Allentown Birth Injury Lawyer

Our Allentown birth injury lawyers are dedicated to advocating for families affected by medical negligence during childbirth. With 65 years of experience in medical malpractice law, we understand the devastating impact that birth injuries can have on both the child and the family. Our team combines in-depth medical knowledge with legal expertise to build strong cases against negligent healthcare providers. We are committed to securing the compensation your family needs to cover ongoing medical care, therapy, and support services.

Contact the birth injury attorneys at Munley Law today to schedule a free consultation. There is no fee until we win your case.

The Common Types of Birth Injuries in Allentown

Many infant birth injuries can be direct results of medical negligence either during the pregnancy, labor, delivery, or even after the birth itself. For instance, a doctor or medical professional may forget to run important tests, consult with the family, or fail to recognize the signs of fetal distress.

Common injuries sustained by the infant during childbirth include:

Brachial Palsy: Brachial palsy is a common outcome when the mother and infant experience shoulder dystocia during delivery. Brachial palsy occurs when shoulder dystocia damages the nerve bundle called the brachial plexus, which are the nerves that control shoulder, arm, hand, and finger movements. In many cases, brachial palsy is reversible, though in more severe cases, the damage to the infant is permanent.

Cerebral Palsy: Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that can impact a person’s movement, balance, and posture. It often occurs when the baby is stuck in the birth canal or behind the pelvis, which can result in the oxygen supply being cut off. Cerebral palsy has no cure, making this diagnosis a lifelong commitment of care for the parents and children.

Bone Fractures: The infant can experience bone fractures during delivery and labor. The most common bones that are affected are the collarbone and the clavicle. Although the breaks can be painful, infants recover quickly as their bones grow.

Facial Paralysis: When the nerves controlling one side of the baby’s face are damaged as they leave the birth canal, facial paralysis can result. This is often noticed when the baby cries, but only one side of its face moves. If the nerves are bruised, this condition can quickly reverse in weeks. In more severe cases, the child may be paralyzed for life.

Brain Damage: There are a few different brain injuries that infants can sustain during either labor or delivery and can range from a brain bleed to cerebral hemorrhages, subarachnoid hemorrhages, and perinatal asphyxia, which can cause permanent damage, like comas, seizures, and cognitive dysfunctions.

Can I Sue For a Birth Injury?

Birth injuries are devastating. You are likely entitled to compensation if you suspect your injury was caused by medical negligence or medical malpractice. Medical bills add up quickly, so seeking compensation may help take some financial pressure off of your family during this difficult time.

If you decide you want to move forward with litigation, it is recommended that you reach out to an experienced birth accident lawyer. Although you may feel that your claim is straightforward, hospitals and insurance companies will put a series of obstacles in your way, making it challenging to receive the compensation you deserve. Hiring an experienced birth injury accident lawyer will help you navigate the claims process and be instrumental in winning you the outcome you deserve.

We encourage you to reach out to us today for your free consultation. Our experienced legal staff will help you create a game plan for your case. The first step is figuring out on what grounds you will be suing and which party you will be suing. Below are a few common lawsuits our negligence attorneys in Allentown help our birth accident clients file:

• Compensation for medical expenses
• Pain, suffering, and emotional distress
• Disfigurement, specific loss, and scarring
• Disability and lost wages

Regardless of what type of lawsuit you file, the foundation of your case will be proving medical malpractice or medical negligence. In order to prove this, you’ll need to show the following:

• Duty of care: you must prove that the medical provider owed you, the plaintiff, the duty of care. Essentially, you will need to show that you entered into a doctor-patient relationship with the medical provider on trial.
• Breach of duty of care: after establishing that the medical provider did owe you the duty of care, you will need to show how the duty of care was violated. For medical malpractice cases, this is often demonstrated by showing that the medical provider acted carelessly or negligently.
• Harm as a result of breach: in short, you need to show that the doctor’s negligence affected you or the infant in a negative way. More than just demonstrating you or your infant was harmed, you need to establish the causal link between the doctor’s actions and your suffering.

It is also important to note that there is a two-year statute of limitations. In most cases, this means that you will have two years from the date of the birth injury to file your lawsuit. Although this may seem like a long time, the claims process can be long and drawn out. It is therefore important to contact an experienced birth injury lawyer as soon as you can.

How Often Do Birth Injuries Occur in Allentown?

It’s widely acknowledged that childbirth is one of the most difficult things women face in their lifetimes. Each year, childbirth claims the lives of roughly 800 women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although childbirth is challenging for the mothers, it certainly is not smooth sailing for the infant either.

Infants can be harmed during the labor process if there are complications with the delivery. Some common complications that can arise when an infant is delivered include umbilical cord issues (when the infant is trapped or held improperly by the cord), asphyxiation due to low oxygen levels in the mother’s blood, or even shoulder dystocia, where the infant’s shoulders are trapped in the mother. In fact, the CDC has found that about one in every seven infants suffers from a birth injury.

As a mother, the last thing you want is for your child to be injured during the delivery process. After nine months of pregnancy, you have cared for your baby as best you could. When it is time for delivery, you just want to cross the finish line; you are so close to having the child join your family. By choosing to deliver your baby in a hospital, you are trusting that the medical professionals managing your care will care for your child to the fullest of their abilities. A birth injury, therefore, is the last thing you may have anticipated.

How Our Allentown Birth Injury Lawyer Can Help

Munley Law has 65 years of experience litigating personal injury claims. Our track record in this field is extremely successful. In fact, many of our attorneys have won multi-million-dollar settlement outcomes for our clients. Accordingly, this has won many of our attorneys entry into the prestigious Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an exclusive group of trial lawyers who have all won, at minimum, million-dollar outcomes for their clients.

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys is proud to call Allentown our home. We are deeply entrenched in the Allentown and Scranton metro areas, and we are proud to be able to serve these communities by representing them in the courts of law. Please reach out to us today for your free consultation. We look forward to using our 60 years of experience to win you and your family an outcome that you deserve.

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys

609 Hamilton St
Allentown, PA 18101
(610) 857-7424