Feeding should be a comforting, bonding experience. When a baby struggles to feed or swallow, it can quickly become stressful and frightening for parents. You may notice choking, gagging, coughing, or long feeding times, or you may feel that something simply does not seem right. Feeding and swallowing difficulties in infants are more common than many parents realize, but they are not something…

Source

When a newborn suffers a preventable birth injury, parents are left searching for answers. One of the most important questions is how long they have to take legal action. This period is controlled by the statute of limitations, a law that sets strict deadlines for filing birth injury and medical malpractice lawsuits. Understanding these rules is essential. Missing a filing deadline can prevent a…

Source

When a baby is hurt during labor or delivery, parents almost always ask the same question. Was this preventable? Medical teams sometimes suggest that birth injuries are unavoidable, but many are caused by medical errors that should never happen. Understanding what qualifies as birth injury medical malpractice can help you figure out what went wrong and whether you may have a case.

Source

Newborn jaundice is one of the most common medical conditions seen in babies right after birth, affecting roughly 60% of all newborns. Most cases are mild and harmless, fading with care. But jaundice is more than just “yellow-ish skin.” When left untreated, rising bilirubin levels can cause kernicterus, a completely preventable form of lifelong brain injury.​ Kernicterus does not happen by…

Source

When you imagine the day your baby is born, you probably picture joy, relief and a lifetime of “firsts”… not medical charts, missed milestones, emergency interventions or talk of brain injury. For many families, complications during labor or delivery can affect a newborn’s brain health and resulting development in life-changing ways. Recognizing the signs of brain damage in newborns is…

Source

Every parent eagerly waits for their baby’s first smile, first word, and first step. But what happens when those moments don’t arrive exactly on schedule? For many families, and especially new parents, seeing a child miss expected milestones can be a source of anxiety. While all children grow at their own pace, persistent delays can be a sign of underlying concerns deserving prompt attention.

Source

Welcoming a new baby should be a time of joy, but for some families, it can be overshadowed by unexpected birth complications. One of the most serious conditions that can affect newborns is hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). HIE is a brain injury that is usually caused by a lack of oxygen or reduced blood flow before, during, or just after birth. For an affected newborn’s family…

Source

When your child suffers a brain injury that causes cerebral palsy, it can turn what is supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life into one of the hardest. In such a difficult and emotional moment, money may be the last thing on your mind – but as time goes on, the financial impact of raising a child with cerebral palsy becomes significant.

When you have cerebral palsy, you have it for life. It usually requires long-term supportive care services, and individuals with cerebral palsy often develop other cognitive challenges, including vision loss, hearing impairment, and seizures – all of which can mean higher costs for parents.

How much does it cost to raise a child with cerebral palsy?

The cost of raising a child with cerebral palsy can vary by a lot of factors, including the severity of the condition, geographic location, and availability of financial assistance. That said, the Centers for Disease Control estimates the average lifetime cost of raising a child with cerebral palsy is $921,000 per child.

As large as this number is, it doesn’t account for several other costs, including lost wages by a family member providing full-time care and emergency room visits. It also does not account for inflation since the study was conducted in 2003.

Can I get help paying for my child’s cerebral palsy-related expenses?

While the cost of supporting a child with cerebral palsy is high, several financial assistance options exist, including:

• Government assistance – federal and state governments recognize that people with cerebral palsy often have additional support needs and may offer financial assistance and other support. These programs vary state-by-state, even region-by-region, and can cover some of the costs of supporting a child with cerebral palsy.
• Charity – another option, charities can provide a variety of resources, financial and otherwise, to support children with cerebral palsy and their families.
• Community organizations – like charities, community organizations provide a range of different support systems, including support, counseling, connections, expertise, research, resources, information, equipment, advocacy, and funding. However, like charities, their resources are limited, and they are unlikely to be able to completely cover the additional costs.
• Health insurance – Health insurance can often cover some or all of the cost of medical care associated with cerebral palsy. However, insurance is often expensive or requires a full-time job, which may not be an option for someone caring for a child with cerebral palsy. Additionally, insurance won’t cover any of the “non-medical” costs, which make up an estimated 80.6% of additional costs incurred.

