Secure the Compensation Your Child Needs

Common Types of Birth Injuries We Handle

Our Pittsburgh birth injury lawyers represent families whose children suffered preventable injuries during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. When birth injuries occur due to medical negligence, we fight to hold healthcare providers accountable.

Birth injuries we handle:

• Brain damage from oxygen deprivation during birth causing permanent motor and cognitive impairments.

• Nerve damage affecting the shoulder, arm, and hand from excessive force during delivery.

• Brain injury from a lack of oxygen leading to developmental delays.

• Damage from improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors.

• Broken bones from traumatic deliveries or instrument misuse.

• Severe damage during difficult deliveries causing paralysis.

• Bleeding in the brain from birth trauma.

• Lower nerve injury affecting hand and wrist movement.

• Cases where medical negligence results in infant death.

How Can I Know If My Baby Is Injured?

Birth injuries may be immediately obvious or develop over time. Understanding warning signs helps families identify problems early.

Immediate Signs After Birth

Some birth injuries become apparent right after delivery through observable symptoms. These include difficulty breathing or seizures, abnormal muscle tone that makes the baby either too stiff or too floppy, inability to move arms or legs normally, facial drooping or excessive bruising, and feeding difficulties that prevent normal nursing or bottle feeding.

Later Developmental Signs

Other birth injuries may not become obvious until weeks or months later as developmental delays emerge. Parents may notice their child missing important milestones, like not sitting, crawling, or walking on time. Additional warning signs include persistent muscle stiffness or unusual posturing, speech delays or learning difficulties, vision or hearing problems, and chronic pain or growth delays that affect normal development.

Birth Injury vs. Birth Defect

Birth injuries are preventable harm from medical negligence during delivery. Birth defects are genetic conditions present from conception. Birth injuries often result from delayed C-sections, failure to monitor fetal distress, or improper use of delivery instruments.

Common Causes of Birth Injuries

Birth injuries often stem from preventable medical errors during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Understanding these causes helps families recognize when medical negligence may have occurred and whether legal action is appropriate.

Medical Negligence During Delivery

Healthcare providers may make critical errors that harm babies during the birthing process. Common mistakes include delayed cesarean sections when complications arise, failure to monitor fetal distress properly, improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors, medication errors during labor, poor response to umbilical cord or placental problems, and mismanagement of shoulder dystocia.

Risk Factors

Certain conditions increase the likelihood of birth injuries occurring during delivery. These factors include large birth weight babies, breech or abnormal presentations, prolonged or complicated labor, maternal diabetes or high blood pressure, and multiple births or premature delivery that require specialized handling.

Prenatal Negligence

Medical errors during pregnancy can also contribute to birth injuries at delivery. Common prenatal mistakes include failure to diagnose gestational diabetes, inadequate monitoring of high-risk pregnancies, missing fetal growth problems, and poor management of maternal infections that could affect the baby.

Proving Negligence in a Birth Injury Case

Successfully proving medical negligence in birth injury cases requires demonstrating that healthcare providers failed to meet accepted medical standards, directly causing harm to your child. Our experienced Pittsburgh birth injury attorneys work with medical experts to build compelling cases.

Four essential elements to prove medical negligence:

• Duty of care: Healthcare providers have a legal obligation to provide competent medical care that meets professional standards. This duty is established when a doctor-patient relationship begins and continues throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery.

• Breach of duty: We must demonstrate that the medical care provided fell below the standard that a reasonably competent healthcare provider would have delivered under similar circumstances. This involves showing what the provider did wrong or failed to do.

• Causation: The most challenging element - proving the healthcare provider's breach of duty directly caused your child's birth injury. We establish this connection through detailed medical record analysis, expert testimony, and clear timelines of events.

• Damages: Demonstrating that the negligence resulted in actual harm, including medical expenses, ongoing care costs, pain and suffering, and impact on your child's future life and earning capacity.

Our legal team collaborates with renowned medical experts who can clearly explain complex medical issues to judges and juries, making your case compelling and understandable. We handle all aspects of evidence gathering, allowing you to focus on caring for your child.

What to Do If You or Your Child Suffered a Birth Injury

If you suspect your child suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence, taking prompt action protects both your child's health and your legal rights. Our Pittsburgh birth injury attorneys recommend these crucial steps to preserve your case.

• Seek additional medical evaluation: If you have concerns about your child's condition, seek a second opinion from specialists who can properly diagnose and treat birth injuries.

• Breach of duty: We must demonstrate that the medical care provided fell below the standard that a reasonably competent healthcare provider would have delivered under similar circumstances. This involves showing what the provider did wrong or failed to do.

• Causation: The most challenging element - proving the healthcare provider's breach of duty directly caused your child's birth injury. We establish this connection through detailed medical record analysis, expert testimony, and clear timelines of events.

• Avoid discussing fault: Don't discuss potential liability with healthcare providers or sign any documents from hospitals or insurance companies without legal representation.

• Contact experienced attorneys: Birth injury cases have strict time limits, so consulting with qualified legal counsel quickly protects your rights.

• Continue treatment: Follow all recommended medical care for your child while building your legal case. Proper treatment both helps your child and demonstrates damages.

• Research healthcare providers: Investigate the background and disciplinary history of doctors and medical staff involved in your child's birth.

You are not alone in this difficult situation. Our experienced Pittsburgh birth injury lawyers have helped hundreds of families navigate these challenging circumstances while securing the compensation needed for their children's care and future.

What a Pittsburgh Birth Injury Lawyer Does

Our attorneys handle every aspect of your case while you focus on your child's care.

Our legal process:

• Free consultation: Honest case assessment with no obligations.

• Investigation: Gather medical records and consult with medical professionals.

• Evidence preservation: Secure critical documentation before it disappears.

• Insurance negotiations: Handle all communications protecting your interests.

• Litigation: Pursue fair compensation in court when needed.

How we support families:

• Emotional guidance throughout the legal process.

• Connections to medical professionals and support resources.

• Regular case updates with direct attorney access.

• No upfront costs — contingency fee basis only.

• Fight for maximum compensation covering all current and future needs.

Compensation Available for Birth Injury Victims

Our birth injury lawyers fight to secure lifetime care and support for your child's needs.