Bringing a child into the world is a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, OBGYNs have one of the highest medical malpractice rates among healthcare professionals. Birth trauma refers to any physical or cognitive impairment a child suffers during the birthing process. Some birth injuries are unavoidable, while others are caused by medical mistakes.
If your child suffered from a birth injury at Norton, Baptist Health, or the University of Louisville Hospital, you need a dedicated birth trauma attorney from Gray & White. Our experienced Louisville birth injury lawyers have recovered millions for clients injured by medical mistakes in Kentucky. Call us for free at (502) 210-8942 or connect with our birth injury team online to discuss how we can recover needed financial compensation for you and your child.
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Louisville Birth Injury Guide
- Understanding Birth Injury Claims and Deadlines in Kentucky
- Pausing and Extending the Statute of Limitations in Kentucky Birth Trauma Cases
- Common Types of Louisville Labor and Delivery Injuries
- Causes of Birth Injuries in Louisville
- Options for Recovering Financial Compensation in Louisville Birth Injury Cases
- Retain a Compassionate Louisville Birth Injury Lawyer from Gray & White
Understanding Birth Injury Claims and Deadlines in Kentucky
Birth trauma caused by physician errors is classified as medical malpractice under Kentucky law. Generally, your lawyer must file an action for medical negligence against doctors, nurses, and hospitals within one year of birth (by the child’s first birthday) if the injury is obvious (KRS § 413.140(e)). Birth injuries are unique, however, because it can be hard to determine whether an infant suffered birth trauma until they fail to reach certain developmental milestones. In these cases, parents have one year from the time the injury is discovered or should have reasonably been discovered to file litigation, but they must file the lawsuit within five years of the child’s birth (the date the injury occurred).
Pausing and Extending the Statute of Limitations in Kentucky Birth Trauma Cases
If doctors did not discover your child’s birth injury until after they turned five, they can still recover damages. The statute of limitations is paused while the child is still a minor. Parents cannot sue after the five-year discovery deadline passes, but injured children can file birth injury lawsuits up until age 19 (one year after reaching legal adulthood). Additionally, Kentucky recognizes something called the continuing care doctrine. You might have additional time to file litigation if you continued treating the doctor responsible for causing the birth injury.
We mention these deadlines first because Kentucky has an extremely short statute of limitations in medical malpractice cases. If you suspect your child suffered from any injury during the birth process, contact our Louisville birth trauma attorneys at Gray & White immediately to preserve your claims.
Common Types of Louisville Labor and Delivery Injuries
Though birth trauma includes various medical conditions sustained during birth, the following common birth injuries are often caused by medical negligence:
- Cerebral Palsy: This condition occurs when the child’s brain is damaged before or during birth. Children with cerebral palsy often struggle with muscle control, movement, and speech. Some develop intellectual disabilities, while others have difficulty walking. Cerebral palsy can occur when the child’s brain is deprived of oxygen during labor and delivery, a common but serious medical error.
- Kernicterus: Untreated jaundice (liver disease) may lead to brain damage shortly after birth. It is treatable if hospital staff catches signs of kernicterus, such as yellowed skin, following delivery. Failure to diagnose and treat this condition may give rise to birth injury litigation for a missed diagnosis.
- Skull Fractures: Children should not be born with skull fractures, and these typically occur when medical staff improperly use a vacuum extractor or forceps to aid delivery. Skull fractures may cause brain bleeds, resulting in permanent neurological damage.
- Erb’s Palsy: This physical condition occurs when delivery doctors or nurses pull too hard on the child’s arm or shoulder area, stretching and damaging shoulder nerves. Erb’s palsy causes paralysis or general weakness in the child’s arm, shoulder, and hand. It can also be caused by shoulder dystocia, which happens when the child’s shoulders get stuck after the head is delivered.
- Bone Fractures and Cephalohematoma: Careless or rough handling during labor and delivery can cause bruising, swelling, and broken bones.
- Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE): HIE, due to oxygen deprivation, damages brain cells and leads to various neurological conditions. It often occurs when the child’s umbilical cord gets compressed or wrapped around his neck.
- Undiagnosed Conditions: Even if the child is not injured during delivery, sometimes children are born with conditions medical professionals should have diagnosed and treated during the pregnancy. At Gray & White, our birth injury lawyers can help parents obtain compensation for children suffering from undiagnosed conditions.
Oxygen deprivation, even for a few seconds, causes the most serious birth injuries in Louisville. If your child was recently diagnosed with one of the above conditions, contact our dedicated birth injury attorneys to discuss obtaining needed damages for your child’s medical needs and rehabilitation.
Maternal Injuries
Birth injuries refer to conditions a child sustains during labor and delivery, but mothers are also susceptible to trauma. Common maternal injuries suffered during the prenatal and birthing process include nerve damage, hemorrhaging leading to a hysterectomy, preeclampsia, infections, and even death. Our experienced birth injury litigators at Gray & White in Louisville, can handle medical neglect claims on behalf of both mothers and children.
Causes of Birth Injuries in Louisville
Many birth injuries are preventable with quality medical care. If your child suffered from birth trauma, it caould have been caused by the following medical errors.
Failure to Perform Timely C-Sections
Doctors must perform C-sections when the child or mother is in distress. It is normally monitored by equipment, but sometimes medical professionals delay the procedure, hoping the child will come naturally. When children get stuck in the birth canal or mothers experience prolonged labor, it’s often time for a C-section. Delaying a C-section when a child is in distress or pulling on a child to force natural delivery might support medical negligence claims against the OBGYN, nursing staff, and hospital.
