When you have a child in a hospital or birth center, you expect the medical professionals to ensure that everything goes as it should and to protect the health of you and your newborn child. Unfortunately, many children in Fargo and across the United States sustain injuries during the birth process. While you might want to blame doctors for a birth injury and your losses, not every birth injury is legally actionable. Victims of birth injuries do not have the right to hold doctors or facilities liable unless the birth injury was the result of medical malpractice.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is a cause of action in civil court that holds medical professionals accountable for the harm caused by their negligence. Negligence occurs when a medical professional fails to meet the expected medical standard of care, and that leads to a patient’s injury. The expected medical standard of care is to provide treatment at the same level as another similarly situated and reasonable professional would provide.
Not every mistake by a doctor will fall below the standard of care, and some patient injuries are unavoidable and not based on a mistake. This goes for cases stemming from birth injuries, which are a common form of medical malpractice. On the other hand, many birth injuries are the result of medical malpractice, which can lead to legal rights. You should always have an experienced personal injury attorney evaluate whether a specific birth injury resulted from medical malpractice or not.
Common Birth Injury Claims
There are different forms of medical negligence that parents might claim caused their child’s birth injury. Some examples of these include the following:
- Failure to diagnose a condition in the mother or unborn child during prenatal care
- Failure to foresee certain complications and ordering a c-section
- Not properly monitoring the vital signs of the unborn child or mother
- Not properly responding when a child or mother was in distress
- Allowing labor to proceed for too long without ordering a c-section
- Misuse of forceps, vacuums, or other birth-assisting devices
- Not addressing umbilical cord issues
- Failure to monitor and provide emergency care to newborns when needed
- Failure to monitor and provide emergency care to mothers when needed
Speak with Our Fargo Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today
The above are not the only causes of birth injuries that might lead to a legal case. If your child sustained a birth injury and you would like to discuss whether a medical professional might be liable, you should speak with one of our Fargo medical malpractice attorneys. We have seen how birth injuries can impact lives, and we are ready to assist you.
Please feel free to contact one of our experienced personal injury attorneys, Tatum O’Brien, Tim O’Keeffe, or Sara Monson by email, or call O’Keeffe O’Brien Lyson Attorneys at 701-235-8000 or toll-free at 877-235-8002.
