Suffering an injury at birth can be catastrophic. If your child has been harmed because of a medical professional’s negligence in St. Louis, Missouri, don’t hesitate to turn to Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers for help. Your family deserves justice, and our St. Louis birth injury lawyers want to help you make things right. You can call us at (314) 444-4444.
Since 2010, Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers has fought passionately for families and victims of medical errors in St. Louis. As leaders in medical malpractice litigation with over 100 years of collective experience, we’ve helped families win more than $100 million in settlements and jury awards.
Force a fair fight by enlisting the help of our top-rated law firm. We offer a free consultation. Contact our law office in St. Louis, MO, today to get started.
How Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help If Your Child Has Suffered a Birth Injury in St. Louis, MO
The day your child is born is supposed to be one of the best days of your life. If your doctor turns a wonderful situation into a tragedy because they’re careless, they have to be held accountable. Spend this time with your family and focus on helping your child get better. Count on our St. Louis personal injury lawyers to take on your powerful opponents in pursuit of the justice you deserve.
Choosing Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers means working with a team of attorneys who have been recognized as top Missouri trial attorneys by National Trial Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and St. Louis Magazine. It means putting over a century of combined experience and passionate legal representation in your corner.
We’ll handle all aspects of your birth injury case from start to finish:
- Carefully investigate the details of your case and your child’s medical care
- Enlist independent medical experts to help us better understand the more complex and medically-technical aspects of your case
- Analyze provider notes, hospital charts, medical records, communication between providers, hospital policies and procedures, staffing records, video footage, lab results, and other evidence gathered
- Depose your child’s healthcare provider and members of their medical team
- File all appropriate claims and documents with the insurance company and local court on your behalf
- Force the defense to negotiate honestly and work to leverage a top-dollar recovery for your child and family
- Be there to offer guidance and support when you make important case-related decisions
- Bring your family’s birth injury lawsuit to trial if you don’t get a meaningful settlement offer
You shouldn’t have to stress about how much it will cost to hire an attorney to help you fight for your child’s financial future. That’s why our personal injury law firm in St. Louis works on contingency. You only pay if our St. Louis birth injury attorneys win compensation for your case.
Contact our legal team in St. Louis to discuss your birth injury claim today. Your initial case assessment is free.
What is a Birth Injury?
A birth injury refers to trauma suffered by a child during pregnancy, in labor, or immediately after birth. Unlike birth defects, which are typically unavoidable, birth injuries are the result of a healthcare provider’s negligence.
Some of the most common causes of birth injuries include:
- Failure to monitor
- Failure to order a timely C-section
- Surgical error
- Medication error
- Misuse of forceps, vacuums, and other medical devices
- Oxygen deprivation
Birth injuries are a matter of medical malpractice. If your child is unnecessarily injured before, during, or after they’re born because an OBGYN or another type of medical professional makes a mistake, you can take legal action to recover compensation for the resulting damages.
How Common Are Birth Injuries?
Birth injuries affect approximately 7 out of every 1,000 children who are born in the United States every year.
Given how delicate newborns are, it’s not surprising that most birth injuries take a serious toll on their health. 8 out of 10 birth injuries are classified as moderate to severe. Some children don’t survive their birth injuries. In fact, nearly 1,500 children are believed to die from birth injuries annually.
Types of St. Louis Birth Injury Cases We Handle
No matter what type of injury your child sustains at birth, it can have a severe and long-term impact on their quality of life. Count on Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers to help you seek compensation for any trauma your child has suffered.
We represent families of children who have suffered:
- Brachial plexus injury
- Cephalohematoma
- Caput succedaneum
- Cerebral palsy
- Erb’s palsy
- Facial paralysis
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Broken bones
- Brachial palsy
- Kernicterus
- Wrongful death
Don’t hesitate to reach out to our award-winning St. Louis personal injury attorneys to discuss your situation and find out how we can help you move forward. We offer a free case evaluation. Call us to get started today.
How Much is My St. Louis Birth Injury Case Worth?
Every birth injury case is unique. Each child will experience the injury and consequences differently. It’s important to dive into the details of your child’s birth injury to really understand how it will affect them in the immediate future and in the long term.
When you turn to Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers for help after your child has suffered a birth injury, we’ll carefully consider several components of your child’s situation.
- What specific type of birth injury has your child sustained?
- Will your child’s injury be permanent?
- Will your child be disabled?
- What medical treatment or rehabilitation will your child need?
- How long will medical care be required?
- What out-of-pocket costs will you experience?
- Will the injury affect your child’s ability to work?
- Will the birth injury shorten your child’s life expectancy?
- How will the injury affect your child’s overall quality of life?
The more of an impact the birth injury has on your child’s life, the more you can typically expect to recover through a related legal claim for damages.
Make the most of your birth injury lawsuit by enlisting our top-rated St. Louis law firm. We’ve helped our clients win over $100 million in compensation. Now, we’re here to fight for you and your child, too.
What Damages Can Be Awarded to the Victim of a Birth Injury in St. Louis, Missouri?
Your child’s birth injury will impose significant financial costs and affect their ability to enjoy their life. Fortunately, through a birth injury claim, you can recover compensation for both of these types of losses.
These are known as compensatory damages and can be further divided into economic and non-economic awards.
Economic damages help you handle the verifiable monetary losses associated with your child’s birth injury, which might include:
- Hospitalization
- Surgery
- Medication
- Medical devices and equipment
- Rehabilitation
- Future and current medical bills
- Diminished earning capacity
- Out-of-pocket costs
Non-economic damages are awarded to help your child cope with the trauma they experience because they’ve suffered a debilitating birth injury.
Examples include:
- Pain and suffering
- Chronic physical pain
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Disfigurement
- Disability
- Emotional distress
- Embarrassment
Punitive damages may be sought if a birth injury lawsuit goes to trial. In these limited situations, a jury can award punitive damages if it finds that a medical provider’s actions were intentional, fraudulent, or grossly negligent.
Our St. Louis birth injury attorneys will aggressively pursue all of the damages to which your family is entitled under Missouri state law. We’ll work to hold your child’s negligent physician fully accountable for the harm they’ve caused.
How Long Will I Have to File a Missouri Birth Injury Lawsuit?
For most medical malpractice claims, including matters of birth injury, the statute of limitations in Missouri is two years.
However, a child injured at birth can reserve the right to sue until their 20th birthday if a claim is never brought on their behalf.
If you’ve suffered the wrongful death of a child because of a birth injury, Missouri state law gives you three years from the date of their death to take legal action.
You must file your birth injury claim before the applicable statute of limitations runs out. Once time expires, you’ll lose the right to demand compensation from your negligent doctor.
Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced St. Louis Birth Injury Lawyer
You don’t have to struggle with the costs and consequences of your child’s birth injury on your own. Turn to Schultz & Myers Personal Injury Lawyers for the help, support, and advocacy you deserve.
Our St. Louis birth injury lawyers have over a century of combined experience handling complex legal disputes. With a focus on our client’s best interests, we’ve been able to recover in excess of $100 million in damages.
Now, we’re here to put the full force of our law firm behind your birth injury claim. Don’t hesitate to ask for our help. We offer a free consultation, so reach out to our St. Louis, MO, law office today.
