Was your child injured during labor and delivery in Charleston, West Virginia? Contact Mani Ellis & Layne Accident & Injury Lawyers at (304) 720-1000 for immediate legal guidance. You may deserve significant compensation. During a free consultation, an experienced Charleston birth injury lawyer can help you understand your legal rights and options.
Collectively, our lawyers have over 71 years of experience in personal injury law. We’ve recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for our efforts. We have a proven track record of successfully securing significant settlements for our injured clients. We’re ready to start protecting your legal interests today.
Why Should I Trust the Team at Mani Ellis & Layne Accident & Injury Lawyers To Handle a Birth Injury Case in Charleston?
Holding a negligent healthcare provider responsible for the harm they’ve caused can be incredibly challenging. At every turn, they’ll have teams of defense attorneys and insurance adjusters protecting them. If your child was injured at birth, count on the team at Mani Ellis & Layne Accident & Injury Lawyers to help you fight for justice.
You deserve to have an experienced Charleston personal injury attorney protecting your family’s interests. For our success over the years, we’ve been recognized by Super Lawyers and earned an AV-Preeminent rating from the Martindale-Hubbell lawyer rating service. We’ve also earned a five-star Google rating as evidence of the top-quality legal representation we provide.
Now, our Charleston, WV, team is here to help you stand up to the powerful insurance companies and defense teams who will fight to minimize your damages and downplay the harm you’ve suffered. Call us today to get started with a free consultation.
Birth Injuries: An Overview
A birth injury is any injury suffered by a child around the time of their birth. Birth injuries can occur before, during, or immediately after labor and delivery. Birth injuries can vary in terms of severity. Some newborns who suffer birth injuries go on to live healthy lives. Others may require a lifetime of care and rehabilitation.
At Mani Ellis & Layne Accident & Injury Lawyers, we handle all types of birth injury claims in Charleston, including cases involving:
- Cerebral Palsy
- Erb’s Palsy
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Shoulder dystocia
- Spinal cord injuries
- Brain injuries
- Eye bleeding, or subconjunctival hemorrhage
- Fractures
- Cephalohematoma
- Caput Succedaneum
- Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
- Placental abruption and uterine rupture, which are conditions that can cause oxygen deprivation
Many birth injuries are entirely preventable. They often occur when healthcare professionals make mistakes. If you suspect that your child’s injuries occurred due to a medical error, contact our Charleston birth injury attorneys today. We have the skills to help you determine what happened and who is responsible.
What Are Some Signs That My Baby Has Suffered a Birth Injury?
Without significant medical treatment, it can be difficult to identify a birth injury immediately. Some birth injuries only become apparent once some time has passed.
Here are some possible signs that your baby was injured at birth:
- Bruising or swelling on the baby’s head or body
- A need for resuscitation
- Pale or bluish skin color
- Low heart rate or diminished heart rate
- Crying with an unusually arched back
- Stiff or limp, floppy limbs
- Unusual eye movements
- Unusually high-pitched crying
- Poor reflex responses
- Unusually rapid breathing or respiratory distress
- Seizures following birth
Developmental delays can also indicate that a birth injury occurred. Delays in crawling, problems grasping, speech problems, and even problems eating or drinking can be signs of birth injuries.
What Is My Charleston Birth Injury Case Worth?
Every personal injury case is unique. Factors that may impact the value of your claim include:
- The severity and permanence of the birth injury
- Your current medical expenses and other financial costs
- The nature of any ongoing needs associated with a long-term injury, and their cost
- How the injury impacts your family’s quality of life
- Whether it’s expected that your child will be able to work and earn a living
Calculating the value of a birth injury case can be complicated. Many of your damages may represent future losses–especially if your child is expected to suffer a long-term or permanent disability.
When you hire our law firm, you benefit from an experienced legal team. We have relationships with respected experts who can testify about complicated or contested issues–including the value of your damages. This expert testimony can be critical to convincing the insurance company to hand over the full compensation you deserve.
What Types of Damages Are Available if My Child Suffered a Birth Injury in Charleston?
Individuals who have been harmed due to medical negligence are entitled to seek two primary forms of damages in West Virginia: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Examples of these damages may include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost earning capacity and lost education or career opportunities
- Physical therapy
- Special education needs
- Increased childcare costs
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and trauma
- Loss of a healthy childhood
- Depression
- PTSD
- Reduced quality of life
- Physical disfigurement and scarring
- Damage to relationships
Your compensation award, in other words, should compensate for all financial and non-financial losses your family has experienced due to the birth injury.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Lawyer To Handle a Birth Injury Claim in West Virginia?
Our law firm operates on a contingency fee basis. Our fees depend entirely on the results we achieve in your case. When we recover compensation in your birth injury case, we deduct a percentage to cover our attorneys’ fees.
Because our attorneys’ fees are directly tied to the amount of compensation we recover in your case, you’ll never pay unless we win.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Birth Injuries in West Virginia?
Birth injuries are often linked to medical negligence. Medical malpractice can leave a patient struggling with significant harm.
Some possible causes of birth injuries include:
- Failure to properly monitor the mother and fetus during pregnancy, labor, and delivery
- Improper or incorrect use of labor-assist devices, such as forceps or vacuum extractors
- Failure to recognize risk factors during pregnancy
- Failure to order a C-Section when called for
- Failure to refer to a specialist
- Failure to recognize signs of fetal distress
- Charting and communication errors
- Oxygen deprivation during pregnancy, labor, or delivery
- Errors in administering medication
- Inexperienced healthcare providers
It can be difficult for parents to identify the reason for the harm their baby has suffered. Without much medical training, you may not know exactly what happened. That’s where our attorneys can help.
We’ll review all medical records and work with medical experts as we search for the cause of your baby’s injury. All cases are different. One thing is certain: our team has the resources, legal knowledge, and experience to help you get to the bottom of it.
What Do I Have To Prove To Receive Compensation After a Birth Injury in West Virginia?
Most families must prove medical malpractice occurred to recover compensation for birth injuries. Medical malpractice is a legal term that means something similar to substandard medical care.
The basic elements of any medical malpractice claim are:
- The victim was a patient of the defendant, triggering the defendant’s duty of care
- The defendant failed to satisfy the medical standard of care that the victim should have received
- That failure, or breach of duty, caused the victim to suffer some type of harm
- The value of the damages suffered by the victim as a result
Many cases hinge on establishing the relevant medical standard of care. The medical standard of care is the level of care that a reasonable, trained medical professional would have provided under similar circumstances.
Once we establish the relevant standard of care, we’ll work to prove the defendant deviated from that standard of care.
How Long Do I Have To File a Lawsuit After a Birth Injury in West Virginia?
The statute of limitations in most medical malpractice cases is two years. If you fail to take legal action within two years of the date the harm occurred, you can lose your right to damages. A discovery rule also applies.
If you did not immediately discover the injury, the two-year clock begins running on the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, your baby’s injuries.
Contact a Trusted Charleston Birth Injury Lawyer for a Free Consultation
Do you suspect your baby was harmed because of a medical error during pregnancy, labor, or delivery in Charleston, WV? You can count on our team at Mani Ellis & Layne Accident & Injury Lawyers to fight to hold the negligent healthcare providers accountable.
An experienced Charleston birth injury lawyer can help your family fight for every available dollar. Schedule your free case review today to learn more about your legal rights and options.