GEORGIA-BASED.
GEORGIA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL.
$91M COLLECTED FOR GEORGIA FAMILIES.
BIRTH INJURY LAW IS ALL WE DO.

WE HELP FAMILIES IN GEORGIA AFFORD
A LIFETIME OF CARE FOR THEIR CHILDREN

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Birth Injury Verdict
in Gwinnett County
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Birth Injury Settlement
in Fulton Country
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Total Birth Injury verdicts
and settlements in Georgia
WHY WE FIGHT FOR FAMILIES

GEORGIA CHILDBIRTH INJURY LAW FIRM

Childbirth injuries can challenge a family. Parents may struggle to meet their child’s needs for time, care, and medical attention. They may also feel a deep sense of unfairness at their child’s suffering. Birth injury lawyers help parents address the issues they face due to their child’s birth injury. A childbirth injury lawyer helps parents understand their legal options for pursuing compensation and justice from those responsible for their child’s injuries. To discuss your child’s birth injury and the compensation to which Georgia law may entitle you, contact Tyrone Law to schedule a free consultation. Tyrone Law is the only firm in Georgia to focus solely on birth injury law. Our birth injury attorneys use their vast experience with these cases to help parents find answers to the legal and financial challenges they and their children face. Below, you can learn about birth injuries and the process for securing compensation for their lifelong effects on your child.

Types of Childbirth Injuries

Birth injuries can range widely in their effects. Some injuries only cause physical disabilities. Others cause mental and emotional disabilities. Some injuries, like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), can cause physical and mental injuries Some common birth injuries include:

Brain Damage (HIE/ Birth Asphyxia):

Brain damage can also result from a loss of oxygen (i.e “anoxic injuries”). Because an unborn baby in his mother’s tummy relies on his mother’s blood flow for oxygen, anoxic injuries happen when something interferes with the blood supply going to the baby. Without a fresh supply of oxygenated blood, brain cells die. Doctors also refer to this injury as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

HIE can lead to many types of injuries, including:

  • Delayed development/ missed “milestones”
  • Mental and emotional disorders
  • Learning disorders and intellectual disabilities
  • Hearing or vision loss
  • Cerebral palsy

Doctors cannot reverse brain damage. But physical therapy and mental health counseling can often help the child find ways to cope with the effects of brain damage.

Nerve Damage

Nerves get damaged when they are torn, compressed, or stretched during childbirth. This can happen when a baby gets wedged in the birth canal. This squeezes the nerves at the point where the baby gets caught. When nerve damage happens to the face, the baby can lose the ability to make facial expressions. When nerve damage happens in the shoulder, your baby may have paralysis in the shoulder, arm, wrist, or hand. In many cases, the nerve remains intact and only gets stretched or compressed. The inflammation causes the nerve to lose signals or misfire, leading to temporary paralysis, weakness, and loss of coordination. Occasionally, the nerve tears. Once it tears, the nerve cannot carry signals, and you will lose both motor and sensory function.

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Mother holding child in chair together
WE REPRESENT FAMILIES OF CHILDREN AND MOTHERS WHO ARE INJURED OR DIE DURING CHILDBIRTH
OUR PROMISE TO YOU
We promise to review your case for free
If injury was preventable, we promise to take on your case and fight for your family
Our goal is to provide money to care for your child
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY ABOUT US
IS YOUR CHILD MISSING DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES?
There are many important milestones in a young child's life. You probably already noticed if your child cannot do these things by a certain age. That's why you might think your child sustained a brain injury at birth. Our law firm can help you address the warning signs that something might be wrong. We regularly work with highly skilled physicians trained to diagnose medical conditions related to birth injuries, including Cerebral Palsy and Erb's Palsy.
1-2 MONTHS
STARTS TO RESPOND TO YOUR VOICE
2-3 MONTHS
STARTS TO LIFT HEAD ON OWN
4-6 MONTHS
ROLLS OVER
6-8 MONTHS
SITS ON OWN
9-10 MONTHS
CRAWLS ON OWN
11-12 MONTHS
STANDS ON OWN
9-18 MONTHS
WALKS ON OWN
12-18 MONTHS
FORMS FIRST WORDS
COMMON CAUSES OF CHILDBIRTH INJURIES

Childbirth injuries can result from many conditions, including:

Delayed/Missed Opportunity for C-Section or Vacuum Delivery:

Mothers who are in labor at a hospital will have a monitoring strap around their abdomen that traces both the unborn babies’ heart rate and the mother’s contractions. The sensors in the strap send their data to a monitor available to anyone at bedside and also available in the “central” monitoring room at the nurse’s station and, sometimes, available to doctors in their offices or on their phones. The monitoring accomplished by this machine is called “Electronic Fetal Monitoring” (EFM). Obstetric clinicians (both doctors and nurses) are trained to evaluate the tracing of the baby's heart rate – and how it is responding to the mother’s contractions – in order to evaluate how the unborn baby is doing. Put another way, all Obstetric clinicians are trained to understand when the “EFM'' tracing demonstrates that the unborn baby is getting sufficient oxygen – or whether they are oxygen deprived. The failure to “call” for a C-Section or Vacuum delivery (or the delay in calling for these) when the EFM shows a pattern that the baby is oxygen deprived, can be negligent. When unborn babies are oxygen deprived every minute counts.

