Learning that your child suffered a fetal stroke is a devastating moment, and the questions that follow can feel impossible to answer. Why did this happen? Could it have been prevented? What comes next for your family?
If a doctor or hospital in Michigan failed to catch the warning signs or respond in time, you have the right to demand answers, and an experienced Michigan fetal stroke lawyer can help you get them.
At Fieger Law, we have spent more than 75 years standing up for Michigan families harmed by medical negligence. Our firm has secured significant birth trauma and medical malpractice verdicts, and our attorneys who focus on obstetrical and neonatal negligence understand how these cases are built, proven, and won.
If you suspect your child’s fetal stroke was caused by a preventable medical error, contact Fieger Law for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we recover money for you.
What Is a Fetal Stroke?
A fetal stroke, sometimes called a perinatal stroke, occurs when blood flow to a baby’s brain is disrupted between about 20 weeks of pregnancy and the first 28 days after birth. There are two main types. An ischemic stroke happens when a clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain. A hemorrhagic stroke happens when a blood vessel bleeds into the brain tissue. Either type can cause lasting brain damage.
One of the hardest parts of fetal stroke is that the injury often goes unnoticed at first. Some babies show clear signs at birth, but many appear healthy for months. Symptoms frequently do not surface until a child is four to eight months old, when parents notice their baby favoring one hand, missing developmental milestones, or having seizures. By then, valuable treatment windows have often closed.
If your child was recently diagnosed with a stroke-related brain injury, contact us today for a free consultation to review what happened during your pregnancy and delivery.
Symptoms and Causes of Fetal Stroke
Most fetal strokes trace back to a specific set of medical conditions and risk factors, many of which the medical team should recognize and act on. Common causes include:
- Oxygen Deprivation: Birth asphyxia or hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) restricts oxygen to the baby’s brain, which can trigger a stroke.
- Preeclampsia: High blood pressure during pregnancy reduces blood flow to the baby.
- Placental Abruption: When the placenta separates from the uterus too early, blood flow to the baby drops sharply.
- Infections: Chorioamnionitis and other prenatal infections can inflame membranes and lead to stroke.
- Premature Rupture of Membranes: Early rupture increases the risk of infection and complications during labor.
- Delivery Trauma: Improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors can damage blood vessels in a baby’s brain.
Symptoms of fetal stroke vary by the age of the child. A newborn may have seizures, apnea, feeding difficulty, or a weak cry. Older infants often show an early strong preference for one hand, delayed crawling or sitting, weakness on one side of the body, or missed developmental milestones. Any of these signs should prompt immediate evaluation by a pediatric neurologist.
If your child is showing symptoms and you were never told a fetal stroke may have occurred, contact our team for help understanding what your medical records may reveal.
When a Fetal Stroke Is the Result of Medical Negligence
Not every fetal stroke is caused by medical negligence, but many are made worse, or missed entirely, because a doctor failed to meet the accepted standard of care.
Building a medical malpractice case consists of establishing four elements:
- The medical provider owed your child a duty of care.
- They breached that duty.
- The breach caused your child’s injury.
- Your family suffered damages as a result.
In fetal stroke cases, the breach usually falls into one of a few recognizable categories:
- Failure to Monitor Fetal Distress: Continuous fetal heart rate monitoring is standard during labor. Abnormal readings should prompt action, not observation.
- Failure to Order a Timely Emergency C-Section: When signs of fetal distress appear, minutes matter. Delays in ordering a C-section can turn a manageable situation into a permanent injury.
- Failure to Recognize Risk Factors: A mother with preeclampsia, an infection, or a history of clotting disorders needs closer monitoring than a low-risk pregnancy.
- Failure to Diagnose Despite Visible Symptoms: When a newborn exhibits seizures, feeding difficulties, or unusual muscle tone, the medical team should order brain imaging and consult a pediatric neurologist.
- Improper Use of Delivery Instruments: Forceps and vacuum extractors have specific rules for when and how they can be used. Misuse can rupture blood vessels in a baby’s brain.
If any of these scenarios sound familiar, contact Fieger Law to schedule a free consultation where we can review your records and tell you honestly whether malpractice may have played a role.
Long-Term Impact on Children and Families
The long-term outcomes of a fetal stroke depend on when the stroke occurred, how significant it was, and how quickly it was treated. Two conditions come up most often in the aftermath. HIE often develops alongside fetal stroke and reflects the underlying oxygen deprivation. Cerebral palsy is another of the most common lasting diagnoses that follow a significant fetal stroke.
For families, the day-to-day reality is often more demanding than any single diagnosis suggests. Children may need years of physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Homes may need modifications for mobility equipment.
Parents may need to leave jobs to become full-time caregivers. Insurance rarely covers everything, and the costs of raising a child with a serious birth injury climb across an entire lifetime.
You should not have to shoulder the financial weight of a preventable injury on your own. A successful case can help fund the care your child will need for years to come. Contact us for a free consultation to find out more.
