Birth Injury Attorney in Baltimore, Maryland

Newborn babies and their mothers are particularly vulnerable during both the pregnancy and the birth process. This is an anxious yet happy time for any parent awaiting the family’s newest member. Unfortunately, pregnancy and childbirth do not always go smoothly.

When the medical provider, who was responsible for looking after the mother and her baby, acts without due cue and attention, the results can be catastrophic. Babies and their mothers may suffer from preventable birth injuries that affect them for the rest of their lives. Most of these cases arise from medical malpractice involving the providers’ negligent behavior.

In Baltimore, the rules are the same as in every hospital across the state of Maryland. If you or your child has been the victim of medical malpractice, you are entitled to pursue compensation and the recovery of the damages you have suffered.

Here at Peter Angelos Law, we know that no amount of money will ever fix the damage and trauma you have been through. Compensation can provide you with the financial security and the means to seek the highest-quality professional care and treatment that you or your child may need going forward. Our birth injury lawyer in Maryland will do whatever it takes.

Peter Angelos Law – Justice For You and Your Baby

At Peter Angelos Law, we believe that all victims of medical malpractice and negligence deserve the chance to seek justice and compensation for their injuries, regardless of their financial situation.

To do this, our Maryland birth injury attorney offers a free consultation and free case evaluation to all potential new clients. This allows us to look at your case, answer any questions, and advise you on your best course of action. We will tell you if your case is a valid one that we are willing to take on, and then you can decide on your next move. There are no strings attached, and if you decide to walk away at this point, you will have more knowledge than before.

Another part of our goal to provide accessible representation to all victims is through our fee structure. We work on what is called a contingency-fee-basis, also commonly known as no-win-no-fee. This means it costs nothing to retain us up-front, and you pay us nothing if we lose your case. As discussed in our initial consultation, we simply take a flat percentage fee from your settlement if we win.

Why Should I Hire a Birth Injury Lawyer in Baltimore, Maryland?

Attempting to pursue any type of medical malpractice claim without legal counsel is a significant risk. You will not only need to meet the court’s strict filing requirements and deadlines but must do so while managing the physical and emotional effects of the birth injury your family experienced. Hiring legal counsel means you can place your legal affairs in capable hands so your family can focus on healing and planning for the future. 

Medical malpractice claims are also some of the most complex personal injuries claims an individual can file. These cases have unique requirements, such as a formal medical board review and expert witness testimony from a qualified medical professional. Without a Baltimore birth injury lawyer, the average person will be unlikely to secure the evidence and documentation needed to succeed with their claim. Even if the claim is successful, self-filers are unlikely to obtain the full scope of their claimable damages. 

To be certain you and your family maximize your recovery after a birth injury, you need a birth injury attorney in Baltimore, Maryland that you can trust to manage your case. The Baltimore birth injury attorneys at Peter Angelos Law have the experience, resources, and skills necessary to secure fair compensation for your birth injury claim. 

Common Birth Injuries Caused By Negligence

Peter Angelos Law has successfully represented Maryland clients in a wide range of medical malpractice cases, including cases involving birth injuries. A “birth injury” is any injury that occurs before or during childbirth and negatively affects the mother and/or her child. Some birth injuries may heal in time while others cause permanent damage. Unfortunately, some infants who suffer birth injuries may require lifelong, in-home medical treatment to manage their conditions.

As Baltimore birth injury lawyers, we have dealt with most forms of birth injury. Some of them are more common than others. Most of these injuries fall into two categories:

Prenatal Error

This type of error occurs because of a lack of fetal monitoring during pregnancy. If the fetus has problems, and the doctor diagnosed the wrong condition or failed to diagnose a condition at all, this is a lack of due care and attention.

A common example may be that the fetus has a condition such as Downs Syndrome or cystic fibrosis. Often in these cases, one of the parents is a carrier of a disease, and it is down to the doctors involved to carry out the tests necessary and inform the parents so that they can take the appropriate measures,

Labor and Delivery Error

Labor and delivery errors occur during the birth process. These injuries occur when the doctors fail to adhere to the medical practices or act without due care and attention during the critical stages of birth.

