When you suspect the medical staff is responsible for an injury or administering the wrong treatment to your baby, it’s crucial to speak with a lawyer as soon as you can. Before a lawyer can tell you whether or not your birth injury claim is worth pursuing, they must go through an assessment process.
With your help, DWA LAW can ascertain a complete picture of the case and review your documentation, conduct interviews with the medical staff, and eventually determine how you should proceed. Each case is unique, so we cannot immediately tell you whether or not your case will go to court or how much you’re likely to receive as compensation.
Nevertheless, DWA LAW is here to help you through the process and see that justice is achieved.
Types of Birth Injuries
The medical professionals assisting you with your pregnancy and delivery should be able to recognize when the mother and baby are experiencing complications and act accordingly to prevent injury. However, injuries can happen when the medical staff make mistakes, and often result in severe injuries. For example, if medical staff do not provide the baby with enough oxygen and cause a severe brain injury. If the medical staff do not perform an emergency Cesarean section, this can cause injury to the baby as well. Since these types of injuries are caused by the medical staff’s lack of knowledge and poor judgement, they should be held responsible.
If a medical practitioner who tended to the mother failed to notice complications during her pregnancy, this may cause injury to the baby. For instance, mothers during pregnancies can experience:
- Gestational Diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- Swelling
- Preeclampsia
- Infections
If this is the case, the medical practitioner can be held responsible for their misdiagnosis. If your case has not already been described above, but you still have suspicions, we encourage you to come in for a free consultation.
Initial Consultation
You will need to prepare yourself to answer our questions. We welcome you to bring any documents to provide further insight into your claim. When you meet with a Wynperle lawyer, we will ask you about:
- Your medical history
- Your obstetrical history
- Your prenatal care
- Your pregnancy and the delivery
- Discussions you had with your doctor
- Who was involved throughout your pregnancy and during the birth (i.e., doctors and nurses)
Every detail you can provide will help to support your claim. It’s highly recommended to organize your thoughts by keeping a journal of the events that transpired and continue to monitor and document your child’s condition. Writing everything down will serve as a memory aid further down the line and be especially helpful should you have to appear in court and answer questions.
We will discuss next steps with you during your consultation and about how, and if, we proceed with medical malpractice cases.
Gather Medical Paperwork
When you and your lawyer agree to proceed with an investigation, there are two ways to gather the medical documents we will need to review. You may be in the position to receive the paperwork from the hospital and medical professionals, or you may be required to sign authorization forms to permit our law firm to handle the documents’ acquisition on your behalf.
Some of the paperwork we will need includes:
- Prenatal care records
- Hospital attendance
- Labour and delivery records
- Newborn records
How to Prove Your Case
It is our job to build your case and get you the justice you deserve. DWA LAW needs to prove four common elements in medical malpractice cases:
- You and your baby were owed a duty of care by your medical practitioner.
- Your medical practitioner breached the duty of care.
- Your baby and family endured injuries and damages on account of the breach.
- According to the law, the breach is the cause of the injuries and damages.
Counsel from Experts
We will retain a reputable medical professional who has the same qualifications as the person involved in your pregnancy and delivery. They will undertake an independent review of the standard of care you and your baby received by analyzing your paperwork. At a later date, they will provide us with their assessment. Depending on your case, we may have to consult several professionals.
To prove causation, we do not need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, like in other types of cases. In medical malpractice, causation is provided by probabilities from medical experts. For example, if an expert concludes that the baby’s injuries were more than 50% likely to have been caused by a lack of attention from the medical staff, then that is a strong evaluation that supports your case.
Causation is a highly sensitive area, so we consult various specialists, including neonatologists and pediatric neurologists.
Consult a Wynperle Birth Injury Lawyer
Seeing your child injured is heartbreaking, more so when they are in the early stages of their life. At DWA LAW, we are here to listen and provide support as we build your case. Your family has rights, so contact us today for a free consultation.