Umbilical Cord Trauma
Until the child is born, they receive oxygen through her umbilical cord. When this cord is compressed during delivery, often after slipping into the birth canal, it cuts off the brain’s blood supply. A few minutes of oxygen deprivation might result in severe brain injuries or death. Umbilical cords can also wrap around the child’s limbs and neck. If not removed before the child is born, the umbilical cord can choke the child on delivery.
Forceful Delivery
When doctors and nurses use too much force to remove the fetus, including forceps, it can cause severe nerve damage and fractures. Forceful deliveries are necessary in some emergencies but not during traditional labor and delivery. Our medical experts will review the records in your case to determine whether medical professionals used excessive or unnecessary force during the birth process.
Medication Errors
If the mother needs medication while in labor, such as an epidural, incorrect administration can harm both the mother and child. Administering incorrect doses of other medications commonly used during labor, including medications used to induce labor, can also cause fetal harm. Sometimes, pregnant women are also given medications during pregnancy that are unsafe for unborn children. Medical conditions discovered at birth and linked to certain prescription medications can also support birth injury claims in Louisville.
Failure to Monitor (General Medical Neglect)
As Kentucky’s most populous city, Louisville hospitals are crowded. Busy and overworked staff can fail to properly monitor mothers and children during delivery, which can result in nurses missing signs of preeclampsia or distressed children. Delays caused by monitoring failures can result in serious birth injuries and medical malpractice claims against the hospital and nursing staff.
Surgical (C-Section) Mistakes
Many C-sections are emergency surgeries during which doctors must rush to deliver the child. It can result in more inexperienced or fatigued doctors performing the procedure, leading to surgical mistakes injuring the child or mother.
Res Ispa Loquitor (Unknown Cause)
If your child suffered from a severe birth injury but doctors cannot determine the cause, our dedicated Kentucky birth injury lawyers can still demand financial compensation. The doctrine of res ispa loquitor allows us to prove medical neglect based on circumstantial evidence. If your child was completely healthy before birth and is suffering from nerve or brain trauma, discuss your birth injury claims with our Louisville litigators today.
Damages Available in Louisville Birth Injury Cases
Kentucky is one of only a handful of states that does not cap medical malpractice damages. Many states began limiting the compensation claimants can recover in response to high medical malpractice insurance premiums, but not Kentucky. Our Louisville birth trauma team can demand the following damages on your child’s behalf.
Medical & Rehabilitation Expenses
Eligible claimants can recover damages for all past and future medical expenses, including cognitive, speech, and physical therapy costs. Our personal injury attorneys can demand the following compensation from medical malpractice insurers:
- Hospital and surgical bills
- Physical therapy
- Occupational rehabilitation
- Speech therapy
- Specialists’ costs
- Medications
- Medical equipment
- Home nursing care
- Household modifications
- Special tutors and school programs
Importantly, we will retain medical experts to estimate the value of your child’s lifetime medical needs. It allows us to request fair compensation to cover your child as they develop.
Lost Earning Capacity
Though harder to calculate in birth injury cases, we can request basic lost income compensation for children suffering from permanent disabilities. Legal counsel can also demand financial damages to cover special educational and technical training programs to help your child achieve a financially secure future.
Pain and Suffering (Non-Economic) Damages
Kentucky does not limit pain and suffering damages in birth injury cases. We can recover substantial compensation for children struggling with the following:
- Physical pain
- Emotional suffering
- Frustration
- Inconvenience
- Shame
- Social stigma
- Depression
- Inability to enjoy childhood activities
Because children develop with their injuries, calculating your financial losses is often difficult. But we don’t leave money on the table at Gray & White. Your birth injury lawyer can retain dedicated medical and economic experts to calculate the overall value of your child’s damages. These expert opinions allow our Louisville legal professionals to demand high-value financial compensation from medical malpractice insurers. We can often base our settlement demands on previous similar cases we have litigated.
Options for Recovering Financial Compensation in Louisville Birth Injury Cases
Hospitals such as Norton, UofL, and Baptist Health carry substantial medical malpractice insurance policies covering labor and delivery errors. It normally involves alleging that a nurse or other hospital employee committed a medical error resulting in your child’s injuries. If a private OBGYN with admitting privileges caused the injury, we will demand damages from his or her medical malpractice insurer – normally through a physician’s group. We might also demand damages if the hospital negligently granted the labor and delivery doctor, surgeon, or anesthesiologist admitting privileges.
Birth injuries often result in life-long damages, so hospitals carry high-value malpractice insurance to cover birth trauma claims. Most claims settle with the liable insurer, but in some cases, our birth injury attorneys can recommend going after the doctor or hospital directly. We may file birth injury litigation if the medical error was so egregious it supports a punitive damage claim. It can occur in cases where the doctor was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or was extremely fatigued while delivering your child. If hospital staff ignored warning signs, including prior reports of suspicious or negligent conduct, we can demand additional damages in your case.
Retain a Compassionate Louisville Birth Injury Lawyer from Gray & White
Our Louisville personal injury attorneys know how to handle claims against local hospitals, doctors, and birthing centers. We’ve recovered millions in medical error damages for our clients, and we will fight to ensure your child receives the needed compensation to improve his quality of life. Our birth injury litigators can also accept your case on a contingency fee basis, allowing you to obtain quality legal representation regardless of your ability to pay.
Even though Kentucky has a short statute of limitations in medical malpractice cases, this is paused during your child’s minority. It’s never too late to contact one of our dedicated birth injury litigators to discuss recovering compensation if a negligent medical professional injured your child during birth. Call our 24/7 Louisville medical negligence lawyers today at (502) 210-8942 or connect with us online.
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Gray & White, PLLC – Louisville Office Location
Address: 2301 River Rd #300, Louisville, KY 40206, United States
Contact N0: +15026221484