Birth Injury Resource Center

Birth Trauma Cases

When a baby is injured as a result of simply being born, the impact on the family is devastating. Parents whose child has suffered birth trauma must somehow find a way to cope. This often involves putting aside their own pain as they work to obtain the best treatment and services to make the child's life as normal and comfortable as possible.

Financially, most families just aren't prepared to manage the costs involved with caring for a disabled child. And while no amount of money will erase the pain of birth trauma, it can help to make sure that the child gets the level of care he or she needs and deserves.

In several recent medical malpractice cases, compassionate juries have awarded large sums to compensate children who have suffered birth trauma.

• In September 2007, the First District Appellate Court in Chicago affirmed a July 2006 lower court ruling, which awarded $1.03 million to 10-year-old Julissa Arias and her mother, Helia Arias, for birth trauma suffered by the child. A jury found that when the obstetrician who delivered Julissa encountered shoulder dystocia, he "failed to use appropriate maneuvers and applied excessive force upon her head, thereby permanently damaging her right brachial plexus."
• In one of the largest birth trauma-related verdicts in Massachusetts history, a Suffolk County jury awarded $23.8 million to the family of a girl born with cerebral palsy following a traumatic delivery. Jurors took less than four hours to find two obstetricians negligent in the 1996 delivery of Julia McLaughlin, who was born with large bruises on her head and bleeding on the tissue around her brain. The verdict includes $12.9 million in damages and $10.9 million in interest since the lawsuit's filing in 1998.
• A Baltimore jury awarded nearly $1.5 million in a birth trauma-related action brought by a woman whose child was injured at birth in June 2002. When the baby's shoulder became stuck during delivery, doctors pulled her head, resulting in brachial plexus injury and permanently impairing the use of her right arm.
• A Suffolk Superior Court jury awarded $26.5 million to the parents of a child who was severely injured during his 1997 birth in a Massachusetts hospital. The 10-year old child, who has cerebral palsy, is confined to a wheelchair. He must be fed through a tube and will require care all his life. The jury found two obstetricians negligent in delaying the delivery of the baby by c-section.
• A DuPage County (Illinois) jury awarded a record $12 million to a couple whose 7-year-old son became disabled at birth. The jury found the hospital and two doctors negligent in delaying a c-section delivery. Benjamin Hayes cannot speak and has no control over his limbs due to brain damage suffered as a result of oxygen deprivation during the delay.
• In a September 2007 birth trauma case, an Iowa jury awarded $13.5 million to Debra Gardner, whose son Nathaniel was born with cerebral palsy in 2002. Jurors found the hospital and two doctors negligent in allowing Gardner's pregnancy to continue for 42 weeks and failing to monitor Nathan during the c-section delivery. As a result, Nathan was deprived of oxygen for up to 25 minutes, resulting in disabling injuries to the child.
• The jury in a 2002 New York birth trauma case awarded $107.8 million to a boy who sustained severe brain damage during birth when the medical staff failed to detect an infection, which spread to his brain. Today, 11-year-old Agustin Ballinas, who suffers from cerebral palsy, is confined to a wheelchair, cannot use his hands and requires care around the clock.

Birth Trauma Legal Information

If you believe your child is has suffered birth trauma as a result of medical negligence, you may wish to speak to an attorney experienced in birth trauma cases. Get legal information about birth trauma cases.

Resources

• Court Affirms $1.03M Judgement for 10-Year-Old Girl's Brachial Plexus Injury
• $23.8M award in childbirth lawsuit/
• Baltimore awards $1.5M in birth-injury lawsuit
• Jury Awards $26.5 Million To Parents Of Child Disabled During Birth
• $12 mil awarded to family of brain-damaged boy
• Mother Talks After Jury Awards $13.5M In Malpractice Case
• Med-Mal Lawyer Breaks Personal Record With $107M Verdict