Through nine months of pregnancy, you’ve waited to meet your new baby. Most women go through labor and childbirth without any major problems, and take home a healthy baby. But for some babies, their birth doesn’t go as planned, and parents find themselves dealing with birth injuries.Having a child with birth injuries can take an emotional toll on you and your family. You may have additional expenses resulting from the injury, and your child may need lifelong care that your insurance won’t cover.You may consider seeking compensation for the damages you and your child have suffered as a result of negligence for your child’s continued care.
What Are Birth Injuries?
The term is generally used to describe any injury or damage to a baby either before, during, or directly after the process of birth. This includes any injuries caused by trauma, either to mother or baby during pregnancy and/or delivery.
Avoidable birth injuries are frequently due to medical malpractice, including:
- Cerebral Palsy
- Oxygen deprivation during the birth process
- Fractures
- Brain damage (including mental retardation)
- C-Sections
- Brachial Plexus
- Klumpke’s Palsy
- Erb’s Palsy
Birth injuries are not the same as birth defects, and are frequently the result of circumstances out of the control of a physician. In some cases, birth injuries can be the result of medical negligence or malpractice.
Proving Medical Malpractice For Birth Injuries
In order to prove your case, you will need to show four things:
- That you had an official doctor-patient relationship with the other party, and the action in question occurred during the course of prescribed treatment
- You must prove that the other party was in some way negligent
- That the negligence directly led to your injuries
- That you were, in fact, injured (or in this case, you or your child)
You will have to show actual medical damages, as well as financial.If you're able to show these four elements were involved in birth experience, you may be able to recover compensation for any medical expenses (such as surgeries to correct damage from an injury), pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages with the help of expert Kansas City medical malpractice lawyers.
Two Year Statute Of Limitations
Unlike other personal injury cases, Missouri allows a two-year statute of limitations to file, from the date of the injury, except in limited special circumstances.Before you can file your lawsuit, Missouri requires you to file an affidavit from another legally qualified healthcare provider that can verify:
- The defendant (your physician or other health care provider) failed to provide to you the kind of treatment that “a reasonably prudent and careful health care provider would have under similar circumstances," and
- The failure by your healthcare provider caused or contributed to the injury and detriment detailed in your lawsuit.
Additionally, Missouri Revised Statutes section 538.225 states that you must file this affidavit within 90 days of the date of your lawsuit, unless you can show “good cause,” or your lawsuit will be dismissed.
KC’s Birth Injury Law Firm
Contact Kansas City’s most trusted personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers today for a free consultation. Remember, we don’t ask for lawyer fees until you win your case. Call us now at (816) 221-2288 or visit our downtown office.
