Birth injuries can result from complications during labor and delivery that, in some cases, could have been averted through appropriate medical intervention. When such injuries occur, families face difficult questions about what happened and whether the injury could have been prevented.
Kline & Specter is a Philadelphia birth injury law firm with experience handling birth injury cases involving permanent disabilities. With five doctor-lawyers on its team, the firm works closely with medical experts to evaluate the circumstances surrounding labor, delivery, and neonatal care.
What is a Birth Injury?
A birth injury is harm to an infant that occurs during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. These injuries range in severity. Some resolve without long-term effects, while others result in permanent conditions requiring lifelong care and treatment.
Birth injuries differ from birth defects. Birth defects typically develop during pregnancy due to genetic factors or environmental influences. A birth injury occurs from events during the birthing process, such as mechanical trauma or oxygen deprivation.
When monitoring fails or when appropriate interventions are delayed, birth injuries sometimes result.
What Types of Birth Injury Cases Do We Handle?
Birth injury cases require detailed examination of medical records and delivery room practices. Common birth injuries our firm handles include cerebral palsy and Erb's palsy, as well as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, shoulder dystocia, brachial plexus injuries, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, facial nerve injuries, and fractures occurring during delivery.Â
Cases might also involve neonatal conditions such as kernicterus, meconium aspiration syndrome, and complications from delayed or improper resuscitation.
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy describes a group of disorders affecting movement, muscle tone, and posture. The condition results from damage to the developing brain, which can occur during labor and delivery when oxygen supply to the brain is interrupted, potentially resulting in developmental delays.
Factors contributing to cerebral palsy during birth include prolonged labor, delayed response to fetal distress, umbilical cord complications, or failure to perform a timely cesarean section.
Erb's Palsy
Erb's palsy involves injury to the brachial plexus, a network of nerves controlling the arm and hand. This injury typically occurs when excessive force is applied to an infant's head and neck during delivery, such as during complicated deliveries involving shoulder dystocia.
The condition may result in weakness or paralysis of the affected arm. Some cases improve with physical therapy; others require surgical intervention or have permanent limitations.
What Causes Birth Injuries During Labor and Delivery?
Birth injuries occur when the standard of care during prenatal monitoring, labor, or delivery is not met. Medical records and fetal monitoring data provide insight into the events leading to injury.
Common factors include failure to monitor fetal heart rate patterns, delayed recognition of fetal distress, improper use of delivery instruments such as forceps or vacuum extractors, and failure to perform a cesarean section when medically necessary.
Oxygen deprivation leads to a significant number of birth injuries. When the fetal brain does not receive adequate oxygen, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy may result, leading to permanent neurological damage. Causes include umbilical cord compression or placental insufficiency, or prolonged labor without appropriate intervention.
Complications like placental abruption, umbilical cord prolapse, uterine rupture, or maternal infections require prompt response. Delays can result in oxygen deprivation and brain injury.
Risk factors, including maternal diabetes, preeclampsia, abnormal fetal positioning, and prolonged labor, require careful monitoring and may necessitate interventions to prevent complications.
Do You Have a Birth Injury Medical Malpractice Case?
Determining whether a birth injury case exists requires careful examination of medical records, including delivery room documentation and fetal monitoring strips. Medical negligence occurs when healthcare providers fail to meet the applicable standard of care, and that failure results in injury.
Not all birth injuries involve negligence. Some complications occur despite appropriate care. Establishing a viable case requires showing the injury was preventable and resulted from a departure from accepted medical practice.
Expert review is typically necessary to evaluate whether the care provided met professional standards. Our firm consults with specialists in obstetrics and neonatology, as well as other related fields, to assess the medical issues in each case. A Philadelphia birth injury attorney can review the medical facts and help determine whether negligence played a role.
What to Do If Your Child Suffered a Birth Injury
Families coping with a birth injury must prioritize their child's medical care first. Next, they or their attorneys should obtain complete medical records from the hospital and medical professionals involved in the delivery. These records are vital for any subsequent evaluation of the care provided.
Documentation of the child's condition and developmental progress is essential. Medical evaluations and therapy records provide information about the injury and the care required.
Consult with a Philadelphia birth injury lawyer experienced in these matters to understand your options. Each case is fact-specific, and outcomes depend on the circumstances involved.
How Kline & Specter Builds Strong Birth Injury Cases
Birth injury cases require detailed investigation and expert analysis. The experienced birth injury attorneys on our team approach cases by obtaining and reviewing complete medical records, including prenatal care documentation, labor and delivery notes, fetal monitoring strips, and neonatal care records.
