Giving birth is often a treasured experience, and the day is usually a big one for any parent, despite the pains that come with it. However, it can be a disastrous experience when something goes wrong during the process.
One of the major things that often make it a traumatizing experience is when there are significant practical and technical challenges that make the child suffer a birth injury. A situation like this frequently results in emotional trauma for the parents and has a long-term negative impact on the child’s life.
What Birth Injury Means
Any physical harm to a baby resulting from childbirth is considered a birth injury. Common birth injuries include cerebral palsy, fractures of the clavicle or skull, brachial plexus injuries, hematomas, and other brain injuries. It may also include injuries sustained during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum. In the United States, birth injuries are unfortunately common, and they are often caused by negligence on the part of the mother or healthcare providers.
The Expenses Incurred Due to Birth Injury
An infant’s birth injury can have serious repercussions, such as neurological problems or physical deformities. A birth injury may necessitate additional treatments or procedures and lifelong care requirements. People who have suffered from birth injuries have spent money on physical therapy, speech therapy, special education, behavioral therapy, surgeries, pain medication, specialist physician fees, counseling, in-home caregivers, and more.
For parents and families, caring for a child with a birth injury is not easy; parents frequently may have to give up their careers to care for their child while dealing with their own emotional and physical trauma. It is impossible to overstate the financial burden of losing income while dealing with rising medical expenses.
Compensation for a Birth Injury
Birth trauma compensation is a legal claim. A parent or legal guardian may file a lawsuit against the healthcare provider who caused the baby’s birth injury to claim birth trauma compensation damages for the child’s harm.
However, such parents must demonstrate that the medical care was substandard and that this deviation from the standard caused their child’s condition. If successfully proven, you can claim the following compensatory damages:
- Past Economic Damages
Economic damages are essentially past and future financial expenses and losses. It includes lost wages and benefits, home or vehicle modifications, caretaker costs, pharmacy costs, and medical expenses. You will present the receipts or other evidence of your past economic losses.
- Future Economic Damages
To calculate the future economic expenses, the future bills and loss of income are both considered. When calculating future economic damages, you must demonstrate your child’s need for care and the future cost of that care each year.
This process is technical and calls for expertise. To ensure that you receive just compensation, you should hire a skilled birth injury attorney who can estimate future expenses.
- Non-Economic Damages
This sum is to compensate for the victim’s present and future suffering. It encompasses both mental distress and physical discomfort or pain. To claim this, you do not need any receipt or bill; a jury ultimately decides based on what they hear and see at trial.
“To ensure that you get the needed answers, support, and compensation, hire an attorney with prior experience handling complex birth injury cases. How much you will get for your pain and suffering will be based on how well your lawyer comprehends your particular situation and articulates it to a jury,” says Attorney Russell J. Berkowitz of Berkowitz Hanna Malpractice & Injury Lawyers.