Real-life Examples of Birth Injuries and Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Birth injuries can be the result of medical malpractice, and they can have many different causes and effects. Some birth injuries are simply resolved on their own and have no lasting impact on the child’s life. Others however can have far-reaching consequences on the child’s health and well-being for the rest of the child’s life. Rather than give you some generic examples, we wanted to show you a couple of real-life examples of birth injuries caused by the negligence of a physician or other medical professional.
A delayed C-section and loss of oxygen
This one comes from our own files. We represented a family whose baby sustained brain damage and developed cerebral palsy all because of medical negligence. The baby was in distress during labor, and the nurses failed to alert the doctor to the baby’s heart rate, which was slowing down. If the doctor had been alerted, a C-section could have been performed. Tragically, no C-section was performed and the child sustained permanent brain damage that led to cerebral palsy. We secured $12 million for that family in a lawsuit against the hospital.
Birth injuries can happen to the mother, too
An Alabama mother received a severe injury while giving birth. When her water broke, her obstetrician was not on call, and apparently no effort was made to call him. The nurses held the woman down and forcefully held the baby’s head inside the mother’s body after it had already crowned. This caused the mother to suffer severe pain and a condition called pudendal neuralgia, which affects the nerves of the pelvis. The on-call OB finally arrived, and the baby was born within a minute. The baby was healthy, but the mother now lives with permanent nerve damage in her pelvis, which causes her chronic pain, loss of energy and movement, and an unsatisfying sex life. The family filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital, and a jury awarded them $11 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
Stories like these don’t happen very often, but when they do, they cause a lot of heartbreak and suffering. If you or your baby was injured due to OB/GYN negligence, you are encouraged to speak to an experienced Memphis birth injury attorney at the law offices of Bailey & Greer, PLLC. We are available to answer your questions and offer legal guidance about your case. Please contact us or call us at 901-680-9777 to schedule a consultation at our Memphis or Jackson office to discuss your case today.
As founder of Bailey & Greer, R. Sadler Bailey has battled his fair share of insurance giants and wrongdoers and has achieved numerous multimillion-dollar results for the victims of catastrophic injuries and their families. What’s more, he has been involved in more than 40 appellate court decisions affecting Tennessee personal injury law, including many landmark appearances before the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Read more about R. Sadler Bailey