal cord injuries: These injuries can occur from excessive force during delivery, resulting in partial or complete paralysis.
• Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL): PVL is a common brain injury in premature babies. When medical negligence or malpractice occurs during delivery, the infant may suffer blood vessel damage and insufficient oxygen to the brain, resulting in this condition.
• Brachial Plexus Injury: Damage to the network of nerves in the shoulder, often caused by excessive pulling or force during delivery.
• Caput Succedaneum: A soft, swollen area on the baby's head, often caused by pressure during delivery.
• Cephalohematoma: A collection of blood between the skull bone and the periosteum, often caused by pressure or trauma during delivery.
• Forceps Injury: Injuries to the baby's head or face, often caused by the use of forceps during delivery.
• Intrauterine Asphyxia: Lack of oxygen to the baby before or during birth.
• Torticollis: A condition in which the baby's neck is tilted to one side, often caused by birth trauma or muscle injury.
• Vacuum Extraction Injury: Injuries to the baby's head or scalp, often caused by the use of a vacuum extractor during delivery.
• C-Section Errors: Mistakes during a cesarean section, such as surgical errors, anesthesia errors, or failure to properly monitor the baby.

Our Jacksonville birth injury attorneys are well-versed in common types of birth injuries and the medical negligence that can cause them, allowing us to help clients navigate the legal complexities of their claims and hold healthcare providers accountable for life-altering negligence.

Seeking Compensation in a Birth Injury Claim in Jacksonville, FL

Recovering fair compensation in a birth injury lawsuit can be challenging and complex, especially given the legal intricacies of Florida law. Our birth injury lawyers in Jacksonville, FL can examine all types of potentially recoverable damages to maximize the compensation available to you.

In a successful birth injury lawsuit in Florida, you may be able to recover various types of damages to compensate for the harm caused to your child:

Economic Damages

• Past and Future Medical Expenses: This includes costs related to hospital stays, surgeries, medications, therapy, medical equipment, and ongoing care.
• Lost Wages: While this is less common in child injury cases, it may be applicable in certain situations, such as if the child's injury prevents them from working in the future.
• Loss of Earning Capacity: This includes the potential loss of future income due to the child's disability.
• Caregiver Costs: If you or a family member must provide care for your child, you may be able to recover the costs of lost wages or the cost of hiring a caregiver.

Non-Economic Damages

• Pain and Suffering: This compensates for the physical and emotional pain and suffering experienced by your child.
• Mental Anguish: This compensates for the emotional distress experienced by your child and family members.
• Loss of Enjoyment of Life: This compensates for the loss of the ability to participate in activities and enjoy life.

Punitive Damages

• These damages are only awarded in rare cases involving extreme negligence or malice. Unlike other damage types, punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant rather than compensate the victim.

Under state law, damages awarded in any medical malpractice claim are subject to certain limitations. While there is no cap on economic damages in birth injury cases, Florida does have a cap on non-economic damages (pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life).

Under Florida Statutes §766.118, practitioners cannot be liable for non-economic damages exceeding $500,000. This limit may be increased to $1,000,000 if the negligence resulted in the patient's death or a permanent vegetative state. Fortunately, our firm has extensive knowledge of these legal nuances to guide your steps wisely and pursue the fair compensation you deserve.

With over $10 million recovered for the wrongfully injured, you can trust our tenacious attorneys to pursue justice after a birth injury. Contact us online to discuss your case with our Jacksonville birth injury team.