New York Birth Injury Lawyers Advocating for Your Child's Future

A birth injury or infant death can be the most trying experience a family is forced to confront. The loss of or harm to a child changes life forever. When medical negligence is found to have caused harm, the resulting sadness and anger can be overwhelming.

Reach out today to the New York birth injury attorneys at Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Firm for a free consultation to discuss your situation and what can be done to help you move on.

The Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Firm team
New York City's Top Medical Malpractice Lawyers

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Our Notable Birth Injury Verdicts and Settlements

You don't have to deal with the traumatic aftermath of your child's birth injury alone. Our passionate birth injury lawyers can help you hold negligent medical professionals accountable and seek restitution in the form of financial compensation.We've done the same for many clients. Here are their stories.

Birth Injury

$7.5 Million

Infant brain damage caused by the a doctor's failure to perform a c-section

Birth Injury

$6.395 Million

Settlement for brain damage during delivery

Birth Injury

$5 Million

Wrongful death of a pregnant woman and one of her babies, leaving the other brain injured

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Your Trusted Top-Ranking Birth Injury Attorneys in NYC

We Are Your Trusted New York Medical Malpractice Attorneys

The birth of a baby is normally a joyous time for a family, despite how hard it can be on both the mother and the baby.

Although remarkable medical advances have made childbirth much safer than it used to be, mothers and their partners understand that it still presents some risk. However, they also expect their doctors and the other medical professionals present at the birth to act with the utmost care to avoid errors that could have lifelong consequences.

When this doesn't happen and the medical providers instead display negligence, you may want to consult with a birth injury law firm.

While it might seem like the circumstances surrounding medical negligence are cut-and-dried, that usually isn't the case. Those medical professionals in attendance at the birth will likely try to claim that the complications were unavoidable, as birth injury lawsuits could threaten their reputations or even their livelihoods.

Speaking to a New York birth injury lawyer as soon as possible after a malpractice incident helps you understand your legal rights and define precisely how the behavior of your attendant medical staff failed to meet professional standards.

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Common Causes of Birth Injuries

Here are some of the most common reasons birth injuries occur:

Hypoxia

The term "hypoxia" means that the brain doesn't receive enough oxygen. Typical causes of hypoxia during childbirth include placenta damage, infection, or a tangled umbilical cord.

It's up to the doctor to notice signs of hypoxia and take immediate steps to prevent it from causing lasting damage. If this doesn't happen, the newborn may suffer from a brain injury or long-term physical and mental disabilities.

Improper Use of Forceps

Sometimes, the baby is in an awkward position or gets stuck in the birth canal, or the mother’s cervix doesn't expand far enough to push the baby out unless a doctor intervenes and uses forceps.

The attendant medical professional must be certain in this decision and use the forceps carefully to avoid damaging the baby’s head, chest, or nerves, which can lead to lifelong issues.

Improper Use of Vacuum Tools

Vacuum extractors are a common way to help deliver a baby that's stuck in the birth canal. The physician must place the vacuum on a baby’s skull or shoulders and gently pull the child through the birth canal. Severe injuries to the mother, baby, or both can occur when the doctor doesn't use the vacuum tool correctly.

Unnecessary Delay in Performing a C-Section

If the baby is clearly in distress with a low heart rate or the mother’s blood pressure has gotten too high, the doctor attending the birth should stop all attempts at labor and deliver the baby surgically by cesarean section. This is also true in the case of uterine rupture, placenta previa, slowed labor, or umbilical cord prolapse.

Failing to recognize the need for an immediate C-section can result in fetal death or severe health and development issues.

Other Potential Acts of Negligence

These are just a few examples of the kinds of negligence or errors in judgment physicians can make.

Others include:

  • Failure to notice that the condition of the baby has changed;
  • Failure to diagnose or treat premature uterine rupture, trapped umbilical cord, infections, placenta previa, or placental abruption;
  • Lack of adequate prenatal testing;
  • Lack of communication with other doctors regarding concerns about the mother or baby;
  • Not performing specific tests during pregnancy that could have detected a potential problem earlier;
  • Not referring a high-risk mother to other medical specialists during her pregnancy;
  • Using Pitocin (a drug that induces labor) incorrectly;
  • Improper use of vaginal birth after cesarean delivery (VBAC).

Any of these forms of negligence could result in severe or lasting birth injuries and exorbitant medical bills.

