Labor & Delivery Negligence Lawyers in Louisville, KY

Labor, delivery, and childbirth are meant to be joyful and exciting. However, they are still physical processes that should be performed under the care of a medical professional to ensure the safety of both mother and baby. When obstetricians and other medical staff make careless or negligent errors during the birth process, both the mother’s and the baby’s health are at risk.

The Kentucky attorneys at Wilt Injury Lawyers understand that, after an injury or accident during labor and delivery, your family wants answers. We want to help. If you or your baby suffered injury due to labor and delivery negligence, our medical malpractice lawyers have the experience and resources to help. Let us work to secure the compensation to which you are entitled while you take the time you need to recover with your family. Contact us in Lexington or Louisville today.

You Have Questions. We Have Answers.

What types of injuries can a mother sustain during childbirth?
What types of injuries can an infant suffer during labor and delivery?
What is an epidural error?
Can You Sue for Labor and Delivery Negligence?
Statute of Limitations for Negligence Claims
Do you have a labor and delivery negligence attorney near me?

What Types of Injuries Can a Mother Sustain During Childbirth?

Maternal birth injuries are far more common than they should be. When they are caused by the irresponsible actions of a healthcare provider, you may be eligible to file a Kentucky personal injury claim. There are many different types of injuries that women can sustain during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Some of the most frequent maternal birth injuries include:

Uterine rupture

Epidural errors

Uterine prolapse

Vaginal tearing during childbirth

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH)

Postnatal traumatic stress disorder

Postpartum depression

Infections

Fissures

These are just a few of the different conditions that mothers could experience if their healthcare providers fail to monitor their health and properly treat these conditions in the event they occur. If these or any other injuries happened to you during labor and delivery, talk to the attorneys at Wilt Injury Lawyers in Kentucky–we can help determine if you have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Types of Injuries an Infant May Suffer During Labor and Delivery

Also called a birth injury, infants can experience all sorts of trauma during labor and delivery. Sometimes birth trauma is unavoidable, but often it occurs due to medical negligence. Whether a medical professional uses birthing tools improperly, fails to order a timely C-section, or fails to monitor a baby’s vital signs, infants can also sustain a variety of serious birth injuries:

Nerve damage, including brachial plexus injuries and Erb’s palsy

Cerebral palsy

Fractured bones

Brain damage

Asphyxia

Bruising or bleeding under the scalp

Some infants may die from their injuries. In cases like these, the compassionate Kentucky attorneys at Wilt Injury Lawyers can file a wrongful death claim on behalf of the family to help provide justice and closure.

What is an Epidural Error?

One common example of labor and delivery negligence that can result in harm to both mother and baby is an epidural error. Epidurals are injections given in the back for pain relief during labor and childbirth. However, anesthesiologists can commit malpractice if they breach their duty of care and injure a patient. Examples of epidural errors during labor and delivery include:

Failing to review medical records, drug interactions, and allergies adequately

Administering the incorrect dosage

Delaying administration of anesthesia

Improperly positioning the patient

Inserting the needle incorrectly

Epidural errors can cut off oxygen supply to a baby’s brain, causing serious and sometimes even fatal complications. Examples of anesthetic injuries to the child include:

Brain damage

Stroke

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)

Cerebral palsy

Erb’s palsy

Heart attack

Death

Mothers can also sustain serious injuries, including cardiac arrest, paralysis, seizures, and death. However, even if the mother does not sustain any physical injuries, the procedure may leave them with emotional injuries like post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), which are also compensable.

Can You Sue for Labor and Delivery Negligence?

Generally, you can, but it is advisable to talk to an attorney first. Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit for labor and delivery negligence may be an option if your healthcare provider failed to uphold what’s called a standard of care. This means that if your obstetrician or other healthcare professional made a mistake that another physician of similar education, training, and experience would not have made, the standard of care has been breached.

Failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, failure to treat, and other common medical errors could all be seen in birth injury claims, so our Kentucky attorneys can take a closer look at the details of your case to determine whether pursuing a birth injury claim is in your best interests.

Statute of Limitations for Negligence Claims

The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in Kentucky gives injured patients one year from the date they knew, or should have reasonably known, that a doctor caused their injury. They may also file a lawsuit within one year of the last date the provider treated them. If the patient is no longer living, the clock begins one year after the appointment of a personal representative to the deceased’s estate.