Medical experts play a central role in evaluating birth injury claims. Kline & Specter works with obstetricians, neonatologists, neurologists, and other specialists who can assess whether the care met professional standards and whether different actions might have prevented the injury. Life care planners and economists help to project costs associated with ongoing medical care, therapy, assistive equipment, and other lifelong needs.
Our firm's team includes five attorneys who are also doctors, providing medical knowledge that assists in evaluating complex cases and communicating medical concepts effectively. Two of our five doctor-lawyers were practicing obstetricians. Kline & Specter has more doctor-lawyers than any law firm in the United States.
What Compensation Is Available in Philadelphia Birth Injury Lawsuits?
Compensation in birth injury cases addresses multiple categories of harm. Economic damages can include past and future medical expenses, costs of ongoing care and rehabilitation, specialized equipment and home modifications, and income loss for parents who must reduce work hours to care for their child.
Non-economic damages may account for the child's pain and suffering and the impact of the injury on the child's quality of life and development.
Available damages depend on the case facts and jurisdiction.
What Compensation Is Available in Philadelphia Birth Injury Lawsuits?
Compensation in birth injury cases addresses multiple categories of harm. Economic damages can include past and future medical expenses, costs of ongoing care and rehabilitation, specialized equipment and home modifications, and income loss for parents who must reduce work hours to care for their child.
Non-economic damages may account for the child's pain and suffering and the impact of the injury on the child's quality of life and development.
Available damages depend on the case facts and jurisdiction.
How Long Do You Have to File a Birth Injury Case in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania law imposes strict time limits to file a birth injury lawsuit or medical malpractice claim, but these limitations vary depending on the circumstances of each case. The rules are complex, and exceptions can apply, so families should consult with an attorney to understand the deadlines applicable to their situation.
Why Families Choose Kline & Specter for Birth Injury Cases
At Kline & Specter, our medical malpractice lawyers handle complex catastrophic injury matters, including cases involving serious medical harm and institutional conduct. Our firm's work includes verdicts and settlements across a range of high-stakes cases, reflecting our long experience with complex litigation.
Our law firm includes attorneys with extensive trial experience, as well as a team of lawyers who are also doctors providing medical expertise in evaluating and presenting cases. This combination of legal and medical knowledge assists in understanding technical aspects and influences how we present evidence and consult with outside experts.
Birth injury cases require significant investment in case preparation, and we have the resources to advance case costs and retain qualified experts.
Speak With a Philadelphia Birth Injury Lawyer Today
For a birth injury claim evaluation, contact Kline & Specter for a free, confidential consultation with our team of Philadelphia birth injury lawyers. We have offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York, and work with local counsel in other jurisdictions as needed.
Call 215-772-1000 or use the online contact form to discuss your situation.
Birth Injury Case Victories Delivered By Kline & Specter!
Among our outstanding results was a $57 million verdict in Allegheny County involving a mid-wife whose actions caused infant oxygen deprivation that resulted in cerebral palsy.
Other significant victories for our birth injury clients include the following:
- $47 million  — This verdict, for a child injured in a post-birth procedure, is the largest medical malpractice verdict in federal court in Pennsylvania history.
- $42.9 million — This verdict was in favor of a baby girl who was badly injured during delivery at a Philadelphia hospital.
- $42 million  — This verdict in Harrisburg federal court was for an infant who suffered brain damage because of a botched forceps delivery.
- $32 million — This was a settlement with a hospital in the case of a child born severely brain-damaged after doctors delayed performing a cesarean section.
- $21.6 million  — This was for a verdict for a child born with a severe brain injury, a record for an Erie County personal injury case.
- $20 million — This was the settlement in a birth injury lawsuit involving negligent care during labor and delivery that resulted in a catastrophic brain injury.
- $19.2 million — This was a verdict against Merrell Dow for a boy born with club feet after his mother had taken the morning sickness drug Bendectin.
- $19 million — This was a confidential settlement on behalf of an infant who suffered cerebral palsy due to a delayed C-section.
- $18 million  — This was a settlement for an infant who suffered severe and catastrophic cerebral palsy due to a delay in performing a C-section.
- $15 million — This settlement came against a doctor and a nurse in a New Jersey case.
- $14.5 million — A verdict in Johnstown, Pa., for a boy who suffered cerebral palsy due to a mishandled delivery. The jury award was the largest-ever in a medical malpractice case in federal court in western Pennsylvania.
Read what our patients are saying!
"I had the best experienced legal team imaginable. They were patient and understanding throughout the whole ordeal. They knew how sensitive I was concerning the care of my brain-injured child and fought feverishly to win my case. It was a long battle and we were victorious!"
