Birth Injuries
Battle-Tested Advocacy for the Injured
South Louisiana Attorneys for Birth Injury Lawsuits
Pregnancy is a vulnerable time for many women. Nurses, doctors, anesthesiologists, and other medical professionals have a duty to provide the medical care and attention necessary for a healthy pregnancy and safe birth. Healthcare professionals likely won’t intentionally harm a mother and baby, but medical mistakes can and do happen. These medical errors can happen at any point in the pregnancy, not just during labor and delivery, and can cause serious injuries that have life-long consequences.
If you and/or your child were injured by medical professionals, contact a birth injury lawyer in Baton Rouge, LA today. The birth injury lawyers at Joubert Law Firm have the legal experience and knowledge necessary to recover compensation for your injuries. Contact us today at (225) 777-8853 to schedule a free consultation for your case.
What is a Birth Injury?
Birth injuries refer to any injury that happens during or shortly after birth. These injuries can be caused by inexperience, poor attention, distractions, and other forms of medical negligence. Birth injury victims can include both mother and child.
Some birth injuries have no lasting consequences but leave behind a mountain of medical bills. Other injuries can leave a happy, healthy baby with life-long deficits. Even if the injury isn’t visible, medical malpractice during childbirth can cause a lifetime of disabilities, cognitive delays, seizures, behavioral problems, and more.
Medical professionals have a duty to provide a strict standard of care. When inexperience or carelessness leads to a preventable injury, you have legal options available.
Labor and Delivery Malpractice Cases
Child injuries are difficult for any parent to handle, especially when the serious injury is caused by the professionals who are meant to be taking care of you and your infant. Working with a skilled birth injury lawyer at Joubert Law Firm can help you fight to get the resources you need to recover.
Some labor and delivery injuries cause severe damage with little chance of recovery. Even with the help of qualified doctors and physical therapists, some injuries can have life-changing consequences. At Joubert Law Firm, we know how devastating injuries can change your life. Working with our team means that you can make the most out of your situation and get back to creating a new normal for you and your family.
What are Common Types of Birth Injuries?
You’ve probably seen bits and pieces of the birth process from friends and family or on TV–or maybe even experienced it yourself. The birthing process is different for everyone, which means medical providers have to be ready for anything and everything. Many things can go wrong during birth and result in catastrophic injuries to both mother and child.
The birth injury lawyers at Joubert Law Firm are experienced in handling the following types of birth injuries:
Bruises and lacerations
Cerebral palsy
Brachial plexus injuries, like Erb’s palsy and Klumpke’s palsy
Mismanaged labor and delivery, as well as negligent monitoring of the patients, can contribute to the above injuries. In severe cases, this negligence can even lead to the wrongful death of the laboring mother or the child. In fact, the United States has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world, and many of these wrongful death cases are entirely preventable.
Maternal Death
As mentioned, in severe cases, medical malpractice during birth can (and far too often does) cause death. Believe it or not, the United States is one of the most dangerous places in the developed world to have a baby. In the U.S., more than 800 women die during or shortly after labor every year. 14% of these deaths are from hemorrhaging, and another 14% are from heart conditions. Regardless of the exact cause, nearly 70% of these deaths are entirely preventable.
If your loved one’s death was caused by medical malpractice or negligence, the liable parties should be held responsible for the damage they caused. At Joubert Law Firm, our Baton Rouge wrongful death attorneys can investigate the case, determine the at-fault party, and make them pay.
Do I Have a Birth Injury Claim?
If you, your child, or a loved one sustained personal injuries during childbirth, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Injuries sustained during labor and delivery should be investigated by hospital staff, but many doctors and nurses may try to cover up their own mistakes. It’s not unheard of for a hospital to “lose” patient files that may support medical malpractice. That’s why it’s important to work with the experienced team at Joubert Law Firm.
Our Baton Rouge birth injury attorneys can investigate the incident and identify the negligent party. Working with a law firm with experience in birth injuries means that you can rest assured knowing that your case is being handled with the care and attention it deserves. Personal injury law can be complicated, and medical malpractice has its own set of complicated rules. At Joubert Law Firm, our skilled South Louisiana personal injury attorneys can not only find the negligent party that caused your injury, but we also have the knowledge, resources, and experience to prove the legal elements of medical malpractice and obtain justice on your behalf.
