Utah Birth Injury Attorneys: Fighting for Justice for You and Your Child
Reviewed by Kara H. North, Managing Attorney at Moxie Law Group. Reviewed November 8, 2023.
If your child suffered a preventable injury during pregnancy, labor, or delivery in Utah, you may have a birth injury claim for the lifetime of care your child may need, and Moxie Law Group handles these sensitive cases with both rigor and compassion. We work on contingency, so you pay nothing unless we win.
Not every difficult birth is malpractice, but when a provider’s negligence causes harm, such as oxygen deprivation, improper use of delivery tools, or a failure to act on signs of distress, the consequences can last a lifetime. We work with medical experts to determine what happened and to pursue the resources your family will need for your child’s care.
Understanding Medical Malpractice: How a Utah Birth Injury Attorney Can Help
In the most simple terms, medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional makes a mistake that harms a patient. However, the standard for medical malpractice is very high. In order to have a good medical malpractice case, a medical professional’s conduct must meet the high standard of medical malpractice. Medical malpractice cases involving a child’s birth injury can be particularly complex and require specialized legal expertise. When a medical malpractice case involves a child’s birth injury, a birth injury attorney will need to prove that the negligent medical care provider’s conduct meets all the standards of medical malpractice. Generally speaking, a birth injury attorney will need to prove that the medical professional had a duty of care, breached their duty, and that breach of duty was the proximate cause of the injured party’s damages.
Who Can Be Involved in a Medical Malpractice Claim?
Anyone can be a victim of medical malpractice. Similarly, all healthcare professionals could be liable for medical negligence. And when we say all medical professionals, we do mean all medical professionals. From the CNAs to the neurosurgeons, any healthcare provider can be on the hook for medical negligence. However, not all medical errors in the delivery room result in serious injuries that require a birth injury attorney. As previously mentioned, the standard for medical negligence is high. Medical professionals make mistakes all the time, but most of these mistakes do not result in fatal, or even serious birth injury. When something goes wrong in the delivery process, and the baby is injured, a birth injury attorney will be checking to see whether or not a medical error led to the injury. Malpractice cases can be emotionally draining and it’s not uncommon for them to lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit. Medical malpractice attorneys are experienced in handling complex cases involving birth injuries, providing the expertise needed to navigate difficult legal matters.
Holding Medical Professionals Accountable
Anyone can be a victim of medical malpractice. Similarly, all healthcare professionals could be liable for medical negligence. And when we say all medical professionals, we do mean all medical professionals. From the CNAs to the neurosurgeons, any healthcare provider can be on the hook for medical negligence. However, not all medical errors in the delivery room result in serious injuries that require a birth injury attorney. As previously mentioned, the standard for medical negligence is high. Medical professionals make mistakes all the time, but most of these mistakes do not result in fatal, or even serious birth injury. When something goes wrong in the delivery process, and the baby is injured, a birth injury attorney will be checking to see whether or not a medical error led to the injury. The attorney will assess the extent of the child’s injuries, including any physical injury sustained during delivery, to determine the legal and financial consequences for the child’s future. Malpractice cases can be emotionally draining and it’s not uncommon for them to lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Proving Negligence in Birth Injury Cases: Duty, Breach, Damages, and Causation
Remember when we said that a birth injury attorney would need to prove that a medical care provider’s conduct was negligent? Well, this is where duty, breach of duty, damages, and causation come in. First, medical care professionals generally have a duty of care to prevent foreseeable birth injuries by taking reasonable precautions, such as monitoring the newborn’s oxygen intake. If health care professional fails to monitor the baby’s oxygen intake, the care professional may have breached their duty of care. However, let’s say that the newborn child suffers no injury because of this. Well, in that case, it’d be more difficult for the parents to file a birth injury claim because there aren’t any damages. But if the newborn child suffers brain damage due to a lack of oxygen, then the parents may have a better birth injury claim. The fact that the newborn child suffered brain damage may be evidence that there were damages in a birth injury claim. In birth injury claims, damages refer to the economic impact of the damages as well as the non-economic impact of the damages. In some cases, a jury award may provide compensation to help families cover medical expenses and other costs related to birth injuries caused by malpractice. In birth injury claims, plaintiffs may be able to prove their damages by showing medical records. Lastly, a birth injury lawyer will need to prove that there’s causation. This means that the birth injury lawyer needs to prove that the newborn child’s birth injury was caused by the medical professional’s negligence.
