When something goes wrong during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or newborn care, you may be left wondering whether it was an unavoidable complication or whether your child’s injury could have been prevented.
A Georgia birth injury lawyer from Birth Injury Lawyers Group can review the medical records and help you understand what happened. We can look at whether the care provided to you and your baby fell below the appropriate medical standard.
Our founder created Birth Injury Lawyers Group after his own family experienced the reality of raising children with serious medical needs. His children developed cerebral palsy, although their conditions were not caused by medical malpractice. Still, that experience continues to shape the way our birth injury lawyers in Johns Creek work with families looking for answers.
How a Johns Creek Birth Injury Lawyer Can Help
A difficult delivery or serious diagnosis does not automatically mean someone was negligent. The first question is whether the medical team responded appropriately to the circumstances at the time.
We review prenatal records, fetal monitoring, labor and delivery notes, medication records, NICU records, imaging, and other medical documentation. Qualified medical professionals may also need to assess whether the care met the expected standard and whether any departure from that standard caused your child’s injury.
A Johns Creek birth injury lawyer can then explain what the evidence means and whether there may be grounds for a medical malpractice claim.
"If your child was born with a birth injury, or cerebral palsy, we can help."
When Can a Birth Injury Be Caused by Medical Negligence?
Birth injuries can happen for many reasons, and some cannot be prevented even when medical care is appropriate.
A legal claim may arise when a healthcare provider fails to meet the applicable standard of care and that failure causes or contributes to an injury. Depending on the circumstances, questions may involve fetal monitoring, the timing of a cesarean delivery, medication management, delivery techniques, or newborn care.
Birth Injury Lawyers Group looks at the actual decisions made during your child’s care rather than assuming that a poor outcome proves malpractice.
Johns Creek Birth Injury Lawyer Near Me (800) 222-9529
What Conditions Can Be Linked to Birth Trauma?
Some birth-related injuries are apparent immediately. Others may become clearer as a child grows and begins missing expected developmental milestones.
Conditions seen in birth injury cases can include hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, brachial plexus injuries such as Erb’s palsy, brain bleeding, fractures, and some cases of cerebral palsy.
A diagnosis alone does not establish negligence. The medical evidence still needs to show what caused the condition and whether different care could reasonably have prevented the harm.
"We know first-hand what you are going through."
What Evidence Can Help Show What Happened?
The medical record is usually one of the most important places to start. Fetal heart-rate tracings, medication records, delivery notes, nursing documentation, and newborn records can help reconstruct what happened before, during, and after delivery.
Medical review may also identify whether warning signs appeared earlier than the records initially suggest or whether treatment was delayed.
A birth injury lawyer in Johns Creek can organize that information alongside opinions from qualified medical professionals to determine whether the evidence supports a claim.
"Our Birth Injury Lawyers have recovered over $750+ Million on behalf of our clients."
What Compensation May Be Available in a Birth Injury Case?
A serious birth injury can affect a child’s needs for years. The cost of care may include much more than the treatment received immediately after delivery.
Depending on the facts of the case, compensation may account for:
- Medical treatment and reasonably necessary future care
- Physical, occupational, speech, or other therapies
- Mobility equipment and other assistive devices
- Home modifications and in-home support
- Lost future earning capacity where applicable
- Pain, suffering, and other legally recoverable losses
The value of a claim depends on the child’s diagnosis, prognosis, expected care needs, and the strength of the evidence. We do not assume two families with the same diagnosis will have the same losses.
How Long Do You Have to File a Georgia Birth Injury Claim?
Georgia medical malpractice claims generally have strict filing deadlines, but claims involving young children follow different rules from ordinary adult malpractice cases.
When a child’s medical malpractice claim arises before age five, Georgia law generally gives the child two years from their fifth birthday to bring the claim. In practical terms, that often means the child’s claim must be filed before the seventh birthday. Georgia Courts materials discussing O.C.G.A. § 9-3-73 confirm this special rule for young children.
Parents should not assume that the same extended deadline applies to claims that belong to them personally. Georgia Courts’ discussion of birth-injury malpractice deadlines notes that parental claims for expenses and other individual losses may remain subject to the ordinary malpractice limitation period. Other exceptions or filing rules may also affect a particular case.
Does Georgia Require an Expert Affidavit?
Georgia professional malpractice cases generally require more than simply filing a complaint and alleging that a medical provider made a mistake.
Under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1, a professional malpractice complaint generally must include an affidavit from a qualified expert identifying at least one negligent act or omission and explaining the factual basis for that opinion.
That requirement is one reason these cases usually involve medical review before a lawsuit is filed. Birth Injury Lawyers Group can obtain the records and work with appropriately qualified professionals to evaluate the care your child received.
Why Do Future Care Needs Matter?
A child’s needs may change significantly over time. A baby who initially requires follow-up appointments may later need ongoing therapy, adaptive equipment, help at school, or additional support at home.
That means resolving a claim based only on current bills can leave out a large part of the picture. Medical professionals, care planners, and financial professionals may be used when appropriate to estimate future needs.
A Johns Creek lawyer for birth injury claims can use that information to understand the longer-term financial effect of the injury before the case is resolved.
Why Families Choose Birth Injury Lawyers Group
Birth Injury Lawyers Group has focused on birth injury cases since its founding and currently reports more than $750 million recovered for families nationwide. Past results do not determine what will happen in an individual case.
Our group’s mission also comes from personal experience. Founder Robert Goldwater created the organization after his family’s experience raising children with cerebral palsy and other significant medical needs.
We handle cases on a contingency-fee basis, so you do not pay a legal fee unless compensation is recovered for your claim.
Talk to a Birth Injury Lawyer in Johns Creek
You may have medical records, a diagnosis, and a long list of questions without knowing whether anyone actually did something wrong. You do not have to work that out by yourself before speaking with us.
Birth Injury Lawyers Group can review what happened, obtain and examine the medical documentation, and explain whether the evidence may support a claim.
Contact our team for a free consultation with a birth injury lawyer in Johns Creek. We can start with your child’s delivery and help you understand what comes next.
"We are committed to helping families who have suffered medical negligence."