Common Types of Birth Injuries

The following are examples of the most common birth injuries. Each of the conditions detailed here is a severe and tragic outcome of what most likely could have been a normal birth experience.

Cerebral Palsy

Of all possible brain injuries occurring at birth, cerebral palsy is the most common and potentially the most devastating.

In addition to oxygen deprivation, an infant can develop cerebral palsy due to infection or stroke, or an infection present in the mother. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about cerebral palsy is that many instances are avoidable with proper medical intervention.

Common forms of malpractice leading to cerebral palsy include:

  • Delay in performing a C-section;
  • Failure to detect, monitor, and treat infections in the mother;
  • Failure to detect and promptly treat prolapse of the umbilical cord;
  • Failure to monitor signs of fetal distress and take appropriate actions;
  • Improper use of tools to facilitate birth.

Infant cerebral palsy can sometimes be mistaken for various muscle diseases due to the child's complete loss of muscle control. While it's understandable for you to come to this conclusion, it's unacceptable for a trained medical specialist to make this kind of flagrant misdiagnosis.

Although cerebral palsy affects bodily movements, the disorder originates in the brain. It's critical that you know your child has cerebral palsy as soon as possible so you can obtain the proper medical and educational services.

A birth injury lawyer can help you if you believe that doctors harmed your child during birth and subsequently failed to diagnose the problem correctly.

Erb’s Palsy

Erb's palsy is a sub-type of brachial plexus palsy. It's mainly caused by an injury to the nerves of the child’s upper arm. Consequently, the child will likely have weakness and loss of sensation in that arm for the rest of their life. Sadly, severe cases of Erb’s palsy can cause total paralysis of the affected arm.

Birth Complications and Labor Injuries

Labor and delivery carry inherent risks, but many complications and injuries are preventable with proper medical care. Common labor injuries include nerve damage, broken bones, and excessive bleeding from improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors. Birth complications like oxygen deprivation, infection, or improper fetal monitoring may also lead to infant health problems or permanent disabilities.

While not all risks can be avoided, negligent oversight or substandard practices can worsen outcomes. Families coping with resulting long-term care challenges deserve to hold providers accountable. Legal action cannot undo damage, but it can obtain resources for the child’s future and motivate improved safety training to prevent similar birth injuries.

Maternal Death

Maternal death is the most severe birth injury outcome, though still distressingly common in the U.S. Despite medical advancements, deficiencies in maternal care contribute to hundreds of preventable fatalities annually. Legally, mothers' families may have grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit if negligence, such as failure to treat foreseeable complications, caused or contributed to the death. The goal is not merely obtaining damages, but promoting accountability to improve provider training and facility procedures. No amount of money can make up for losing a mother and partner. However, successful litigation can potentially save lives by pressuring the healthcare system to implement safety reforms addressing the root causes of maternal mortality.

Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a devastating birth injury where oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery causes brain damage. HIE occurs when the blood and oxygen supply to an infant’s brain is disrupted, destroying neurons and triggering disabilities. While sometimes unavoidable, HIE may also result from negligent care like inappropriate use of anesthesia or failure to promptly perform an emergency C-section. Families struggle to provide extensive therapy and care for the child’s resulting cerebral palsy, cognitive deficits, and other impairments. By holding providers accountable through medical malpractice claims, changes can be made to protect others from similarly avoidable HIE injuries in the future.

Brachial Plexus

Brachial plexus injuries occur during childbirth when excessive pulling or stretching of a baby's head and neck damages the nerves that control arm and hand movement. These preventable yet devastating injuries range from temporary weakness to total paralysis of the arm. Families face lifelong disabilities, daunting therapies, and permanent loss of mobility and function. Holding providers accountable through medical malpractice claims can compensate victims, motivate improved safety practices, and help prevent other children from suffering these permanent nerve injuries.

Klumpke’s Palsy

Klumpke's palsy is another type of brachial plexus palsy. Children with this condition sustain damage to the nerves in their lower arm during delivery, which typically affects the fingers and wrists in addition to the arm. With total paralysis, the hand of a person with Klumpke’s palsy may permanently take on the shape of a claw.

Shoulder Dystocia

This birth injury occurs when the infant's shoulders and head become lodged behind the mother's pelvic bone. It happens in approximately one percent of all deliveries and can lead to a number of severe complications.

For the mother, these complications can include uterine rupture and hemorrhaging; for the baby, they can include brachial plexus injury, breathing difficulties, cerebral palsy, collarbone fracture, and even death.

