Birth injuries
A family deciding what a birth record shows.
Most births go well, and a hard birth is not the same as a mistake. When a baby is hurt, or a mother is, parents want to know what happened, and the hospital often cannot say. The answer is usually in the chart, which records the labor in minutes.
We read it slowly, with an obstetrician and, when the child needs it, a neonatologist. Then we tell you what we found, including when we find nothing we can take on.
What a birth record can show
- Fetal heart-rate monitoring, and who watched it and when
- The time between a concern and a cesarean or other step
- Shoulder dystocia and the maneuvers used
- Newborn resuscitation and the first hours in the nursery
- Injuries to the mother during labor or delivery
Hour by hour
The record keeps its own clock
Labor charts note the monitor strip, each order and each call to a physician by the minute. A gap between a worrying strip and a response is one of the first things a reviewing obstetrician looks for.
These cases also look forward. A child’s needs can last a lifetime, so we ask early what care and support will be required, and what they will cost.
Records we collect
Monitor strips and nursing flow sheets
Obstetric and neonatal notes
Placental pathology and cord blood results
Imaging and the child’s later evaluations
How we work these
Three habits in a birth case
These are the cases where how we work matters as much as what we find.
- 01
Slowly
We read the whole record before we say what we think, and we do not guess at causes in the first call.
- 02
With the right doctors
An obstetrician reads the labor. A neonatologist reads the nursery, when the baby needs it.
- 03
With the years ahead in mind
We plan around what the child will need, not only what has happened so far.
About birth cases
Is every birth injury a malpractice case?
No. Some injuries happen despite good care. We take a case only when the record and a reviewing physician point to care that fell short and caused the harm.
How long do we have?
Deadlines are short and strict, and they can work differently when the injured person is a child. Ask us early rather than late, and we will tell you which dates matter.
Do we have to decide quickly after coming home?
No. You can take the time you need. We would ask only that you keep every paper from the hospital and, if you can, request the full records.
Will we have to relive it?
We keep the first conversations short, and we do the reading ourselves. You will be asked for what you remember, not for what the chart says.
Ask for the record to be read
Tell us the date of the birth and the hospital. We will explain what we need, and what you can leave to us.
Free first call. Fees are contingency: no attorney fee unless there is a recovery. Costs are explained in writing before you sign.