Fighting for Families Harmed by Preventable Medical Mistakes
If your child suffered a serious birth injury, it can have a devastating impact on your life and the life of your child. What’s even more devastating is knowing that many birth injuries are preventable and can happen because of medical negligence during labor and delivery or shortly after.
At Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers, our Pennsylvania birth injury attorneys are here to help you hold negligent healthcare providers accountable, whether that is a doctor, nurse, midwife, or hospital, and get the compensation you deserve to care for your family now and in the future. Our medical malpractice attorneys have extensive experience handling complicated birth injury lawsuits and will fight for you every step of the way.
What is a birth injury?
A birth injury is physical harm to a baby or mother that occurs before, during, or shortly after delivery. These injuries can range from minor bruising to severe and permanent conditions like cerebral palsy, brain damage, or nerve injuries. Sometimes birth injuries are unavoidable. When birth injuries are caused by medical negligence, families may have a legal claim for compensation.
What Causes Birth Injuries?
Many birth injuries occur when medical providers fail to recognize or act on warning signs during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or after. This can happen through a variety of ways, such as failing to properly monitor the baby and their heart rate, recognize and act on signs of fetal distress, monitor and manage the mother’s health, and failing to deliver the baby properly or quickly enough.
In some cases, a provider may also rush a delivery or misuse medical tools like forceps or vacuum extractors. These actions can cause permanent injuries to your child—including brain injury and other damage that affects their ability to walk, speak, or live independently. Some hospitals even push for vaginal deliveries to reduce costs, despite clear risks to the baby.
When a child is stuck in the birth canal, has placental complications, or suffers oxygen deprivation, delaying a C-section can result in brain damage, cerebral palsy, or physical trauma like shoulder dystocia. In these situations, medical staff may prioritize hospital profit over your child’s life and well-being.
Common Types of Birth Injuries Caused by Medical Malpractice
Our legal team has extensive experience handling cases involving many different types of birth injuries:
- Cerebral palsy
- Brachial plexus injuries (Erb’s palsy, shoulder dystocia)
- Fractures during delivery • Forceps or vacuum injuries
- Brain damage due to oxygen deprivation (Hypoxic and Anoxic Encephalopathy)
- Vision or hearing loss
- Intellectual and developmental disabilities
- Facial paralysis
- Nerve injuries
- Uterine rupture
- Bleeding or hemorrhaging
- Neurological injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Stillbirth
- Death of the mother
How do I know if my child’s birth injury was caused by medical malpractice?
Not all birth injuries are the result of medical malpractice—but many are. If a doctor, nurse, midwife, or hospital failed to monitor mom or baby’s condition, ignored signs of distress, delayed a necessary C-section, or improperly used delivery tools, they may be legally responsible. A birth injury attorney can investigate and consult medical experts to determine if malpractice occurred.
Why You Need an Experienced Birth Injury Attorney
Proving birth injury malpractice takes more than just medical records. It requires a skilled legal team who understands both the medical and legal issues involved. At Ostroff Godshall, our birth injury lawyers in Pennsylvania will investigate every detail of your case, consult medical experts, and build a strong claim for compensation.
You Deserve Answers. Your Child Deserves Justice.
Our team has recovered millions for families harmed by birth-related medical malpractice. For over 25 years, our attorneys have represented children and adults across Pennsylvania who were injured because someone else failed to do their job. If your child was harmed during labor or delivery, contact a Pennsylvania birth injury lawyer at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers today. We’ll review your case for free, and you don’t pay unless we win.
Call us now or fill out our online form to schedule a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Filing a Birth Injury Case
What compensation can I recover for a birth injury?
If your child was harmed due to medical negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for:
- Medical treatment and rehabilitation
- Special education and therapy
- Long-term care needs and support services
- Lost future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Lifetime care and disability costs
- Loss of quality of life
- Scarring and/or disfigurement
Our attorneys fight to ensure you and your child have the financial support necessary for a lifetime. In rare birth injury cases, punitive damages may be awarded to punish the responsible party and deter similar conduct in the future.
Our experienced attorneys will also help you navigate the best way to manage a birth injury verdict or malpractice settlement in order to set your child up for future success and make sure they have resources for their care and treatment for the rest of their life.
How long do I have to file a birth injury claim in Pennsylvania?
In Pennsylvania, you generally have two years to file a medical malpractice claim. However, in birth injury cases involving minors, the statute of limitations may be extended and begins to run on your child’s 18th birthday. That means your child has until their 20th birthday to file a birth injury claim—but it’s best for parents or guardians to act quickly to preserve evidence and records, witness testimony, and secure necessary care.
What do I have to prove in a birth injury lawsuit?
In a Pennsylvania birth injury lawsuit, you must prove medical negligence caused your child’s injuries, resulting in damages. This involves establishing a duty of care, a breach of that duty, causation, and resulting damages. What this means is that you need to show that a healthcare provider made a mistake that violated the accepted standard of care, and that this mistake directly led to your child’s injuries and financial or emotional losses.
The “standard of care” refers to the level of care and skill that a reasonably competent and prudent professional (like a doctor or nurse) would exercise under the same or similar circumstances.
How will we fight for you?
Your team at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers will build your case from start to finish. We will work together with you to gather medical records and bills, photographic evidence, witness statements and testimony, and to preserve equipment when needed. The more information we can gather, the better we can pursue your claim. We will consult with the right medical experts to assess and perfect your claim.
Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers has a team of attorneys that will be prepared to aggressively negotiate your case or go to trial if needed. We will keep you informed and involved every step of the way. Pursuing a birth injury claim can be a lengthy process. We are here to fight for you in the most efficient and effective way possible.
How much does it cost to hire a birth injury lawyer?
At Ostroff Godshall, we work on a contingency fee basis, meaning:
- We advance any costs necessary to handle your case
- No upfront costs whatsoever
- No hourly fees
- You only pay if we win
We offer free consultations to discuss your potential case and what legal remedies may be available to you. Please fill out our online form or call us to schedule a consultation.