Get the Justice You Deserve — Talk to a New York Birth Injury Attorney Today

The birth injury lawyers in New York at Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Firm are prepared to help you fight for financial compensation for any of the acts of medical negligence described here and the birth injuries they've caused.Contact us today to schedule your free consultation and set your birth injury lawsuit in motion.

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How Our New York Birth Injury Attorneys Can Help Your Family

Newborns can experience a wide variety of medical problems, many of which happen for reasons medical researchers still don’t understand. However, some neonatal conditions are known to occur because of medical negligence.

If your family is reeling from the impact of a serious birth injury or a medical problem that's affected your baby, we understand the many emotions you're likely feeling during this difficult time. We also know you have questions that need to be answered.

Our attorneys have a history of success in holding various parties accountable for malpractice and in obtaining maximum compensation for families who do the hard work of caring for children with medical problems. They can help you determine whether medical negligence has been committed by an OB-GYN or other medical professionals.

If it seems likely that the hospital or a particular healthcare provider is at fault, we can bring a birth injury lawsuit to obtain proper compensation. This financial award will help ease your emotional distress and suffering and cover the cost of future medical bills, along with other losses and damages.

While compensation can't undo the mistakes that have harmed your child, it can help you find closure for this painful chapter of your life.

Our experienced NYC birth injury lawyers will help you address the following crucial considerations:

  • Problems associated with cerebral palsy, brain injuries, Erb’s palsy, or brachial plexus trauma;
  • Issues associated with VBAC;
  • Premature birth, including retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), and congenital conditions like gastroschisis;
  • Questions about fetal heart rate monitoring;
  • The timing of emergency C-sections;
  • OB-GYN malpractice;
  • Labor-inducing or labor-augmenting drugs and their side effects;
  • Post-birth injury;
  • The high cost of long-term care;
  • Access to New York's Medical Indemnity Fund, which is money set aside by the state to cover the future cost of care for injured infants.

Infant injuries can be highly complicated, and every situation is different. Consult a knowledgeable birth injury attorney to get the advice you need to make informed decisions about your case.

While we can't promise a particular result, we can promise that we'll listen to the issues regarding your loved one’s medical care and help you make choices that are in your family’s best interests.

How to Know If Your Baby Was Injured Due to Medical Malpractice

While you may suspect that medical malpractice is behind your child's birth injuries, it's impossible to conclude this on your own. That's why it's important to contact a birth injury attorney in New York as soon as possible after a complicated delivery.

During your initial consultation, we'll gather several pieces of key information to determine whether medical malpractice took place, including:

  • Diagnostic test results;
  • Electronic records of fetal monitoring;
  • Flowsheets covering the entire time frame of your baby’s delivery;
  • Notes from the doctors you or your partner saw during pregnancy;
  • Records of birthing tools used by the attending physicians, such as forceps or a vacuum extractor.

Along with the extensive legal acumen of our New York City birth injury lawyers, you'll benefit from access to medical experts who will also carefully examine records from the pregnancy, your baby’s birth, and any medical treatment your baby has since received for the birth-related trauma.

Medical experts' opinions are critical when deciding whether malpractice is to blame for the injuries your baby suffered and may struggle with throughout their life. Our New York birth injury law firm will consider the input of these experts when considering whether you have a legitimate malpractice case.

If you decide to move forward with your case and are successful, you stand to receive payment for the child’s current and future medical expenses, wages you had to forfeit to care for your child, and your own hardship and emotional distress, along with several other possible categories of compensation.

Winning a lawsuit can't undo the damage done by negligent medical personnel, but it can provide your family with the necessary resources to give your child what they need to live a secure and fulfilling life, even with the effects of their birth injuries.

How to File a Birth Injury Claim in New York

There are a few steps that must be taken when filing a birth injury claim in New York.

Proving Negligence

When you file a birth injury lawsuit, it's your responsibility to prove that the actions of the attending doctor, nurse, anesthesiologist, or other medical professional were negligent and fell below the accepted standards of professional care.

Gathering Evidence

To build a strong case, your attorney will gather medical records, secure expert opinions, and identify policies and protocols that were violated. Witness testimony can also provide powerful evidence of substandard care.

Seeking Compensation

Financial compensation can help pay for your child's extensive medical bills, therapies, equipment, home accommodations, and other necessities. While no amount of money can undo the damage, it can reduce the family's financial burden.