While each of these options may help with some costs and support needs, they don’t cover all costs and often come with restrictions and requirements that make them inaccessible to some parents. If your child’s cerebral palsy was caused by a brain injury, there may be another option that will give you a more significant sum of money to secure your child’s future and quality of life.

Filing a claim in a malpractice lawsuit against the hospital or medical provider that caused your child’s brain injury can secure significant funds to cover the cost of your child’s expenses, including medical treatment, rehabilitation, and living expenses.

The birth injury lawyers at Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch, and Norman have secured over $500 million in settlements and verdicts for our clients, including a record-breaking $229 million dollar verdict. We offer no-cost consultations and work on a no-win, no-fee basis – to eliminate the financial risk to our clients. We work with medical experts in birth injury cases to assess a child’s expected lifetime expenses and pursue suits against medical systems to ensure you don’t pay for someone else’s mistake.

If you suspect a medical mistake, or malpractice played a part in your child’s injury or feel that something wasn’t right before, during, or after birth, we encourage you to reach out to a lawyer today. You can reach our team here on the website or by calling 410-998-3600.

Let us see how we can help you.

The birth process is a physically traumatizing event, and injuries can occur – both to the birthing parent and the child. Many of these injuries are expected, will heal within a few days or weeks. However, more complicated injuries, including brain injuries, are also possible. When these injuries occur, they can have severe long-term consequences for the child and their family.

What Causes Brain Injuries During Birth?

A brain injury can occur at birth for various reasons, both due to complications with the pregnancy or difficulties with the actual birthing process. These causes include:

• Asphyxiation, or lack of oxygen during birth.
• Infection during birth or pregnancy.
• Jaundice
• Physical injury
• Drug or alcohol use during pregnancy
• Preeclampsia, a condition that can occur when the birthing parent has high blood pressure and high protein levels.

Can Brain Injuries During Birth Be Avoided?

Yes. While not all brain injuries sustained during birth are avoidable, some are. Medical malpractice and negligence can lead to avoidable and treatable injuries, complications, and infections being overlooked – and in some cases, poor medical treatment may actually cause an injury.

Negligence and malpractice can take many forms, such as:

• Failing to monitor a fetus during labor accurately.
• Failing to notice an existing condition in the mother.
• Failure to administer necessary medication.
• Injuring the baby using tools improperly during delivery.
• Nor noticing or addressing signs of distress in the baby or parent.

Whatever the cause, all incidences of negligence involve a medical practitioner failing to follow the medical standard of care owed to a patient under their purview.

When we undergo medical procedures, we put our trust in medical providers to deliver the best outcome for us. This is especially true for the birth of a child, which should be an exciting and happy occasion for most families. Unfortunately, medical professionals can make several critical mistakes that can cause lifelong hardship and break the trust we place in them. Suppose a medical practitioner made a mistake that caused harm to a patient or their child. In that case, you may be able to claim compensation to help with current and future medical expenses and to provide the best possible quality of life for the child. This is why it’s so important to identify how your infant was injured and under what circumstances.

How Can I Determine How a Brain Injury Occurred?

Medical providers are unlikely to share that malpractice or negligence caused your child’s brain injury – so it is essential to conduct a thorough investigation of the case with the assistance of 3rd party medical experts, who can evaluate the treatment you and your child received. Experienced medical malpractice lawyers can source those experts, working with professionals in the medical field to gather evidence and determine whether your doctor breached the duty of care.

Our skilled Baltimore birth injury attorneys can assist you through this process. Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman, LLC has more than 100 years of combined legal experience to offer. If you suspect that medical malpractice caused an injury to you or your child, don’t hesitate to reach out today for a no-cost consultation. Let us see what we can do for you and your family.