Birth Injuries

Birth injuries are traumatic injuries that affect babies during the birth process. Minor birth injuries are fairly common and generally heal on their own, without medical intervention. However, in a small number of cases the newborns are injured severely and require invasive and costly treatments such as surgery. At worst, birth injury victims may suffer life-long impairment.

Birth injuries are more likely to occur when the babies are either unusually large (over 4 kilograms at birth) or premature, when the labor itself is particularly difficult or prolonged, or when the size of the mother's pelvis is incompatible with the size of the baby.

Common birth injuries include:

• fractures
• cerebral palsy (sometimes caused by an insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain during delivery)
• facial paralysis (which may require surgery)
• brachial plexus injuries (which involve damage to the nerves that affect the arm and hand).

If your child has suffered a traumatic birth injury, you should consult a personal injury attorney with experience in birth injury claims. In recent decades, the number of birth injuries has decreased substantially, due to the availability of fetal monitoring, prenatal tests, better delivery instruments, and other new medical know-how. The birth injuries that still occur may be unavoidable; however, if your child's injury was caused by substandard medical care delivered by a health care provider, or by the use of a defective product, you may be able to recover compensation from the person or company responsible for the harm.

In the aftermath of a birth injury, your focus will understandably be on your child's physical recovery. An experienced and effective attorney can ensure that your claim for compensation will be properly pursued in the meantime.

For more information about medical malpractice, which is one type of negligence that frequently leads to birth injuries, please see our "Medical Malpractice" page. In addition, our FAQs page includes more information about the services that Peter Thompson & Associates provides to all its clients, including parents whose children suffered birth injuries as a result of negligence or defective products.

Based in Portland and Bangor, Maine, the personal injury firm of Peter Thompson & Associates represents clients throughout the state. Our team includes experienced attorneys, board-certified physician consultants, efficient case managers and paralegals, and an in-house private investigator.

To schedule a consultation regarding a potential Maine birth injury claim, please call 800.804.2004 or fill out and submit our online form.