Birth Injury Claims

Birth injury claims are to recover for birth injuries sustained by an innocent child. Parents are forced to pursue a medical malpractice claims with its associated limitations.  Most of the typical birth injury claims people encounter are for Cerebral Palsy (injuries resulting from a lack of oxygen to the in utero child prior to birth (and usually immediately prior to birth)) and Brachial Plexus or Erbs Palsy injuries.

A Cerebral Palsy type of injury typically occurs when a child is not delivered quickly enough, either vaginally or by cesarean section and, as a result, the mother’s body cannot provide adequate oxygen to the child. The lack of oxygen to the child for a period of time results in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy which negatively affects the brain and brain function due to the lack of oxygen.  This may sound complicated, but this medicine and the need for timely delivery of infants has been well known by the medical community for a long time.  Mark Cantor and Gary Burger are experience birth injury lawyers and have represented numerous families with cerebral palsy children.

A Brachial Plexus injury, or Erbs Palsy, typically occurs during the vaginal delivery of a child. If there is a large baby, the child is positioned in a certain way in the birth canal, or for other reasons, it may be difficult for a physician to deliver the shoulders of a baby, after the child’s head has been delivered. Careful practitioners are familiar with a number of maneuvers and techniques to successfully deliver the child at that time.  However, a negligent doctor will sometimes try to force the delivery and pull hard on the head, neck and shoulders.  This can result in the baby’s neck nerves being ruptured.  The pragmatic effect of this nerve injury is that the child loses the use of their arm.  There are various operative interventions that can be done after birth, with varying degrees of success.

If you or a loved one has been affected by a birth injury please contact us at 314.542.9999.  We would be happy to meet with you for a FREE consultation to determine if you have an actionable birth injury claim.

Please click on the following for further information about birth injuries: