If your infant suffered a birth injury because of umbilical cord complications, you could sue the medical professionals responsible for their injury and seek compensation to help you cover your baby’s medical bills and future health care needs.
A Phoenix birth injury lawyer from the Birth Injury Lawyers Group can help you with this process. Call us today at (800) 222-9529 for a free consultation.
Why the Umbilical Cord Is Essential
The umbilical cord functions as a link between a child and a mother during the pregnancy. This cord moves blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the child, allowing it to grow for the usual nine-month term. The health of this cord is essential to the child’s immediate and long-term health. As a result, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals must be sure to recognize, prevent, and mitigate any damage that may result from a potential umbilical cord birth injury.
A failure to perform these steps may be considered medical malpractice. Children who suffer an injury because of a doctor or nurse’s negligence have the right to pursue compensation for their losses. This may take the form of:
- Payment for medical treatment
- Future compensation for rehabilitation
- Payments for lost quality of life
A Phoenix umbilical cord birth injury lawyer from our firm could help place a proper value on your child’s case and pursue at-fault medical personnel for the compensation that your child may deserve.
Reach out to the legal team at the Birth Injury Lawyers Group today. We are standing by to perform an initial case evaluation and explain the legal concept behind a medical malpractice case. The first consultation is free, and you will never pay us anything unless your case results in compensation.
Give us a call today at (800) 222-9529 to see how we can help you and your child.
"If your child was born with a birth injury, or cerebral palsy, we can help."
Birth Injuries Involving the Umbilical Cord Are Common
Ensuring a healthy umbilical cord is part of any safe pregnancy. This band of tissue serves as a child’s only way to obtain blood and oxygen while in the womb. If this cord fails to properly develop, the health of the child is at risk.
Similarly, the umbilical cord plays a vital role during birth. The child is still dependent on the cord up until it takes its first independent breath in the world. At the same time, the cord may become pinched or otherwise damaged during birth. In other scenarios, the cord may come out of the mother first or become wrapped around the child’s neck. Each of these situations requires immediate medical intervention.
A failure to provide this intervention can result in various birth injuries. These include:
- A lack of development while in utero
- Premature birth
- A lack of oxygen while in the womb
- Strangulation during birth
- Long-term brain damage
A Phoenix umbilical cord birth injury lawyer from our firm can explore your child’s current diagnosis and make an initial connection between medical negligence and your child’s injuries.
Phoenix Umbilical Cord Birth Injury Lawyer Near Me (800) 222-9529
When an Umbilical Cord Injury Becomes Medical Malpractice
Every doctor, nurse, and medical professional in Phoenix and throughout Arizona has the same obligation under the law to provide competent care to their patients. However, this does not automatically mean that a poor outcome while in a doctor’s care amounts to medical malpractice. Instead, the law provides a specific definition that an injured person must prove to prevail in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-563 states that a doctor commits medical malpractice when they fail to provide care that meets the accepted medical standard. Put in a simple way, malpractice occurs when a reasonably competent doctor would have taken other steps or provided better care that may have prevented an injury. As applied to umbilical cord injury cases, this may require a doctor to:
- Recognize the risk factors present in an individual child’s case
- Develop a modified birthing plan
- Quickly diagnose a birthing complication in real-time
- Provide swift treatment to limit potential damage
A Phoenix umbilical cord birth injury lawyer from our firm can help you to understand this legal concept and answer any questions you have.
"We know first-hand what you are going through."
Hiring an Expert Witness to Testify in a Medical Malpractice Case
To demonstrate that medical malpractice has occurred, injured people must rely on the reports, observations, and testimony of expert witnesses. The medical professionals will examine the records in the case to determine the steps that the defendant doctor took. They will then determine if these steps were appropriate. If not, they can testify in court as to why these actions counted as medical malpractice and how taking different steps may have prevented your child’s injuries.
The Birth Injury Lawyers Group can provide more information about the concept of medical malpractice. They could also take the lead in locating and hiring a qualified expert who can present your child’s case to the court.
Note that Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-542 sets the general statute of limitations on medical malpractice lawsuits in Arizona at two years. However, when the victim of medical malpractice is a minor, the deadline to sue may be extended to their 20th birthday, per Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-502.
Reach out to the Birth Injury Lawyers Group today at (800) 222-9529 to let us get to work for you.
"Our Birth Injury Lawyers have recovered over $750+ Million on behalf of our clients."
Children Who Suffer Harm Because of Umbilical Cord Injuries May Deserve Compensation
Injuries that result from umbilical cord complications may indicate medical malpractice. In these situations, medical professionals and health care facilities have a duty under the law to provide your child with fair compensation. This may include covering past medical expenses, providing payments for all necessary future care, and compensating a child for all lost quality of life.
However, these payments are only possible if you can prove that medical malpractice occurred. This may require the help of an expert who can educate the court as to the accepted standard of medical care and how the defendant provider failed to meet that standard.
Our Phoenix umbilical cord birth injury lawyer is ready to explain the concept of medical malpractice and to help you to locate an expert who is prepared to present your case for compensation.
The legal team at the Birth Injury Lawyers Group is standing by to take your call. We can perform an initial case evaluation and explain the concept of medical malpractice at no cost to you. Give us a call at (800) 222-9529 today for your free consultation.
"We are committed to helping families who have suffered medical negligence."