After a birth injury, the parents of the affected child face a lot of uncertainty. They wonder how seriously the injury will impact their child, how the injury happened, and whether it was caused by a healthcare provider’s mistake.

Determining the cause of a birth injury can be challenging for parents. Deciding whether the injury is the result of medical negligence is even more difficult. However, there are a few things experienced birth injury lawyers will look for to decide whether medical negligence was a contributing factor.

Were the Injuries Predictable and Preventable?

The first thing an attorney will look at is the nature of the injury. In some cases, this can help determine its cause. For example, brain bleeds or facial nerve damage are commonly caused by the misuse of forceps. Erb’s palsy, or brachial plexus injuries, are more likely to be caused when vacuum extraction methods are used during a birth.

In both circumstances, the injury risks associated with these procedures are well known, so medical professionals should be prepared to do everything possible to avoid them. Doctors should also be able to recognize situations where cesarean sections are needed and when they’re not.

Did Medical Professionals Provide Care That Met Industry Standards?

One of the hallmarks of medical negligence is when a medical professional fails to act in a manner in-keeping the duty of care expected in their profession. It’s important to determine whether a doctor’s actions would be considered reasonable by other doctors.

If healthcare providers act carelessly and fail to give medical treatment in accordance with their profession’s standard of care, it could indicate negligence.

Mistakes Don’t Necessarily Equal Negligence

Just because a doctor makes a mistake doesn’t mean that they’d be considered negligent in a medical malpractice birth injury claim. For example, if the doctor seemingly did what most other doctors would do to assist in a delivery but made an error in the process, it might be harder for parents to later prove that the doctor was negligent.

These situations can be tricky from a legal perspective, and birth injury attorneys know how to judge the actions of a healthcare provider to decide what was an “honest” mistake and what constitutes medical negligence.

Parents Should Request Medical Records from their Child’s Healthcare Provider

If your child suffered a birth injury, and you’re questioning whether the injury was a doctor’s mistake, you should request your medical records from the facility where your child was born. You can simply inform the facility that these records are for your own personal use.

Once you have information available about the procedure, you can contact an attorney to get their insight. An experienced birth injury lawyer will be able to review the facts of your case to help you better understand whether you should consider filing a birth injury claim.

If You Need Help, Contact Fieger Law

Making sense of a birth injury is hard for every parent, but it helps to know that you don’t need to go it alone. At Fieger Law, our Detroit birth injury lawyers help clients across the U.S. Let us help you determine your legal options.

Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with our team.