The most common birth injuries include:

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy occurs when a baby lacks oxygen to the brain during either birth or during pregnancy. Cerebral palsy can happen for unexplained reasons, but in some cases, it happens due to medical malpractice.

Brachial Plexus Palsy

When midwives improperly deliver a baby, the baby can suffer from brachial plexus palsy. This happens when there is damage to the nerves that carry messages to the arms and hands of the brain. These nerves are called the brachial plexus. The result of this is that the baby may have a loss of function in their shoulders, arms, or hands. Some brachial plexus injuries result in Erb’s palsy, a condition characterized by slowed muscle growth in the affected arm. Other brachial plexus injuries are more severe and may result in nerve damage and/or paralysis. 

Cephalohematoma

This is a condition that occurs when blood vessels are ruptured in the scalp during birth. They are often harmless, but if left undiagnosed, they can trigger other complications that could harm the baby. Blood pools under the skull; if left untreated, it may calcify, causing deformity and requiring surgical intervention.

Horner’s Syndrome

Horners syndrome is the name for a type of damage to the nerves that connect the eyes to the brain. During childbirth, if the practitioners are not careful, the newborn can suffer trauma to the face, which leads to nerve damage.

There is little to no treatment for this, and if the nerve doesn’t heal, it can lead to permanent facial nerve damage.

Injuries from Surgical Instruments

Medical staff assisting childbirth procedures should avoid using surgical instruments whenever possible. However, some situations may call for the use of forceps or extraction devices. When doctors use these tools inappropriately, the infant can suffer traumatic injuries, some of which may carry permanent effects. 

Improper use of Vacuums

If the pregnant mother struggles to give birth naturally, physicians may decide to use an extraction vacuum to deliver the baby. This decision needs to be made carefully, as there is a risk of several conditions and injuries.

Conditions like caput succedaneum, which occurs when the vacuum causes swelling or bruising of the scalp, can lead to jaundice and other issues that will require the baby to need immediate treatment and may lead to potential long-term issues like brain damage.

If your baby has suffered due to the incorrect use of an extraction vacuum, you should speak to a Baltimore birth injury attorney immediately, as you may have a claim.

Fractures

Broken bones are one of the more common types of injury, and many of them can be preventable, especially if the doctor had other choices, such as turning the baby or converting to a c-section in a timely manner.

If the doctor could have used alternative birthing methods, and your baby has suffered a fracture, you should speak to a Maryland birth injury lawyer.

Spinal Injuries

One of the most serious and life-changing injuries that can happen to a newborn baby is damage to the spinal cord. Spinal cord injuries can lead to lifelong paralysis as the messages that are sent down the spine are interrupted.

This damage is often permanent and will drastically affect both the mother’s and the newborn baby’s life forever.

Injuries from Failure to Monitor

The staff handling the childbirth procedure must constantly monitor the vital signs of both the mother and her child. Failure to do so may mean one or both could face life-threatening complications. For example, if the mother suffers tearing or another injury and starts to bleed internally, failure to monitor her blood pressure could mean the medical team are unable to provide necessary corrective treatment in time to save her life. 

Failure to Timely Conduct a C-Section 

It is not uncommon for a mother to begin labor expecting to deliver her child vaginally only to experience complications that demand an emergency C-section procedure. Attending physicians and their support staff must know the warning signs of these situations and act accordingly. If it becomes unsafe to continue with natural childbirth, the doctor must move to conduct an emergency C-section as soon as the appropriate conditions appear. Failure to do so could lead to catastrophic or fatal injuries to the mother and/or child. 

Common Forms Of Child Birth-Related Medical Negligence

While there are always risks during pregnancy, many of the above injuries occur when a medical provider behaves negligently. There are a huge number of different ways that negligence can occur, such as:

– The incorrect or improper use of tools used during the birthing process, such as extraction vacuums and forceps.

– Incorrect or lack of fetal monitoring during pregnancy and labor.

– Delayed or failure to give treatment during fetal distress.