Getting Legal Help

The process of building a birth injury claim and negotiating a settlement can be complex and challenging for families already facing major life changes. Our experienced New York birth injury attorneys can help guide you through the legal process and fight for maximum compensation so you can focus on your child's needs.

What Can Be Recovered in a Birth Injury Claim?

When medical negligence during labor and delivery results in a birth injury, filing a lawsuit can help the affected child and family obtain compensation to cover both current and future expenses. The types of damages that may be recovered include:

Medical Expenses

This includes the cost of medical care associated with the birth injury from the initial hospital stay through ongoing treatments, surgeries, medications, therapy and rehabilitation, specialized equipment, and in-home nursing care.

Lost Wages

Parents may recover past and future lost income due to time off work caring for an injured child. Damages can account for reduced earning capacity if a parent must permanently alter their career.

Pain and Suffering

Non-economic damages like physical and emotional pain and the loss of enjoyment of life activities are also compensable. The effects of disabilities extend throughout the child's lifespan.

Punitive Damages

In egregious cases of negligence or recklessness, punitive damages may be awarded as punishment and to deter similar conduct.

The experienced birth injury attorneys at our firm can help families in New York pursue maximum compensation through lawsuits or negotiated settlements. Contact us today to discuss your options for holding negligent medical providers accountable and recovering damages.

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Our Clients’ Reviews

Stars

I cannot rate the firm any higher! we are extremely happy with the service we received from Brad, Chris and the team. We are northern Irish citizens and as such had no experience of the US justice system, Chris and Brad helped us navigate this and made sure we understood every step of the process and we were kept informed of what would happen with the case.

We also felt that Brad and Chris had a genuine interest in our story, what the implications for us as a family were and they were genuinely invested in how they could help our situation.

We were reassured by the manor in which Chris and Brad dealt with us and trusted that the advice we were given was always well balanced and in our best interests. We were extremely happy with the outcome the firm achieved for us and feel that we only got this outcome due to the hard work of Chris and Brad. I would not hesitate to recommend the firm to anyone who is considering a case and wants to feel as though they are really valued as a client.

Many thanks to the firm for all of their hard work on our behalf it truly is appreciated.

Leanne Montgomery

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5

Stars

Let’s go to the beginning when I realize that I was going to need legal assistance because I was shocked that I was actually injured I called my fiancé and told her that I was going to need a lawyer, so she googled the top 5  personal injury law firms in NY and The Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm came up. One of the representatives from the firm took the time to come personally to my home to see me, that immediately showed me that I was going to be able to make it through my pain and suffering they understood what I was going through and with patience, persistence, and diligence they were able to get the best results possible in settling my case. I highly recommend the Jacob Fuchsberg Law firm when the unexpected happens you will not be dissatisfied with the kind, courteous and professionalism that you would expect from a law firm.

Keith Middleton

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5

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Very satisfied with the representation I was given from this law firm.  I would recommend Fuchsberg to anyone with a unique situation such as mine. My attorney went above and beyond to ensure everything was done thoroughly and in a timely manner! Everything about this firm exceeded my expectations! Very special thank you to Chris,  Allison, and Brad!

Marie Price

Citizen

5

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Connect with Our NYC Birth Injury Lawyers Today for Skilled Representation

Our attorneys handle birth injury lawsuits in New York City and all of New York State, as well as Connecticut and New Jersey. We'll never charge any fees unless and until we recover compensation for your family.
To discuss your case with an experienced New York birth injury attorney, complete our brief online contact form or call us at 212-869-3500 today.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the statute of limitations on birth injury cases in New York?

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You have just two and a half years to file a birth injury claim in New York, so it's important to contact a qualified birth injury attorney as soon as possible to seek compensation for your child's injuries.

Will my New York birth injury case go before a jury?

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Most of these types of cases are settled out of court. That said, your New York birth injury lawyers can take your case to trial before a jury if needed.

What medical experts do you work with for birth injury cases?

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We partner with highly qualified doctors, nurses, and life-care planners who specialize in birth trauma throughout New York.

Will filing a claim affect my newborn's health insurance?

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No. Pursuing compensation shouldn't have any impact on your child's health insurance coverage under New York law.

Is there a cap on damages for New York birth injury claims?

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New York doesn't impose a cap or limit on recoverable damages for medical malpractice cases involving birth injuries. As such, our birth injury attorneys will fight for every penny we can get to help your family.

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