Halifax Birth Injury Lawyer
The health of your newborn can greatly depend on the care he or she is given during the birthing process. When the medical professionals caring for your child are negligent, it can lead to catastrophic injuries that may remain with your baby for the rest of his or her life. At Wagners, we focus on serious injury cases and provide strong representation for our clients. We have broad experience in handling birth injury, and we will pursue your case with skill, knowledge, experience and compassion.
Birth trauma refers to damage of the tissues and organs of a newborn baby (trauma), or the babies’ systems (injury) often as a result of trauma during childbirth.
Some of the most common risk factors for birth injury are listed below:
- Premature delivery: infants born before 37 weeks are more easily injured during labour and delivery because of their fragility;
- Large babies: infants with a birth weight greater than 8 lbs., 13 ounces have higher risks of trauma such as shoulder dystocia.
- Abnormal birth position: A breech birth, with the baby’s buttocks arriving first, can be dangerous.
- Cephalo-pelvic disproportion: when the mother’s pelvic region is inadequate vaginal birth.
- Extended labour: long labours endanger both the mother and the fetus.
When the above conditions result in injuries to infants or their mothers, the injuries can be permanent and disabling. Common traumatic birth injury include:
- Facial paralysis: Pressure from forceps on an infant’s face can cause tears to the facial nerves, necessitating surgery. Sometimes the paralysis is permanent.
- Fracture of the clavicle.
- Hemorrhaging (bleeding) in the brain or skull.
- Cephalohematoma: A lump can form on top of the baby’s head from bleeding beneath the cranial bones.
- Brachial palsy: If the nerves connected with the infant’s hands and arms are injured, this condition can result. Shoulder dystocia is one form of this condition. It is caused by problems with the baby’s shoulders passing through the birth canal. Torn brachial plexus nerves can result in permanent damage to the nerves as well as a loss of rotation and flexion of the affected arm.
While not all birth injuries can be avoided, many are due to medical errors and misdiagnoses by obstetricians and midwives. When egregious errors or negligence are the culprit, parents of the injured or deceased baby have a right to seek financial compensation for their loss.
Birth trauma litigation is complex and requires legal and medical expertise. Wagners has been successful in many birth trauma cases, and has obtained for its clients the significant, much needed and lifelong financial support for families whose children have suffered injury as a result of birth trauma.
Representing Clients In NS, NB, PEI and NFLD — Birth Injury Trauma Claim Lawyer
We trust medical professionals to protect us when we are under their supervision. In processes as important and life-changing as childbirth, expect exemplary medical care when it comes to your health and the health of your unborn child. Simple errors such as failing to monitor the fetus or delay in diagnosing a health condition can result in serious injuries that could affect your newborn for a lifetime.
We at Wagners represent families in a broad range of serious injury cases, including ones involving:
- Cerebral palsy
- Failure in genetic testing (screening for birth defects)
- Failure to perform a C-section
- Injuries from failure to monitor the baby
- Infant brain damage
Experienced Lawyers On Your Side
Birth injuries are complex cases, and the team at Wagners has a proven track record in this area of law. We have extensive resources that we utilize when preparing for complicated birth injury lawsuits, and we have deep knowledge of case law for birth injury and medical malpractice cases.
Initial Consultations Are Free Of Charge
If your baby has been seriously injured, please contact a lawyer at Wagners to discuss your case. You can reach our team by calling 902-425-7330 or 1-800-465-8794, or by completing a short online contact form.