A birth injury is one sustained by a baby during labor or delivery. Many birth injuries result from inattentive, careless, or reckless medical provider behavior. While many birth injuries resolve naturally over weeks or months, some can create significant health issues with lifelong effects. The skilled Illinois birth injury lawyers at the Mahoney Law Firm aggressively pursue justice and accountability from negligent medical care providers and their insurance companies.
At the Mahoney Law Firm, we understand that a birth injury is traumatic and distressing for the mother and child. Our compassionate birth injury attorneys can help you seek compensation against the negligent medical practitioner who caused your baby’s injuries.
Common Illinois Birth Injuries and Their Causes
The mother and baby face numerous health and safety risks during labor and delivery. A birth injury can occur when a health care provider fails to follow established standards of care for obstetricians, labor and delivery nurses, and medical facilities.
Inadequate care during labor and delivery can cause a variety of birth injuries, including:
- Shoulder and neck injury
- Fractured skull
- Intracranial bleeding
- Brachial plexus injury
- Spinal cord damage
- Cerebral Palsy
- Erb's Palsy
- Perinatal asphyxia
While some minor scratches, bruising, and swelling may resolve rapidly after birth, many birth injury conditions can affect the child’s health for the rest of their life. If your baby experienced any of the above injuries because of a medical provider’s negligence, you could file a medical malpractice claim against the responsible party and seek compensation.
Birth Injuries and Medical Negligence
Obstetricians and labor and delivery nurses must support the health and well-being of the child and mother throughout the birth process. Birth injuries due to medical negligence may happen when attending medical care providers:
- Fail to monitor the infant’s vital signs and oxygen levels
- Use incorrect equipment or delivery procedures
- Prescribe or administer the wrong medication to the mother
- Stray from established delivery procedures and standards
- Fail to notice or treat changing medical conditions
Liable Parties
Obstetricians and labor and delivery nurses receive specialized training to recognize when a mother or baby is distressed. When they fail to adhere to the basic standards for their field, they can be held responsible for injuries that occur as a result.
Birth injuries often occur due to negligence by multiple parties. Parties who could be liable for your birth injury claim include:
- Obstetrician
- Labor and delivery nurses
- Surgeons and specialists
- Nurse practitioners
- Physician assistants
- Anesthesiologist
- Hospital and department administrators
- Other medical staff
If a medical care provider’s negligence caused your baby’s birth injury, you could recover compensation through a malpractice lawsuit. The Mahoney Law Firm’s team of knowledgeable birth injury attorneys can help you understand your legal rights and advise how best to move forward.
Benefits of Working With Skilled Birth Injury Attorneys in Chicago
To be successful in a medical malpractice lawsuit for a birth injury, you must prove:
- The medical professional had a duty of care to the mother and baby
- The medical professional breached their duty by failing to exercise the reasonable degree of care and skill a similarly situated health care provider would use
- The breach caused the child or mother to suffer an injury
- Damages resulted from the birth injury, including medical bills, loss of income, and pain and suffering
While you handle the physical, emotional, and financial challenges of a birth injury, you deserve legal support from an attorney who understands cases like yours. Our birth injury attorneys know how medical expenses, missed work, and other costs can pile up.
The dedicated legal team at the Mahoney Law Firm can help you prove your case. We will investigate your birth injury claim and conduct a thorough case analysis while you focus on recovery. We handle all the legal aspects of your claim, including:
- Determining your economic and non-economic losses
- Gathering evidence to prove your case
- Obtaining medical expert testimony
- Submitting a demand to the responsible parties and their insurance companies
- Negotiating a fair settlement for the losses you sustained
- Defending your legal rights at trial
Lead attorney Ryan Mahoney has over 16 years of experience in complex Illinois injury law. We have secured over $100 million for injury clients in Illinois and the Midwest. We can aggressively pursue the justice and compensation you deserve from the medical practitioners who failed in their duty of care.
Protecting Your Rights in Your Illinois Birth Injury Case
When you hire the Mahoney Law Firm, our team will gather documentation and prepare your case for trial immediately.
We will file claims against the medical practitioners responsible for your child’s birth injury. This includes submitting demands to the medical malpractice and liability insurance carriers for the doctors, nurses, and medical facilities. Once we have the evidence to prove medical malpractice, we will file a medical malpractice injury claim within Illinois’s statute of limitations.
You can expect our team to provide clear explanations and support throughout the legal process so you always know where your birth injury case stands.
Personal Injury Related Links
How to Get Help
If you or someone you love has experienced a birth injury due to medical malpractice, don’t wait to get the help you need. Contact the Mahoney Law Firm today to schedule a free consultation with our experienced birth injury lawyers.
We are dedicated to helping families in Illinois get the justice and compensation they deserve. Call us now at 618-523-9962 or visit our website to learn more about our expertise and resources for handling birth injury cases.
Birth Injury Lawyer FAQ
Do I need to hire a personal injury lawyer?
While Illinois law does not require hiring an attorney for medical malpractice cases, you benefit from working with an attorney who handles such cases. A lawyer will know how to determine fault, how to prove negligence, and will defend your right to fair compensation. The laws and procedural rules are complicated. You need an experienced and skilled attorney to navigate you through the process.
What is the statute of limitations for a birth injury in Illinois?
Under Illinois law, you have two years from the date you became aware of the injury to file a lawsuit against the responsible party. The timeframe cannot exceed four years after the injury occurred. If you do not file within these deadlines, you could lose the chance to recover damages. Speak with an Illinois birth injury attorney at the Mahoney Law Firm to learn which statutes apply to your case.
What is medical negligence during childbirth?
Medical negligence during childbirth occurs when a practitioner fails to act within the standards of care for their field. Obstetricians, labor and delivery nurses, and others who facilitate childbirth are responsible for the health and safety of the mother and child throughout the process.
Get the Legal Assistance You Need
If you or someone you love has experienced a birth injury due to medical malpractice, don’t wait to get the help you need. Our law firm has helped other victims like you claim more than $100 million in compensation by using our resources to gather evidence and prove medical negligence. We can help you determine how much compensation to seek, provide expert witnesses, and negotiate on your behalf.
Contact Mahoney Law Firm today to schedule a consultation with our experienced birth injury lawyers. We are dedicated to helping families in Illinois get the justice and compensation they deserve. Call us now or visit our website to learn more about our expertise and resources in handling birth injury cases.
