If your child suffered a birth injury that was caused by negligence, you should contact an Allentown birth injury lawyer to determine if you may be entitled to compensation.
Munley Law’s personal injury attorneys have nearly 70 years of experience in representing medical malpractice cases, including negligence-related birth injuries. We have won medical malpractice cases worth $5 million, $4.35 million, and $3.5 million for our clients, and our Allentown birth injury lawyers are recognized by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and the American Association of Justice, and Marion Munley has been named Lawyer of the Year for Medical Malpractice Law and Personal Injury Litigation by Best Lawyers.
All five partners feature in Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers list and hold AV Preeminent Ratings from Martindale-Hubbell. Caroline Munley is also named to the Top 25 Medical Malpractice Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania and Top 25 Women Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania lists, offering specific expertise in birth injury cases.
Learn more about what birth injuries are due to negligence, to see if you have a personal injury claim. If you do, contact Munley Law today for your free case evaluation and specialized support. We don’t charge any fees unless we win your case.
What is a Birth Injury?
A birth injury occurs before, during, or after the birth process when a newborn may suffer physical injury or trauma. Birth injuries can be caused for a variety of reasons, as our Allentown medical malpractice lawyers often see, most commonly due to:
- The baby is large
- The baby is breech or feet first in the birth canal
- The baby is premature
- The mother’s pelvis or birth canal is not shaped for delivery, making a vaginal delivery more difficult
- Labor has been prolonged with weak contractions, making it hard for the baby to move through the birth canal
- Maternal obesity and other maternal risk factors
- Cesarean or C-section
- The need for a vacuum-assisted delivery or the use of forceps
What Types of Birth Injuries are Caused by Medical Malpractice?
Sometimes, an injury during birth is just an unfortunate but unpreventable reality. But in other situations, it can be the result of avoidable birth trauma. Examples of birth injuries caused by medical malpractice range from minor to severe, and include:
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Bleeding underneath a cranial bone
- Cerebral Palsy
- Brachial Plexus and Erb’s Palsy
- Facial paralysis or facial nerve injury
- Anoxia
- Clavicle or collarbone fractures
- Spinal cord injuries
- Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy
- Kernicterus
- Swelling/bruising of the baby’s head (one of the most common injuries, with studies showing that the vast majority of birth injuries affect the scalp)
- Small, broken blood vessels in the baby’s eyes
Call Us At 844-686-5397 Could Your Baby’s Injury Have Been Prevented?
Most birth injuries are not a result of negligence; however, if your child’s birth was met with complications and you feel as though the treatment you and your child received was not enough to prevent an injury, you may have a personal injury claim.
Determining whether a birth injury was preventable often comes down to a standard-of-care analysis. In a medical malpractice case, experts review the actions of the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers involved to determine what a reasonably competent provider would have done under similar circumstances. They then compare that standard to the care that was actually provided.
If the medical team failed to take steps that a competent provider would have taken—such as responding to fetal distress, ordering a timely C-section, or properly using delivery instruments, and that failure contributed to the injury, it may be considered a deviation from the accepted standard of care. Medical records, fetal monitoring strips, delivery notes, and expert testimony are often used to establish whether such a deviation occurred.
A child’s birth injury can be avoided if the medical team appropriately responds to complications as they arise.
Birth injuries are preventable when:
Providers Respond to Fetal Distress
During labor, mothers are hooked up to multiple monitors to monitor their health and track the baby’s vitals. If a doctor fails to acknowledge and respond to fetal distress, long-term complications can arise for the child, and unfortunately, even death may occur.
Delivery is Not Delayed
Not all labors are easy. Sometimes, they can become lengthy and require medical assistance to speed up. In cases where medication does not make labor fast enough, a cesarean section can be used to deliver the baby. However, when doctors delay delivery, severe injury and illness can occur to mother and child alike.
