Alpharetta Birth Injury Lawyer

Alpharetta Birth Injury Attorney

Birth injuries are more common than most people think, and not all of them stem from provider negligence. However, if you or your baby has sustained any kind of birth trauma, you should speak with an Alpharetta birth injury lawyer to determine whether you have a valid claim for medical malpractice.

Trust The Tolson Firm, LLC

If you are looking for a skilled Alpharetta medical malpractice lawyer, you’ve come to the right place. You can trust The Tolson Firm, LLC, to help you with your birth injury claim. We’ve been in practice for years, and in that time, we’ve developed a keen understanding of birth injury cases. We know what it takes to prove negligence even in complicated cases where liability is unclear. Let us help you resolve your birth trauma case.

Complications That Can Lead to Birth Injuries

Complications can lead to birth trauma. Doctors are supposed to monitor pregnant women carefully, checking for risk factors and addressing these complications swiftly as they arise. They can include:

• Perinatal asphyxia. Oxygen deprivation before, during, or right after birth can lead to brain injuries. This issue can arise as a result of problems with the uterus, placenta, or umbilical cord and may be caused by maternal health problems. Doctors should provide extra oxygen or recommend a C-section if they observe perinatal asphyxia in a fetus.
• Shoulder dystocia. Mothers and children alike can face serious risks from a complication known as shoulder dystocia. This issue occurs when a child’s shoulder gets lodged behind the mother’s pubic bone, potentially causing her to suffer a uterine rupture or hemorrhage. Babies can suffer brachial plexus injuries.
• Placental complications. The placenta detaches from the uterus wall during birth, exiting through the birth canal. Placenta previa occurs when the placenta develops in the wrong part of the uterus, covering the cervix and causing blood vessels to tear when the cervix dilates for labor. This can endanger the lives of both mothers and children. Placental abruption is also a serious complication that causes substantial blood loss.
• Umbilical cord complications. Common umbilical cord complications include prolapse, which can lead to oxygen deprivation, and vasa previa, which causes life-threatening bleeding. Knots, cysts, and nuchal cords can also occur, causing substantial risks to babies.

These are just a few of the many pregnancy complications your doctor should be monitoring for. If you developed one of these or another complication and it led to birth injuries, you should contact a lawyer to discuss your options right away, as it may fall under maternity medical malpractice in Georgia.

Why Hire a Birth Injury Lawyer?

Birth injuries are not uncommon in Georgia, and they can be devastating. The Peach State had the second-highest maternal mortality rate in the US in 2021, at 66.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. Infant mortality rates are also high, at 7.0 deaths per 1,000 live births. Fulton County ranks lower than the rest of Georgia on key metrics, earning an F grade for preterm births from the March of Dimes at 11.7% of all births.

If you or your baby has suffered during labor or delivery as a result of the Georgia healthcare system’s inadequacies, you can hire a birth injury lawyer to help you hold the responsible parties accountable. Your lawyer can help you with everything from filing paperwork to gathering evidence and hiring expert witnesses to bolster your claim, allowing you to focus on what’s most important: your health and that of your new baby.

Birth Injuries at North Atlanta Women’s Care

North Atlanta Women’s Care is a birthing facility in Alpharetta, GA. It has an excellent reputation, specializing in providing full obstetrics and gynecology services for women in the area. Unfortunately, even highly regarded birthing clinics can have issues with birth trauma. If you’ve suffered a birth injury at this or another nearby facility, you should contact an Alpharetta birth injury attorney right away.

FAQs

What Constitutes a Traumatic Birth?

Events that constitute a traumatic birth include physical injuries to the mother or child, often accompanied by psychological distress. Traumatic births typically lead to injuries to the baby, mother, or both that stem from issues like emergency C-sections, prolonged labor, or medical negligence on the part of one or more healthcare providers.

Do Hospitals Usually Settle Birth Injury Claims?

Hospitals usually settle birth injury claims out of court. Going to trial is a risky, time-consuming, and costly ordeal for both sides, and hospitals often want to avoid the public scrutiny and legal uncertainty they bring. This is particularly true in cases with severe injuries or clear negligence on the part of one or more providers.

What Is the Hardest Birth Injury to Prove?

The hardest birth injuries to prove include long-term neurological damage from issues like cerebral palsy or brachial plexus injuries. Proving medical negligence in these cases is a challenge because it’s difficult to show direct causation by a specific event. To prove these types of injuries, you may need expert testimony, timelines to link the symptoms to a preventable error during delivery, and extensive medical records.

How Long Does a Birth Injury Claim Take?

How long a birth injury claim takes depends on the specific case. If it is clear that one or more practitioners were negligent in their care of a mother and child, and that led to one or both being injured during labor or delivery, the claim should be resolved quickly outside of court. If the situation is more complicated and liability is unclear, or if it is difficult to prove causation, the case could take much longer to resolve.

Your Alpharetta Birth Injury Lawyer

If you or your baby suffered a traumatic birth, you can work with an Alpharetta birth injury lawyer to recover compensation for your family’s pain and suffering. The legal team at The Tolson Firm, LLC, is here to help. Audrey Tolson, our lead attorney, is a proud Black lawyer named one of the Most Powerful and Influential Female Lawyers by Women Looking Ahead magazine. You can trust our team to help with your birth injury claim. Contact us to schedule an appointment.