Compensation Available in a Michigan Fetal Stroke Lawsuit
Families who prove a fetal stroke was caused by medical negligence may be entitled to compensation across several categories:
- Past and Future Medical Expenses: Hospital bills, imaging, medication, surgeries, and specialty care
- Long-Term Therapy Costs: Physical, occupational, speech, and behavioral therapy, often for years
- Adaptive Equipment and Home Modifications: Wheelchairs, communication devices, lifts, ramps, and accessible bathrooms
- Lost Earning Capacity: The income your child may never be able to earn because of their injury
- Caregiver Costs and Lost Wages: Home health aides, respite care, and income a parent gives up to provide full-time care
- Pain and Suffering: Compensation for the physical pain, emotional distress, and loss of a normal childhood experience
Building a full picture of damages requires more than adding up bills. Our team works with life-care planners, medical experts, and economists to project your child’s needs over a lifetime. We also help families gather the records the case will rely on, including prenatal charts, fetal monitoring strips, delivery notes, and every scan and neurology report from the NICU forward.
Contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation so we can help you understand what your case may be worth before you commit to anything.
How Our Michigan Birth Injury Lawyers Build a Fetal Stroke Case
Fetal stroke litigation is some of the most complex work in medical malpractice. Cases turn on fetal heart rate strips, timing of clinical decisions, and subtle findings on brain imaging. Our firm has spent decades building the medical, technical, and courtroom experience these cases demand.
Our approach starts with a thorough review of the medical records by attorneys and consulting physicians. If the evidence supports a case, we engage board-certified obstetricians, neonatologists, pediatric neurologists, and radiologists to help establish the standard of care and identify breaches of that standard.
We build the damages side of the case with life-care planners and economists so that any settlement or verdict has the best possible chance to account for a lifetime of increased healthcare needs.
Fieger Law has secured significant birth trauma and medical malpractice results against major Michigan hospital systems. We prepare every case as if it is going to trial, and Michigan hospitals and insurers know it.
When you are ready to talk, reach out to our team for a free, confidential case review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are answers to the questions families ask us most often after a fetal stroke diagnosis.
What Is the Difference Between a Fetal Stroke and Cerebral Palsy?
A fetal stroke is a specific event, an interruption of blood flow to the brain before, during, or shortly after birth. Cerebral palsy is a diagnosis given later, describing lasting problems with movement and muscle control caused by brain damage that happened around the time of birth. A fetal stroke can be one of the causes of cerebral palsy, but they are not the same thing.
What Are the Earliest Signs of Fetal Stroke in a Newborn?
The earliest signs often include seizures in the first few days of life, apnea, feeding difficulty, low muscle tone, or a weak cry. In older infants, parents may notice an early hand preference, weakness on one side of the body, or delays in reaching milestones like sitting and crawling. Any of these warrants immediate evaluation.
How Do You Prove Medical Negligence Caused a Fetal Stroke?
Proving negligence requires showing that a medical provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care and that the failure caused your child’s injury. That usually means expert testimony from obstetricians, neonatologists, and pediatric neurologists, combined with a careful review of the medical records, fetal monitoring strips, and imaging.
What Medical Records Do I Need to Bring to a Consultation?
Bring whatever you have, and do not worry about gaps. Helpful records include prenatal charts, ultrasound reports, fetal heart rate monitoring strips, labor and delivery notes, NICU records, brain imaging (MRI, MRA, CT, or cranial ultrasound), and any pediatric neurology or developmental evaluations. If you do not have them yet, we can help you request them.
What Compensation Can My Family Recover in a Fetal Stroke Lawsuit?
Families may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, long-term therapy, adaptive equipment, home modifications, lost earning capacity, caregiver costs, and pain and suffering. The value of any individual case depends on the severity of the injury, the strength of the evidence, and the projected lifetime cost of care.
How Long Does a Fetal Stroke Case Take to Resolve?
Medical malpractice cases are complex and often take one to three years to resolve, sometimes longer if they go to trial. The time is spent gathering records, working with medical experts, filing the case, and moving through discovery. Our firm handles that timeline so you can focus on your child.
What Does It Cost to Hire a Michigan Fetal Stroke Lawyer?
Nothing up front. Fieger Law handles birth injury cases on a contingency basis, which means you pay no legal fees unless we recover money for you. The initial consultation is always free and always confidential.
Speak With Our Experienced Michigan Fetal Stroke Lawyers
When a fetal stroke was preventable, the family that has to live with the consequences deserves accountability. Fieger Law has spent more than 75 years fighting for Michigan families and holding negligent hospitals and providers responsible for the harm they cause.
If you believe your child’s fetal stroke was caused by a medical mistake, contact an experienced Michigan birth injury attorney at Fieger Law today for a free consultation. You pay us nothing unless we recover money for you, and there is no obligation to move forward after we talk.