Forceps/Vacum Extraction is Used Properly
To move a baby through the birth canal, devices like forceps or vacuum extraction may be employed. However, if too much force is used, this can result in trauma to the skull, leading to lifelong disabilities.
Proper Force is Used
Sometimes, a doctor may try to avoid using delivery tools and will instead pull the baby through the birth canal. But this can also lead to birth trauma as the pulling can cause the shoulders to dislocate, leading to nerve damage.
Can My Child Fully Recover From a Birth Injury?
Determining a child’s recovery from a birth injury depends on a variety of factors. Ultimately, the severity of the injury will determine the likelihood of recovery and the available treatment and therapy options.
Severe birth injuries that involve the brain or spinal cord are more likely to cause permanent disability compared to minor injuries involving fractures and nerves.
A birth injury diagnosis is your first step in birth injury treatment and determining your child’s prognosis.
How Can an Allentown Birth Injury Lawyer Help My Child?
An Allentown birth injury lawyer can help your child by:
- Reviewing medical records to determine if negligence occurred
- Calculate the medical expenses you are likely to incur due to the baby’s birth injury prognosis
- Gather expert testimony
- Handle negotiations
- Represent you in court
Because birth injuries and birth defects typically develop within weeks to months of a child being born, many birth injuries are not reported right away. While some may be quite apparent during delivery, the long-term implications can take longer to determine.
However, you are on the clock to file a birth injury claim. In Pennsylvania, you can file a claim until the child is 20 years old. But you should immediately start. Evidence can quickly disappear; the faster you act, the stronger your claim.
Why Choose Munley Law’s Allentown Birth Injury Attorneys?
When a newborn baby suffers at the hands of a negligent medical provider, an experienced Allentown birth injury attorney can guide your family through the legal action that must be taken.
At Munley Law, our Allentown birth injury lawyers handle a wide variety of birth trauma claims, including those for:
- Brachial plexus injury and other nerve injuries
- Facial nerve injury
- Intracranial hemorrhage
- Shoulder dystocia
- Spinal cord injury
- Intrauterine fetal demise (or stillbirth)
Our Experience and Achievements
With nearly seven decades of experience, our lawyers have handled numerous negligence-related birth injury claims and won millions in settlements for our clients to date.
Robert Munley III, Caroline Munley, and Marion Munley are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum for their sizable settlements won, and all of our partners are listed in the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania, with Caroline Munley named to the Top 25 Medical Malpractice Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania and Top 25 Women Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania lists.
All partners hold Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Ratings and are included in the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers list, with Marion Munley also named a Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyer in America.
Eight of our lawyers are Super Lawyers, including Marion Munley, who has been named to the Top 10 Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania, Top 100 Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania, and Top 50 Women Pennsylvania Super Lawyers directories. All Munley Law lawyers have been honored by Best Lawyers, with Marion Munley chosen as Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Litigation, Medical Malpractice Law, and Personal Injury Litigation, and all belong to the American Association for Justice, where Marion Munley is currently Vice President.
We also have four lawyers certified in Civil Trial Law and Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, underscoring our skill in representing personal injury cases.
Contact a Birth Injury Attorney at Munley Law Today
If your child suffered a birth injury, contact Munley Law today for a no-obligation, free consultation.
We will provide compassionate support and sound legal advice to help you win fair compensation for your family.
Marion Munley
Marion Munley is a triple board-certified trial attorney and a two-time Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” for Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs in Northeastern Pennsylvania (2021, 2023). She has recovered millions for victims of surgical errors, misdiagnosis, and wrongful death, including a $4.35 million medical malpractice settlement and a $3.2 million recovery for a woman misdiagnosed with cancer. A Pennsylvania Super Lawyer since 2004 and a member of the International Society of Barristers, Marion has also published on emerging malpractice issues, including the liability risks associated with electronic health records and 3D-printed medical devices.
Reviewed by Bernadine Munley, Esq., Personal Injury Attorney at Munley Law, on June 4, 2026.