Statute of Limitations in Utah Birth Injury Cases
When it comes to filing a birth injury claim in Utah, timing is critical. The statute of limitations for birth injury cases in Utah is generally two years from the date the injury occurred or from the date the injury was discovered. However, no claim can be filed more than four years after the injury, regardless of when it was discovered. This legal deadline makes it essential to consult with a Utah birth injury attorney as soon as you suspect your child has suffered a birth injury. An experienced attorney can help you understand the specific time limits that apply to your case, gather the necessary evidence, and ensure that your claim is filed within the required timeframe. Missing the statute of limitations can mean losing your right to seek compensation, so don’t delay in reaching out to an injury attorney who can protect your family’s interests.
When to Contact a Utah Birth Injury Attorney for Your Child’s Injuries
BIRTH INJURY LAWYERS CAN HELP
It can be difficult to determine whether or not something went wrong during the labor and delivery process due to negligent medical care. Doctors and other care providers involved with the delivery process generally have a duty to prevent potential birth injuries; failure to do so may be considered medical negligence. If you think your child suffered birth injuries, it may be worth it to speak with a birth injury lawyer. Even the most common birth injuries are often extremely serious. While there are many types of birth injuries, common birth injuries include brain damage, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries due to oxygen deprivation, or brain injuries due to trauma, brachial plexus palsy, Erb’s palsy, shoulder dystocia, and more. If a doctor has given your child a birth injury diagnosis, it may be a good idea to speak with a birth injury lawyer.
Brachial plexus palsy and Erb’s palsy often occur when a baby’s shoulders or a baby’s shoulder become stuck during delivery, such as in cases of shoulder dystocia, leading to nerve damage within the brachial plexus network.
“HOW DOES A BIRTH INJURY LAWSUIT WORK?”
Not all birth injury cases turn into a birth injury lawsuit. Most birth injury cases start with a consultation. If you hired our law firm, you’d meet with one of our birth injury attorneys, or another member of our legal team to tell us about your case. You’d need to provide information about the birth of your child, your child’s birth injury, and any injuries you have. We may ask questions about your child’s injuries, or the birth of your child. We may also ask to see medical records from the birth, and medical records detailing your child’s injury. From there, we’ll help you determine whether or not it’s in your best interest to file a birth injury claim. If your case moves forward, the insurance company may become involved in settlement negotiations, and having legal representation is important to ensure you receive fair compensation and to handle communications with the insurance company. There are many types of birth injuries and not all of them are caused by birth-related medical malpractice.
Choosing the Right Utah Birth Injury Attorney for Your Case
At Moxie Law Group, our birth injury lawyers strive to win financial compensation for victims of preventable birth injuries. Families in Salt Lake City can benefit from working with a Utah birth injury attorney who understands local laws and court procedures. When preventable birth injury occurred due to a lack of proper medical care during the labor and delivery process the results can be devastating. Cerebral palsy, damage to the child’s brain, fetal distress, oxygen deprivation, brachial plexus palsy, Erb’s palsy, and other serious injuries can occur during the labor and delivery process. Whether your child has cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, or there’s been a traumatic injury to your child’s brain, it’s important to find a law firm that you can trust to handle birth injury cases the right way.
HIRING AN EXPERIENCED BIRTH INJURY ATTORNEY
Not all birth injury attorneys are the same. Unfortunately, some birth injury attorneys take cases just to settle them quickly and get paid. Other birth injury attorneys may not have the experience needed to file a birth injury lawsuit. If you believe your child’s injury was caused by negligence during birth, you need a birth injury lawyer you can trust to go all the way to court when filing a birth injury lawsuit is in your best interest. Many birth injury lawyers don’t have what it takes to go through with a birth injury lawsuit. At Moxie Law Group, our birth injury attorneys and talented legal team are dedicated to doing what it takes to get you the compensation you deserve. Not all birth injury attorneys can say that. When it comes to fetal distress, Erb’s palsy, or any other serious injury sustained during birth, it’s important to consider only the top birth injury attorneys when you’re looking into legal action. Understanding medical procedures involved in childbirth is also crucial, as it allows your attorney to identify when improper or negligent use of these procedures may have led to your child’s injury and to build a strong case.