Elements of Medical Malpractice Claims
Proving medical negligence can be difficult, especially if you’re focused on recovering after a complicated delivery or healing from a severe injury–or both. A medical malpractice claim is similar to a personal injury lawsuit, but it often requires more work than most personal injury cases. In Louisiana, you have to submit your case to a medical review panel before filing a lawsuit. You and your legal team must also be ready to prove the four different elements of medical malpractice:
Duty of Care: As a patient, you can expect a certain duty of care from your healthcare providers.
Breach of Duty: You have to prove that the medical professional breached this duty in some way. This could include failure to monitor and treat in a timely manner, distractions, or by failing to take appropriate action.
Causation: You and your legal team must prove that your injuries are a direct result of the breach of duty.
Damages: If your injuries caused financial losses (lost wages, medical bills, etc.), you are entitled to fair compensation.
With the help of our skilled team, you can focus on healing while we handle all the paperwork and legal jargon.
At Joubert Law Firm, our personal injury attorneys always fight for the maximum compensation available in your case. This includes:
Medical expenses
Cost of future medical care
Lost wages
Loss of earning potential
Pain and suffering
Mental anguish
Permanent disability
Disfigurement
Funeral and burial expenses, in the case of wrongful death
Compensation for medical malpractice claims may not reverse the injuries you or a loved one sustained, but it can prevent your family from experiencing decades of medical debt.
Medical Malpractice Caps in Louisiana
Louisiana law places a cap on medical malpractice lawsuits. Many states enact laws to limit the amount of compensation someone can receive during a lawsuit, but most states limit only non-economic damages like pain and suffering or mental anguish. In Louisiana, the total award for medical malpractice claims is $500,000. The only exception to this rule is the cost of future medical care.
Do I Need a Personal Injury Lawyer for Birth Injury Malpractice?
A birth injury attorney from Joubert Law Firm can protect your rights and fight for maximum compensation in your case. Working with a team of accomplished personal injury lawyers can be the difference between a smooth healing process and a complicated, overwhelming waste of time. What’s more, when you work with the attorneys at Joubert Law Firm, there is no financial risk to you. Unlike a family law or criminal defense lawyer, we don’t charge a flat fee for legal representation. We work on a contingency basis, meaning that we don’t get paid until you do.
Liability in a Birth Injury Lawsuit
Liability can be tricky, especially in a birth injury claim. Multiple parties may be liable for your injuries in a birth injury lawsuit. Common liable parties include:
Anesthesiologist
Nurses
Doctors
Medical equipment manufacturers
Drug companies
The hospital facility
Determining fault is an important aspect of a birth injury claim, and it’s nearly impossible to handle it alone. At Joubert Law Firm, our Baton Rouge birth injury lawyers will perform a full investigation to identify the responsible party in your case.
How Long Do I Have to File a Birth Injury Claim?
In Louisiana, injured victims have only a year to file a birth injury lawsuit against the negligent provider. A year may seem like a long time, but the time can fly quickly during recovery. Many people may not be aware that a negligent provider caused their injury. This is why working with the qualified birth injury lawyers at Joubert Law Firm is so important. We can make sure you meet all the filing deadlines and set you up for the most successful outcome possible in your case.
Baton Rouge Birth Injury Law Firm
If you or a loved one has suffered injuries during pregnancy or labor in Baton Rouge, LA, contact the birth injury attorneys at Joubert Law Firm today. Our attorneys help injured victims all over the Baton Rouge area, with numerous positive results to prove it. If you have more questions about our legal services, check out our FAQ page or feel free to give us a call.
For a free case review with an attorney at our firm, call our Baton Rouge office at (225) 777-8853 or reach out via our online intake form today. We can go over your legal options and determine if moving forward with a birth injury lawsuit is in your best interest.
**As a thank you to all military members and veterans and to show our appreciation for your sacrifice and service, we would like to offer a discount for your legal cases.
“Johnny went above & beyond to help me in a very difficult time. If you need someone to advocate for you, he’s the one to call! So thankful for him & how he handled a case I thought was impossible to help. Give him a call!”
