4 Myths About Birth Injuries

By Greg Kohn
Partner

A birth injury can occur no matter how careful or prepared a new mother may be. Medical complications are sometimes simply beyond a mother’s control. However, a birth injury may be the result of poor prenatal care advice or medical errors at the time of the child’s birth. Unfortunately, medical professionals may attempt to explain away the mistake in a way that just is not true.

Mothers whose children have suffered birth injuries may have heard the following myths. If this sounds familiar, you need to contact a New Jersey wrongful birth/wrongful life attorney. You may have legal options that you should consider.

  • Myth: My baby was just born that way.

There are several types of birth injuries. Some are genetic or due to how the baby developed. However, others arise during the delivery process or labor. It is difficult to know the difference.

Talking to an experienced birth injury attorney will help you determine whether the injury would have actually been something that the doctor may have caused. Your lawyer can also connect you with medical professionals who can give you an informed opinion as to what the true cause of your baby’s injuries could have been.

  • Myth: It is too late for me to file my claim.

There are some instances where you have waited too long to file a claim. However, you do have some time after you realize that your child may have a birth injury to assert your claim. It can also take time to fully understand that your baby was harmed because of a doctor or other medical professional.

You may not fully appreciate what caused your baby’s condition right away. This delayed realization can sometimes increase the amount of time that you have to file your claim. A birth injury attorney will be able to tell you if you are within the time limits to file and, if not, whether any exceptions to the deadline may apply to you.

  • Myth: The doctor couldn’t have done anything differently.

Although it may seem like the doctor did everything correctly, you may not have the complete story. You may not realize that some kind of carelessness or error occurred until after you have a chance to review the medical records or talk to the doctor under oath. A birth injury attorney can help you gather this evidence to see if there actually was an error.

Other medical experts will also be able to examine your situation and determine whether it is more likely than not that an error occurred. Getting a second opinion to be sure that the doctor did everything right definitely cannot hurt.

  • Myth: There is nothing I can do at this point to make things better.

Although you may not be able to undo what happened to your child, you can assert a legal claim that can make your child’s future better. Birth injuries can be costly to treat. They can also call for adjustments to your lifestyle for your child. A legal claim can help you get financial resources to cover these expenses and make the necessary changes for your child.

It will be emotionally challenging to assert your child’s birth injury claim, but it may be in the best interest of your family as a whole.  Contact the New Jersey medical malpractice lawyers at Nagel Rice, LLP today to find out your legal options and rights.

About the Author
Greg Kohn is a partner at Nagel Rice and specializes in complex civil litigation cases, including professional malpractice, personal injury, class actions, wrongful death, products liability, and commercial litigation.  He has extensive experience representing clients in both state and federal court. Greg has tried many jury trials to verdict and has recovered over $50 million in settlements and verdicts in all types of personal injury matters including automobile accidents, wrongful death cases, slip and falls, and other catastrophic injury cases. Greg also handles medical malpractice cases, involving misdiagnoses, wrongful birth, and delayed cancer diagnosis. If you have questions regarding this article, you can contact Greg here.