Connecticut Birth Injury Lawyer

Birth Injury Attorney in Connecticut, CT

Welcoming a new child into the world should be a cause for celebration, but when birth injuries are present, parents’ joy may be tempered by their fears and frustration. If your newborn was injured during the birthing process, you may be facing significant medical bills and the potential for lifelong physical or cognitive impacts. A Connecticut birth injury lawyer can help you file a claim against the party responsible for your family’s pain.

The team at Buckley Wynne & Parese has several decades of combined experience handling complex birth injury cases. We can assign a skilled Connecticut medical malpractice lawyer to your case who can take care of the details while you focus on providing care for your growing family.

Birth Injury Cases We Handle

And as you can imagine, a birth injury can be among the most severe and catastrophic of all injuries, not only for the baby and their future but also for the unsuspecting parents. The experienced birth injury attorneys at Buckley Wynne & Parese can assist parents with cases involving the following types of birth injuries:

• Brachial Plexus Injury
• Broken Bones
• Caput Succedaneum
• Cephalohematoma
• Cerebral Palsy
• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
• Intracranial hemorrhage
• Spinal cord injuries
• Subconjunctival hemorrhage

Among these injuries, some are more common than others. Brachial plexus injuries affect up to 2.5 per 1,000 live births. Cephalohematoma is more frequent, affecting up to 2.5% of births that involve the use of forceps or vacuums. Subgaleal hemorrhages are less common, happening in about 59 out of 10,000 vacuum-assisted deliveries and 4 out of 10,000 spontaneous vaginal deliveries, highlighting the risk associated with assisted deliveries.

Birth Injuries vs. Birth Defects

It is important to note that birth injuries are not the same thing as birth defects. While birth injuries are typically caused by mistakes made or accidents that occurred during the delivery process, birth defects are typically the result of something that happened before or during the mother’s pregnancy.

Birth defects are caused by factors like genetics and environmental influences. Doctors can’t do anything to prevent birth defects, although there are tests available to identify some of them.

Pharmaceuticals prescribed to pregnant women are a frequent source of birth defects, as are alcohol and drug use. Mothers who were prescribed teratogens that placed them at risk of birth defects may be able to file medical malpractice claims, but most birth defects have unknown causes.

Birth injuries are different. They often happen as a result of active mistakes or medical negligence, though not all birth injuries lead to successful legal claims. Injuries due to unavoidable accidents may not be considered compensable forms of harm.

Potential Causes of Birth Injuries Aligned with Malpractice

While some birth conditions are defects that could have been inherited or otherwise unavoidable, injuries can be the result of medical malpractice by a hospital or person who delivered the baby. Examples of malpractice involving a birth injury frequently include the following situations:

• A physician or nurse who failed to properly react to signs of infant distress on a fetal heart monitor.
• An obstetrical doctor allowed labor to take too long despite evidence that the baby was under stress – in these cases, a caesarian section might have prevented the birth injury
• An obstetrician may not have taken proper measurements to obtain critical diagnostic information from ultrasound imaging or other prenatal tests
• Evidence existed that the pregnancy or birth might be a difficult one and would have been better managed by a maternal-fetal medicine specialist

Birth injury laws require parents of injured infants to prove medical negligence.

Proving Negligence and Pursuing Compensation for a Birth Injury

Causation links the defendant’s breach of duty and your baby’s birth injuries. This means that the plaintiff’s injuries directly resulted from what the defendant did or failed to do. Your attorney at Buckley Wynne Parese Personal Injury Attorneys must prove that the doctor or hospital’s negligence caused or contributed to your baby’s injuries.

You may need evidence such as your child’s medical records, diagnosis, and statements from birth injury specialists to prove negligence.

Common defenses during birth injury claims are that the birth injury or defect would have occurred even without the defendant’s alleged negligence. You and your attorney must establish that your baby’s injuries would not have happened were it not for the defendant’s malpractice. Medical experts must testify to the applicable legal standard. You must hire an experienced birth injury attorney for these reasons.

Timing to File a Birth Injury Claim in Connecticut

If your new baby has been subject to a serious birth injury in Connecticut, there are things you need to know. Generally, a claim must be brought within two years; however, there may be factors that allow for longer periods of time.

You must bring your baby’s birth injury claim within two years of the date that the birth injury took place. However, injuries or complications in infants are often complex to detect soon after the baby is born. In many cases, injuries and related disabilities do not appear until a child is a toddler or older.

Most states allow extra time, referred to as a “discovery of harm” rule, which means that the statute of limitations can be extended in cases where the injury could not reasonably be discovered within two years.

In cases like this, the clock starts running on the date when you should reasonably know that the child had a birth injury. However, Connecticut has an absolute deadline of three years for all medical malpractice claims, regardless of when the injury was discovered. For this reason, if you have any suspicion that your child has suffered a birth injury, you should reach out to an experienced birth injury attorney right away.

Compensation Anticipated for a Birth Injury Claim in Connecticut

Filing a claim for your baby’s birth injury may be the only way to obtain the financial compensation your family needs. If you need to pay for long-term medical expenses and cover lost wages for lost work to care for your injured child, your financial future may very well depend on whether you hold the at-fault party responsible for the injuries.

A successful birth injury-related medical malpractice claim in Connecticut could recover economic and non-economic damages.

