Is it a Birth Injury or Birth Defect?

In order to establish negligence for a condition present at birth, it is imperative that a birth injury lawyer determine whether the situation was a preventable birth injury or an unavoidable birth defect. An experienced birth injury attorney will gather information and interview medical experts as part of their investigation to make this determination.

If your infant is suffering from a birth injury caused by the negligence of a medical professional, contact a skilled birth injury lawyer today. You shouldn’t have to bear the emotional, mental and financial burdens of caring for your injured child alone.

Is it a birth injury or a birth defect?

When an infant is born with a medical condition, it is not necessarily obvious whether it was caused by a birth injury or a birth defect that happened in the womb. The reason is because different factors can cause the same outcome. For example, an infant born with brain damage may have been exposed to an intrauterine infection in the womb or injured by an abnormal, un-skilled use of birth-assisting tools. Understanding some basic information about birth injuries and birth defects is the first step in determining cause.

Birth injuries:

A birth injury is a sometimes preventable injury that occurs during the process of labor and/or delivery. It is estimated that five out of every 1,000 babies born in the U.S. experience a birth injury. The type and severity of the injuries vary widely from severe brain trauma to delayed motor skills. When a preventable birth injury occurs, parents may be able to bring a legal claim in search of monetary damages.

Birth defects:

Birth defects are infant medical conditions that arise before the labor or birthing process; the harm was caused by factors present before or during the pregnancy such as heredity or environment. It is estimated that seven percent of all babies born in the U.S. have a birth defect or irregularity. These defects range in type and severity and in many cases their source is unknown. If the defect was caused by an unavoidable factor or by the mother’s own actions then a legal claim to recover damages becomes very unlikely.

How does a birth injury attorney prove a case?

In a successful birth injury case a medical malpractice attorney shows that a medical provider or drug manufacturer failed to provide a generally accepted standard of medical care to the mother or infant during pregnancy and/or during labor or delivery.

The attorney will show this by retaining a medical expert who has expertise in the area of medicine relating to the medical issues affecting the infant. Expert testimony will be presented about the standard level of care commonly met by medical professionals in similar circumstances and how the defendant failed to meet this standard of care. Finally, the birth injury attorney must show that the plaintiff’s medical provider’s departure from the relevant standard of care resulted in the birth injury.

The Seattle personal injury attorneys at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC have years of experience representing families harmed by medical malpractice. We seek justice for patients who have been harmed by preventable medical errors including birth injuries, hospital-acquired infections and wrongful death in Seattle and across Washington State. There are no fees or expenses to file a personal injury case as we only receive payment if we recover damages on your behalf. Do not delay; personal injury claims come with a Statute of Limitations, which means they must be filed within a certain time frame of the injury.

Call us now at (206) 752-4366 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with one of our compassionate, experienced attorneys.