A birth injury claim filed in New York was moved to federal court at the beginning of January, 2013. The claim involves a child who has a condition called Erb’s Palsy, which is associated with effects including weakness and sometimes paralysis in the limbs.
The family is suing because they claim that the mother was given inadequate prenatal care, a common claim in these lawsuits. The prenatal care that a mother receives is just as important as the level of care that she and her child get during the birthing process and, in some ways, it may even be more important to the proper development of the child.
Prenatal Care Risks
Oftentimes, lawsuits over birth injuries involve situations where the child was not given care in the womb that may have helped them to avoid certain injuries. For example, children who have too little amniotic fluid in the womb may be born with a range of injuries that result from that situation. Likewise, there are other conditions that may make it necessary to deliver a child earlier than the mother’s due date, simply to avoid that child being injured in one way or another.
C-Sections
Sometimes, mothers end up suing doctors for malpractice because they did not deliver a child via C-section when it was obvious that they should have done so for the child’s health. Cerebral palsy claims commonly center on these situations. When it’s obvious that a child is going to have a difficult birth, it’s sometimes necessary for that child to be delivered via C-section. Even though this procedure does come with risks, it’s oftentimes the safest way to deliver the child without having them injured by the regular birthing process.
About Filing Lawsuits
There are limitations on how long you have to file a lawsuit, but these claims can sometimes take a long time to wind their way through the court system. The child in the story referenced at the beginning of this article, for example, was born in 2005. Once a birth injury lawyer files the lawsuit, however, the limitations are no longer a concern and you can work with your attorney to start building your case.
Sometimes these claims go to court and sometimes they’re settled out of court. This will depend, to a great extent, upon the strength of your claim. If your claim is very strong, the parties you’re suing may not want to go through the expense of a trial.