What Parents Should Do After a Birth Injury in Florida

Knowing what to do after a birth injury in Florida can be challenging. If your child’s injury resulted from medical negligence, you should pursue a claim for compensation. However, dealing with legal issues can seem overwhelming, especially when you want to focus your time and energy on your newborn baby.

Our firm’s birth injury lawyers help parents navigate medical malpractice claims. While you concentrate on your family, we will build your case and fight for the money you need for your child’s medical care and more.

What to Do If Your Child Suffered a Birth Injury

If your child suffered a birth injury because of negligent medical treatment, you may have a medical malpractice case. There are a few things parents should do after a birth injury in Florida to protect their rights and help improve their chances of recovering compensation:

Keep Medical Records and Case Evidence

To win your birth injury claim, you must prove that your child was harmed because of a medical error and not an unpreventable or untreatable complication. For example, you must establish that your doctor did not provide adequate pre- or post-natal care or failed to appropriately respond to signs of fetal distress or maternal injury.

One way you can help prove medical negligence is to keep careful records and preserve case evidence. Keep a file containing your child’s medical records, save bills, receipts, and proof of injury-related expenses, and keep a daily journal documenting how your baby’s injury affects them and your family physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Understand the Statute of Limitations

Legal action is bound by Florida’s statute of limitations. Medical malpractice cases must be filed within a very specific timeline according to Florida Statutes § 95.11. If the time expires, you will likely be unable to pursue compensation in civil court.

Consult a Medical Malpractice Attorney

Legal representation with our firm means having a dedicated and knowledgeable advocate fight on your behalf. A lawyer with our firm can act quickly to file your claims and conduct an investigation before evidence gets lost or deteriorates.

An attorney can also help you navigate Florida’s complex medical malpractice laws, which contain many pitfalls that could prevent you from getting the compensation you deserve. Our team will also handle case details so you can worry about what is most important – your newborn baby and their health. We will:

• Investigate your case and identify liable parties
• Assess your damages and seek all of your current and future losses
• Handle paperwork, deadlines, and case-related communications
• Aggressively negotiate for the maximum compensation possible
• Represent you at trial if necessary

You Can Pursue Birth Injury Compensation in Florida

Birth injury cases can involve significant compensation if your child has a severe, permanent, or disabling injury that will require prolonged medical care. Depending on the details of your case, your recoverable damages may include:

• Medical expenses. Medical compensation in a birth injury case may include labor and delivery costs, surgeries, hospitalizations, prescription drugs, mobility aids and medical equipment, physical therapy and rehabilitation, long-term nursing, and life care.
• Education and services. Depending on the nature and severity of your child’s birth injury, you may need resources to pay for specialized education, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and other services.
• Lost income. You can seek wages lost due to taking time off work to care for your child. If you must leave the workforce or work less to become a caregiver, you may qualify for compensation for your lost earning capacity. Your child’s future earning capacity may also be harmed, and we can seek those losses, too.
• Pain and suffering. Both children and parents can recover pain and suffering damages for a birth injury. Pain and suffering may include monetary awards for severe and chronic pain, loss of mobility, reduced cognitive functioning, stress, depression, anxiety, mental anguish, and reduced quality of life.
• Wrongful death. If your child or your partner died from birth injury complications, you may have a wrongful death claim. You can pursue compensation for medical bills, funeral and burial expenses, lost income, and loss of the deceased’s relationship, support, and intangible benefits.

You Must Prove Medical Malpractice Caused Your Child’s Birth Injury

Establishing that your child’s injury was the result of medical malpractice means proving the following elements of medical negligence:

• Duty of care. A doctor owes you a professional duty of care if a doctor/patient relationship exists. They must treat you according to accepted medical standards.
• Breach of duty. A breach of duty occurs when doctors do not treat patients in a manner most other physicians in their position would judge reasonable or necessary.
• Causation. Causation shows that the breach of duty led to injury.
• Damages. Damages show that a victim’s injuries led to pain and suffering and financial losses.

Common Types of Birth Injuries

According to Stanford Medicine, many risk factors can increase the chances of labor and delivery complications, including premature birth, abnormal birth presentation, and prolonged labor. When not properly treated by physicians, complications can result in birth injuries, including:

• Cerebral palsy
• Erb’s palsy
• Brachial palsy
• Bone fractures
• Facial paralysis
• Head injuries
• Brain bleeds
• Birth asphyxia
• Spinal cord injury

Contact Freidin Brown, P.A. to Speak With a Lawyer About a Birth Injury Claim

A birth injury lawyer with Freidin Brown, P.A. can guide you on what parents should do after a birth injury in Florida. Our small firm advantage means that our team of experienced medical malpractice attorneys will give you undivided personalized attention. The outcome of your case matters to us because it matters to you. Let us fight to protect your child and family.

Contact us online or call today for a free and confidential case review. We work on contingency, meaning we charge no upfront or out-of-pocket costs or fees.