– Failure to convert to a c-section in a timely manner.

– Administering an epidural incorrectly.

The Process of Filing a Claim

To begin the process and to start filing your medical malpractice claim, you need to submit a claim to the Director of Maryland Health Claims.

This will start things off. Your Baltimore birth injury lawyer will be able to assist you in doing this and will be able to guide you through the malpractice claims process.

Maryland Statute of Limitation

In the state of Maryland, the statute of limitations places a time limit on filing a medical malpractice case. Once this time limit has elapsed, your case will be thrown out if you try to raise it. Whilst this gives you a time limit, the sooner you speak to an attorney and begin the process, the better.

Maryland’s statute of limitations states you have:

– Three years from the date the malpractice injury or error occurred.

– If in rare cases, you do not discover the injury until a later date, you may have a longer period, but your time will never exceed five years from the date the injury occurred or three years from the date the injury was discovered.

Damages You Can Recover in Medical Malpractice Claims

If you or your newborn baby have suffered injuries as a result of medical malpractice or negligence from your medical providers, you deserve to recover your damages. Your Baltimore birth injury lawyers will calculate what your damages are worth. The more experienced your attorney is in similar cases, the more accurate they will be able to calculate your damages.

In a birth injury case, your attorney will consider both your economic and your non-economic damages.

Economic Damages

Your economic damages are the damages you or your baby have suffered that are going to cost physical money. Here are some of the economic damages you may suffer due to malpractice:

Lost Earning Potential/Wages

If the injuries you or your baby have suffered due to the medical malpractice incident mean that you will have to take time off work, you may suffer a loss of wages. You can recover these losses.

If your baby has suffered birth defects or injuries, that means they will not be able to work in a normal capacity in the future, your attorney may attempt to recover a lifetime of lost earning potential.

Medical Bills/Expenses

In a medical malpractice case, you can recover all of your medical expenses and bills that relate to the incident. If your baby needs additional treatment due to their injuries or may need treatment in the future, your Maryland birth injury attorney will calculate what this is worth.

It is worth keeping a medical diary of all treatments that your baby needs in order to assist your attorney.

Non-Economic Damages

Your non-economic damages are the damages you or your baby have suffered that do not come with physical prices attached. These include:

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering damages are designed to compensate the victim for the physical pain and emotional suffering they have been through. This includes things like a loss of potential enjoyment of life. An example of this would be if your baby has suffered spinal cord injuries that prevent them from riding a bike or playing on the playground like other children. Your attorney will calculate what this life of suffering is worth.

Wrongful Death

The worst possible result of a medical malpractice case is the victim’s wrongful death. A fatal birth injury or complication that leads to the wrongful death of the child is a terrible thing to deal with, especially when the injury could have been preventable.

As parents, you have the right to take legal action in this situation, and together with your attorney, you can bring a wrongful death case against the responsible medical provider.

While no amount of money will ever ease your grief, it can provide financial security while you take the time to grieve and can provide compensation for the emotional distress and loss of companionship that you have had to suffer.

Your Maryland birth injury attorney will be able to answer any questions you have about a wrongful death claim and will guide you through the birth injury claim during this difficult time.

Start Your Birth Injury Claim in Baltimore, Maryland Today 

If your family recently experienced any type of birth injury, it is natural to feel saddened, confused, and uncertain about the future. You likely have many pressing legal questions and a limited idea regarding your options for legal recourse.

If your child’s birth injury was preventable and occurred through the negligent behavior of a medical provider, you are eligible to pursue compensation for your suffering and damages.

These cases are extremely complex, and you will be pursuing compensation from an insurance company that most likely has an extremely capable legal team.

For the best possible chances of seeking full and maximum compensation, you need a fierce advocate with experience in previous cases. Our Baltimore birth injury lawyers have successfully helped many families in Maryland state-wide secure compensation for their birth injury damages and can put our experience to work for you.

Contact Peter Angelos Law today to schedule a consultation and get answers from our Baltimore birth injury attorneys for your most urgent legal questions for free. To discuss your case, call us today at 410-705-2405.

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