Personal Injury Lawyer
The birth of a baby can be the most exciting time, but it can also come with some scares and some stress. If your baby was born with a serious injury, it can turn your life upside down. All the plans you had could be put on hold, and bringing your little bundle of joy home for the first time might be postponed. Add to that the medical bills that might result, and you could be wondering where to turn for support. The following are some things you can do.
Serious Injury or Birth Defect?
The first thing you should do is determine whether your baby’s issue is truly a serious injury or if it’s a birth defect. Birth defects can occur due to genetics, or they can occur due to something that happened during the pregnancy. For example, a baby could be born with a cleft lip, which is something her mom, grandma and great grandma were also born with. That could be considered a genetic birth defect.
Another baby could be born with severe brain damage due to the mother drinking alcohol during the pregnancy. This could be considered a birth defect caused by something that happened during pregnancy.
If the baby has a serious injury instead of a birth defect, it most likely occurred during labor and delivery. These types of injuries can occur due to improper techniques, inattentive doctors, the use of improper tools and other similar situations. If your baby’s issue truly is a serious injury, you could be entitled to compensation.
What Is Proof of Negligence?
To have a case against the individuals or entity who injured your baby, you’ll need to prove negligence occurred. The proof you’ll need includes:
- A doctor-patient relationship existed. If the doctor who delivered your baby was the doctor who provided your prenatal care, this can be easily proven with patient records and medical bills from his or her office. If the doctor was an on-call doctor, the medical records from the day of the birth could help to prove this.
- The doctor acted in a negligent manner. Doctors have a responsibility to provide every patient with a certain level of care. You and your lawyer will need to show the actions the doctor took were not in line with what any other professional would have done.
- The negligent actions caused your baby’s injury. This can tie back to whether your baby has a birth defect or a serious injury. It’s your job to show the injury would not have happened, and your baby would not have suffered, if the doctor did not act the way he or she did.
Contacting a Lawyer
As you can see, not every baby born with a health issue will qualify for personal injury compensation, though there are some that could based on the situation. Contact a personal injury lawyer, like a personal injury lawyer from The Lawfirm of Frederick J. Brynn, P.C., today to learn more.
