Stone Mountain Birth Injury Lawyer

Stone Mountain Birth Injury Attorney

Birth injuries can be minor or lead to tragic circumstances that leave children with permanent disabilities. If you or your family has suffered as a result of birth trauma or the wrongful death of a mother or child, you should contact a Stone Mountain birth injury lawyer right away.

Trust The Tolson Firm, LLC

Audrey Tolson, a proud Black attorney, is a compassionate and skilled Stone Mountain medical malpractice lawyer with vast experience in birth injury cases. You can trust her and her highly skilled team at The Tolson Firm, LLC, to help with your claim. This award-winning firm is well-respected with an Avvo rating of 10.0 Superb, and can confidently handle your birth injury case.

Hospitals Near Stone Mountain, GA

While there are no hospitals or birthing centers in Stone Mountain, GA, the area is near many fine facilities, including:

• The Atlanta Birth Center
• Northside Hospital
• Emory Birth Place
• And many others

Unfortunately, birth injuries can occur even at well-respected medical institutions such as these.

What Constitutes a Birth Injury?

A birth injury is any injury to the mother or child that occurs during labor or delivery. Only some birth injuries are considered medical malpractice. If your birth injury occurred as a result of a healthcare provider’s negligence, you can file a medical malpractice claim against them. If it was due to unavoidable health complications, you won’t be able to file a medical malpractice claim successfully.

Common Causes of Birth Injuries

Birth injuries can happen for any number of reasons. They include:

• Failure to diagnose or treat a condition during pregnancy
• Delaying a C-section
• Maternal bleeding, especially during a C-section
• Perinatal asphyxia due to umbilical cord compression or wrapping of the cord around the neck
• Improper use of medical instruments

Birth injuries can be as minor as a bit of scalp swelling or as major as asphyxia leading to infant mortality, encompassing a wide range of specific types of birth injuries in Georgia.

Damages Recoverable in Birth Injury Cases

Compensatory damages are meant to provide you with monetary compensation for your injuries and losses. In the case of birth trauma, they can include:

• Economic damages. Economic damages are any costs or expenses associated with the injury. They can include hospital bills, long-term medical care, lost wages, and other monetary losses.
• Non-economic damages. Non-economic damages include other, less easily quantifiable losses. Your non-economic damages might include pain and suffering, disability or disfigurement, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment, or others.

Why Hire a Birth Injury Lawyer?

The March of Dimes gives the state of Georgia an F on its report card for preterm births, though DeKalb County fared slightly better with a D-. The organization also points out that infant mortality rates in Georgia are high at 7.0 deaths per 1,000 births, and maternal mortality is also high at 30.4 deaths per 100,000 births.

If you are one of the many people facing difficulties due to birth trauma, including the wrongful deaths of mothers or babies, you can hire a birth injury lawyer to help you file a claim against the doctor and hospital responsible. Your lawyer can help you:

• File paperwork and keep track of important deadlines
• Come up with a coherent narrative of the events
• Gather and analyze evidence to support your claim
• Negotiate with insurance companies to obtain a good settlement
• Litigate your case in court should it need to go to trial

You are more likely to have a successful outcome with an experienced Stone Mountain birth injury attorney on your team.

Statute of Limitations

Georgia places a statute of limitations on filing a birth injury claim. You have two years from the date of the injury to file your claim. However, this time frame doesn’t begin until the child’s fifth birthday for birth injury cases, so you have seven years to file a claim. If the injury doesn’t present itself until later, this time period may be extended.

FAQs

How Long Do Birth Injury Cases Take to Settle?

How long birth injury cases take to settle varies on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, where liability is obvious, they might settle outside of court quickly. Other cases are much more complicated, or there are questions as to liability. These cases must sometimes be litigated in court, which takes substantially more time. Ask your lawyer for a more specific timeframe for your case.

What Are the Four Types of Birth Injury?

The four types of birth injuries are nerve injuries, bone fractures, head injuries, and other trauma. Issues like brachial plexus fall into the category of nerve injuries, while clavicle fractures are the most common broken bone. Head or brain injuries can include scalp swelling, bleeding, and cerebral palsy. Other forms of trauma include bruising and asphyxia.

What Counts as a Traumatic Birth?

A traumatic birth is any labor or delivery that involves injuries to the mother or child. Traumatic births can stem from emergency situations that arise during the delivery, such as umbilical cords becoming wrapped around the neck of a baby, from prolonged labor, or from other physical injuries. Delaying C-sections can also cause traumatic births.

What Is the Hardest Element to Prove in a Birth Injury Case?

The hardest element to prove in a birth injury case is causation. You must establish a clear link between the healthcare provider’s negligent actions and the injuries suffered by you or your baby. Medical issues can have many potential origins, so it usually takes strong expert testimony to prove that the injury wouldn’t have occurred without medical malpractice coming into play.

Your Stone Mountain Birth Injury Lawyer

If you are seeking help from a skilled Stone Mountain birth injury lawyer, you have come to the right place. The team at The Tolson Firm, LLC, has extensive experience with medical malpractice cases, including birth injuries. We can help you successfully file your birth injury claim and seek compensation for the damage done to your family. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation today.