• Medical expenses may include past and future costs of the child’s medical care, such as those related to doctor’s appointments, surgeries, specialists, therapies, rehabilitation, medications, treatments, and medical devices related to the birth injury.
• Disability costs if the birth injury caused a lifelong disability. Lifelong damages may include the costs of life support, live-in nursing care, ongoing medical care, and home or vehicle modifications.
• Special education for a child with cerebral palsy or another cognitive condition. In these situations, the child may require special education and occupational, behavioral, and speech therapies.
• Lost wages for missed work to bring the child to medical appointments.
• Court costs and legal fees, as the defendant may also have to cover expenses for the plaintiff’s birth injury claim and court costs if the court rules in the plaintiff’s favor.

Economic damages may include:

• Physical pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Mental anguish and psychological trauma
• Lost quality or enjoyment of life

You can trust your attorney to identify 100% of the damages available in your case.

Potential Hurdles to Clear in Your Birth Injury Case

There are several legal hurdles to clear if you want to file a successful birth injury claim in Connecticut. First, you can’t just file a birth injury claim alone. Under Connecticut General Statute 52-190c, you must first conduct a reasonable inquiry and provide a signed affidavit from a qualified medical professional stating that there was evidence of medical negligence. Your attorney can help you make arrangements to meet this requirement.

Before your case can go to trial, Connecticut requires a mediation session to attempt a settlement. Many medical negligence cases are settled during mediations, leading to fair compensation for families without the need for a lengthy, costly courtroom trial. However, you should not feel obligated to accept offers made during negotiations. If the insurance company is unwilling to make a fair offer, we can take your case to court.

There is one final hurdle you may need to clear if your case goes to trial and is successful. Although the Constitution State does not place a cap on non-economic damages, state law does require a judge to review jury awards exceeding $1,000,000 under Connecticut General Statute 52-228c.

This does not mean that you can’t be compensated in excess of $1 million; it just means that there is an extra step that must be taken to verify your final settlement before it can be released.

Why Hire a Birth Injury Lawyer?

Your family deserves to be compensated for the current and future harm created as a result of your newborn’s birth injuries, and thankfully, you do not have to go through the process of filing a claim alone. You can hire a birth injury lawyer to assist you with all aspects of your claim, from determining who can be held liable for the injuries to gathering evidence and proving your case in court, if necessary.

Working with an experienced Connecticut birth injury attorney is not just an effective way to improve the chances that you will be compensated for your newborn’s injuries. It can also help to take some of the stress off of new parents so that they can focus on providing care for their infants and the rest of their families and celebrating the new life that has been brought into the world.

FAQs

Q: How Much Is a Birth Injury Settlement Worth in Connecticut?

A: How much a birth injury settlement is worth in Connecticut depends on the specifics of your birth injury claim. If your baby’s injuries were severe and could cause lifelong disability, you may get a more substantial settlement than someone whose child faced minor harm that could be permanently resolved with minimal medical intervention. Your attorney’s negotiating skills with insurance companies can also play a role in determining how much compensation you receive.

Q: What Qualifies as a Birth Injury?

A: Types of physical harm that qualify as birth injuries include any damage sustained by an infant before, during, or immediately following the delivery process. Common types of birth injuries include fractured bones, nerve damage, soft tissue injuries, and brain damage, often due to intracranial hemorrhages or oxygen deprivation. Difficult deliveries can increase the risk of birth injuries.

Q: What Is the Most Common Birth Injury?

A: The most common birth injuries are soft-tissue injuries. Scalp swelling and bruising, including caput succedaneum and cephalohematoma, account for most types of birth injury. They are minor and typically heal on their own within a few days of the birth. In terms of more serious injuries, clavicle fractures and brachial plexus injuries are both relatively common, though significantly rarer than minor scalp swelling or bruising.

Q: What Are Some Common Reasons for Birth Injuries?

A: Birth injuries occur for many reasons. They are more common during difficult deliveries involving large babies or breeches. Birth injuries often occur due to tool misuse, as when healthcare providers use too much force when using forceps. Medication errors, delayed C-sections, and ignoring fetal distress can all contribute to an increased risk of birth injuries, as well.

Contact Buckley Wynne Parese

A birth injury that could have been prevented could turn your life and that of your new baby’s, upside-down instantly. But you do not have to face the aftermath alone. Call the team at Buckley Wynne Parese Personal Injury Attorneys right away to schedule a consultation and case review and find out what legal recourse you could take and what compensation you can anticipate.

Medical Malpractice

There are various ways medical malpractice can be committed and if you have been seriously injured by the negligence or carelessness of a medical professional, contact Buckley Wynne & Parese immediately. Our attorneys have the necessary medical knowledge and accessible resources to fight for victims of medical malpractice.

Birth Injuries

A birth injury that could have been prevented could turn your life and that of your new baby’s, upside-down instantly. But you do not have to face the aftermath alone.

Nursing Home Neglect & Abuse

At Buckley Wynne & Parese, we understand how gut-wrenching it is to have to place a loved one in a nursing home. We expect them to be safe and well taken care of but that isn’t always the case. Nursing home neglect and abuse remain a distressing problem across the United States and in Connecticut.

Available 24/71-800-445-2278

Contact Us Today