Birth Injuries Attorneys Serving Families in the Baltimore Area
The birth of a child is supposed to be one of the happiest days in a parent’s life, but it can quickly become a nightmare if things do not go as planned. If your child has suffered brain damage, paralysis, or another birth injury due to a medical error or a medical professional’s negligence, our Baltimore birth injury lawyers can help. At the Law Offices of Cardaro & Peek, we have assisted many Maryland families with resolving their medical malpractice claims. We understand how to identify medical mistakes during pregnancy, labor, and birth and build strong cases based on expert testimony.
Birth Injury Claims in Maryland
While not every birth injury results from medical malpractice, many incidents might have been avoided with competent medical care. A birth injury denotes harm to a child before, during, or just after the birth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common types of birth injuries caused by medical negligence include:
- Brachial palsy occurs when brachial plexus nerves in an infant’s shoulder are damaged during delivery. Damage to these nerves can cause total paralysis of the arm, lack of control over the arm, hand, and shoulder muscles, and a lack of sensation in the arm, hand, or shoulder. This type of injury to a newborn child can cause temporary or long-term disabilities.
- Facial paralysis: An infant’s face can have too much pressure on it during delivery, causing damaged nerves. This injury can result when forceps or vacuum extraction pull the baby out.
- Brain injuries: Oxygen deprivation during delivery can lead to various problems, the most severe being a brain injury. Brain injuries can result in many disorders, such as cerebral palsy and chronic seizures.
- Fractures: A fracture to the clavicle is the most common type of fracture during delivery. This injury typically occurs when a doctor pulls on the infant with too much force while in the breech position.
- Cephalohematoma: This is a birth injury that causes a collection of blood under the skin of the scalp on one side of the head in a baby. This condition typically occurs during labor and delivery and is caused by the improper use of birth-assisting tools.
- Caput succedaneum: This is an injury marked by intense swelling of the soft tissue in an infant’s scalp and generally develops as infants come down the birth canal. The incorrect use of a vacuum extraction tool often causes this condition.
Birth injuries can range from minor to severe and long-term. Some can be minor, and the child can make a full recovery, while, in other cases, birth injuries can lead to irreparable harm. If you suspect that your child’s birth injury was caused by a medical professional’s error or wrongdoing, you may be able to seek damages through a medical malpractice claim. Our birth injury attorneys can help Baltimore residents establish medical malpractice when a medical professional causes harm because they failed to adhere to the accepted standard of care. It is not enough to show that the medical professional failed to use the appropriate level of care. Moreover, it must be shown that the medical professional’s failure to use the appropriate standard of care was a direct cause of the birth injury.
Depending on the extent and impact of the birth injury, the child may require long-term, even lifelong, care. Fortunately, Maryland law allows victims of medical malpractice to recover damages. If malpractice is established, the plaintiff can recover economic and non-economic damages, such as medical costs, rehabilitation costs, future care costs, pain and suffering, disability, and other expenses related to the birth injury.
Retain a Baltimore Birth Injury Attorney to Protect Your Rights
If your child has suffered a preventable birth injury, you may be entitled to compensation for their harm. At the Law Offices of Cardaro & Peek, our medical malpractice attorneys can examine your case's facts and devise a legal strategy accordingly. We understand the nuances of this area of the law, so you can trust that you are in good hands. We represent families in Baltimore, Pikesville, Catonsville, Towson, Woodlawn, Dundalk, Essex, Randallstown, Arbutus, Reisterstown, Laurel, Silver Springs, and other areas of Baltimore, Montgomery, and Anne Arundel Counties. To have a more detailed conversation with a birth injury lawyer in the Baltimore area at no charge, call us at 800-810-6780 or contact us online. We also can advise people who need a surgical malpractice attorney or representation in another type of medical malpractice claim.
