A birth injury drops a family into two crises at once: a child who may need lifelong care, and the unanswered question of whether it had to happen. Not every bad outcome is malpractice — but patterns like delayed C-sections, unmonitored fetal distress, and mismanaged deliveries are, and the difference lives in the medical records.
Injuries We Evaluate
- Hypoxic-ischemic injury (HIE) — oxygen deprivation during labor, the mechanism behind many cerebral palsy cases; MedlinePlus covers the medicine.
- Brachial plexus injuries / Erb’s palsy — often tied to shoulder dystocia management.
- Delivery trauma — vacuum and forceps injuries, fractures, and intracranial bleeding.
- Maternal injuries — the mother’s own claim for mismanaged labor, hemorrhage, or preeclampsia care is evaluated alongside the child’s.
What Pennsylvania Requires — and Allows
These are malpractice cases: expert review and a certificate of merit are required, and the analysis runs through our medical malpractice practice. Two things families should know early: minors’ claims carry extended deadlines — a child’s own claim generally survives well past the adult two-year rule — and damages must be built around a lifetime: future care, therapies, equipment, and lost earning capacity, not the first year’s bills. Facility oversight records from the PA Department of Health and patient-safety research from AHRQ often support the standard-of-care case. Our post on whether birth injuries are preventable is a starting point.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do we find out if the injury was preventable?
Records review by qualified experts — fetal monitoring strips, labor notes, timing of decisions. That evaluation is the first step, it’s free, and it answers honestly in both directions.
The hospital says these things ‘just happen.’ Do they?
Sometimes, yes — and sometimes that phrase covers a delayed decision the chart timestamps contradict. The records, not the reassurance, answer the question.
We can’t afford a lawsuit while caring for our child.
These cases run on contingency with costs advanced per the written fee agreement — no attorney’s fee unless we recover. The evaluation costs nothing, and knowing is better than wondering.
How long do we have to decide?
The child’s claim generally carries an extended deadline as a minor, but the parents’ related claims and the evidence do not wait — records get purged and witnesses scatter. Evaluate now, decide after.
What does hiring you cost?
No attorney’s fee unless we recover for you; the contingency percentage and case-cost handling are in the written fee agreement you review before signing. Consultations are free.
Ready to talk about your case? Call (215) 464-4600 or contact us online for a free, confidential consultation — contingency fee, no attorney’s fee unless we recover, costs explained in the written fee agreement.