The birth of a child should be one of the happiest days of any parent’s life, but when a child suffers birth injuries, that day can be terrifying and traumatizing. Birth injuries can be caused by medical negligence at any stage of a pregnancy, including during prenatal medical care. When a doctor commits medical malpractice before a baby is born, the legal community sometimes refers to that type of malpractice as “prenatal negligence.”

Like any other type of medical malpractice, prenatal negligence claims can give rise to lawsuits for compensation. Because birth injuries are devastating and painful, in addition to causing lifelong medical expenses, these lawsuits can be very significant in terms of scope and damages.

Our team of Michigan birth injury lawyers at Fieger Law has been fighting on behalf of Michigan birth injury victims and their families for more than 70 years. Our experience in these types of cases informs us how to effectively advocate for babies and their families that have been injured due to prenatal negligence. More specifically, we’ve won record-setting verdicts and settlements for birth injury victims across the country, including:

  • $144.5 million in Michigan
  • $53 million in Illinois
  • $17 million in West Virginia
  • $30 million in Ohio

Our $144.5 million verdict in Michigan is the largest single-injury verdict recorded in American legal history across all types of personal injury claims. With these results, we’re known as one of the country’s top birth trauma law firms. While our past results cannot guarantee success in any future case, our experience shows that we have extensive knowledge in birth injury law.

Common Types of Birth Injuries in Michigan

A birth injury or birth trauma refers to any type of injury suffered by a baby before or during childbirth. According to a 2022 study sponsored by the National Institute of Health, more than one in 1000 American babies are affected by birth trauma.

Many times, these birth injuries are caused by the negligence or incompetence of doctors and healthcare professionals, and when injuries occur, those individuals should be held responsible. Birth injuries can cause lifelong medical conditions, and in the worst cases, death.

Some examples of common types of birth injuries include:

  • Cerebral palsy
  • Brain injury and head trauma
  • Paralysis and spinal cord damage
  • Cephalohematoma
  • Oxygen deprivation
  • Hemorrhages
  • Brachial plexus
  • Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)

While many birth injuries occur during delivery, they can also be caused by medical malpractice before the delivery, otherwise known as prenatal negligence. No matter the cause of a birth injury, if your family is affected, you should contact a birth injury lawyer in Michigan as soon as possible.

How Prenatal Negligence Can Cause Birth Injuries

Prenatal negligence occurs when a doctor fails to adequately care for a pregnant mother or her unborn baby in the weeks leading up to the baby’s delivery and birth. While prenatal care mostly consists of monitoring the baby’s growth, it also consists of providing preventive medicine to reduce the risk for complications at delivery.

If a doctor fails to see a condition that could cause a high-risk delivery, the medical team at delivery would not be able to adequately prepare for it. Most prenatal negligence arises from this kind of failure to assess and evaluate the risks that develop during pregnancy. With representation from an experienced birth injury lawyer, Michigan residents can adequately assess and investigate the root cause of a devastating birth injury.

Examples of Prenatal Negligence

More specifically, examples of prenatal negligence include:

  • Failure to diagnose a condition or birth defect
  • Failure to order appropriate tests
  • Failure to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy
  • Failure to manage a treatable disease
  • Failure to read charts, scans, or tests correctly

Talk to an Experienced Michigan Birth Injury Lawyer Today

As previously stated, our track record in birth injury cases at Fieger Law speaks for itself. We’ve been fighting for victims and their families for more than 70 years, and in that time, we’ve established ourselves as one of the nation’s top birth injury law firms. If your family has been affected by a birth injury, you may be entitled to receive compensation for the injuries you’ve suffered.

Contact us today to set up a free consultation with a member of our team.

This content has been reviewed and approved by lawyers in the offices of Fieger Law.