Instrument Injuries

The instruments used by doctors to assist the mother during birth can injure the baby. Forceps, vacuum devices, and other instruments can cause physical injury as they grasp the child.

Umbilical Cord Issues

The umbilical cord supplies the baby with oxygenated blood until the baby takes its first breath of oxygen after it is delivered. Umbilical cord issues can lead to an EFM tracing that shows the baby is oxygen deprived. Umbilical cord issues usually happen in a few ways:

Cord Compression

Cord compression happens when the umbilical cord gets knotted or compressed between the baby and the womb. The baby does not receive the oxygen it needs, leading to brain injuries or even death.

Cord Rupture

Cord rupture happens when something causes the blood vessels in the umbilical cord to tear or burst. Since blood cannot reach the child’s brain, the brain cells can die.

Nuchal Cord

A nuchal cord is a term used to describe what happens when the umbilical cord gets wrapped around your child’s neck during birth. The “wrapping” is a problem because it compresses the cord where oxygenated blood is transferred to the baby. The cord can also be compressed by other parts of the baby’s body and where the cord gets compressed between the baby and the womb. A nuchal cord is a common birth complication that only occasionally causes a birth injury.

Maternal Injuries

The trauma suffered by the mother during labor and delivery can affect the child. If the mother’s blood pressure or oxygen levels drop during childbirth, the baby might not receive enough oxygen. If the mother’s blood pressure or heart rate increases during childbirth, the baby’s blood pressure may spike, sending the baby into distress.

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LIABILITY FOR CHILDBIRTH INJURIES

Many factors can contribute to childbirth brain injuries. Some fall within a physician’s control, and some do not. But sometimes, a physician can plan to avoid the conditions that can cause a birth injury or act quickly when birth complications arise to minimize their effects. To prove that a healthcare provider bears liability for childbirth injuries, birth injury attorneys must show that the healthcare provider failed to exercise reasonable care in providing your services. Doctors, anesthesiologists, nurses, and other medical professionals must meet the professional standard of care that other professionals would provide in the same circumstances. Liability for childbirth injuries usually results from three types of medical errors:

Diagnosis Error

Diagnosis errors take a few different forms, including:

  • Wrong diagnosis – diagnosing you with the wrong condition
  • Non-diagnosis – diagnosing you as healthy when you are not
  • Misdiagnosis – diagnosing you with a condition when you are healthy

When a medical professional errs while making a diagnosis, you may not receive the treatment you and your baby need to avoid a birth injury. For example, suppose the doctor misreads an ultrasound and fails to diagnose an umbilical cord problem. An HIE lawyer can argue that this missed diagnosis led to a birth injury rather than the remedial measures that could have prevented the birth injury, such as a caesarian delivery.

Treatment Errors

Treatment errors include all of the errors that happen under the doctor’s care. They include the drugs doctors administer during labor and birth. They also include all of the actions taken by the doctors and nurses in the delivery room. Suppose your child has cerebral palsy. An HIE lawyer might prove that your child’s physical difficulties resulted from a brain injury during birth due to a loss of circulation.

Communication Errors

Before performing any procedure, a doctor must explain the benefits and risks of the procedure and obtain your informed consent. Communication errors happen when doctors, anesthesiologists, or nurses fail to:

  • Explain a procedure
  • Discuss a procedure’s risks and benefits
  • Obtain your consent to the procedure

If the doctor fails to explain all of your options and your child suffered a birth injury, a childbirth injury lawyer might be able to prove that the doctor committed medical malpractice.

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COMPENSATION RECOVERABLE FOR CHILDBIRTH INJURIES

Birth injury law is a niche practice within medical malpractice law. When dealing with birth injuries, you need a lawyer who understands the needs your child will have for the rest of their life. The damages your child needs to assure their financial security include:

Economic Damages

These damages cover the financial cost of your child’s injury, including:

  • Medical expenses
  • Costs for caretaking and assistance
  • Diminished earning capacity due to long-term disabilities
  • Medical device rentals or purchases

A childbirth injury lawyer can often quantify these economic damages based on your child’s injuries.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages cover all of the ways your child’s injuries reduce your child’s quality of life. They include such factors as:

  • Physical pain
  • Mental suffering
  • Inability to participate in activities
  • Inconvenience

A claims adjuster or jury can infer your non-economic damages based on the severity of your child’s injuries. For example, in an HIE injury case, a lawyer can argue that the physical, mental, and emotional effects of HIE justify a large damage award to compensate for the profound loss in quality of life.

Hiring Birth Injury Attorneys

For a Georgia birth injury you should look for birth injury attorneys located in Georgia. Attorneys like those at Tyrone Law Firm who live and work in Georgia know the hospitals, doctors and lawyers who defend these kinds of cases. No matter where you delivered your child, more likely than not, Tyrone Law Firm knows the hospital involved and knows how to find the documents and witnesses who can prove your case. To discuss your child’s birth injury and the compensation your child may need, contact Tyrone Law to schedule a free consultation.

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