“HOW MUCH DO BIRTH INJURY LAWYERS COST?”
At Moxie Law Group, our birth injury lawyers work on contingency. This means that you don’t have to pay our birth injury lawyers until you are compensated. If you go all the way to trial but you don’t win any compensation, you don’t have to pay our birth injury lawyers anything. Giving potential clients free consultations and working on contingency makes birth injury lawyers accessible to anyone who may have a birth injury case. Medical malpractice lawsuits involving birth injuries can be long, expensive, and emotionally draining. However, you won’t have to pay an attorney upfront. Instead, a pre-negotiated percentage of your settlement will cover the entire cost of your lawsuit or claim. The rest of the settlement often goes toward medical expenses, future medical expenses, and the cost of any other care the injured child may need to recover as much as they possibly can. Birth injuries can result in serious medical conditions that require ongoing care and management, leading to long-term health issues for the affected child.
Identifying Medical Negligence with a Utah Birth Injury Attorney
Though it isn’t possible for anyone to completely eradicate the chance of being the victim of malpractice, there are still steps you can take to prevent medical errors from causing you injury. Don’t be afraid to ask questions before the procedure. If you have concerns about how medications may interact with your pregnancy, or how previous conditions may interact with your pregnancy, it’s a good idea to review these concerns with your doctor. During labor and delivery, it is crucial that medical staff perform consistent fetal health monitoring and closely track vital signs to ensure both maternal and fetal well-being. Proper management of the umbilical cord and prompt attention to any umbilical cord complications, such as the cord wrapping around the baby’s neck, are essential for a safe delivery. Additionally, ensuring an adequate oxygen supply to the newborn during delivery is vital to prevent serious injuries or disabilities. When it comes to something as important as the birth of your child, you want to make sure you have a doctor that you can trust to give you and your child the best care possible. Before choosing the doctor that will deliver your baby, it may be a good idea to do some research on the doctor, and it may further be a good idea to do some research on the hospital as well. Though the average person will not be able to run a thorough background check on the doctor, they should still keep an eye out for any unsavory news articles regarding their doctor or hospital.
WHAT ARE SOME SIGNS MALPRACTICE HAS OCCURRED?
As you probably know by now, malpractice cases may be tricky to spot. After all, how can you tell whether or not you’ve been the victim of a healthcare professional’s negligence? The only way to tell for certain is to meet with an attorney who has experience with malpractice. Although it may be difficult to decide with certainty whether or not malpractice has occurred without the help of an attorney, there may be signs malpractice has occurred. In some cases, symptoms of birth injuries may be immediately apparent after delivery, making early recognition crucial for prompt treatment.
“ARE ALL BIRTH INJURIES THE RESULT OF NEGLIGENCE?”
Some babies are born with bruising around their heads. Though it’s technically a birth injury, it’s not normally anything to worry about, and these types of injuries will usually heal on their own. It’s important to note that a birth injury is different from a birth defect; a birth defect is a congenital issue that develops before birth due to genetics or developmental problems in the womb, while a birth injury occurs during labor and delivery. However, parents should always take care to use their best judgment. If you believe your child’s injuries are something more serious, it may be time to seek medical attention. If the medical staff involved in your child’s birth were negligent, their breach of duty may have caused your child to sustain severe injuries.
“HOW DOES NEGLIGENCE CAUSE BIRTH INJURIES?”
Injuries can occur during birth for many different reasons, and not all of them have to do with medical negligence or malpractice. Sometimes, injuries happen if the baby’s shoulder becomes lodged in the birth canal during delivery, which can lead to nerve damage such as brachial plexus injuries. Your medical care team should be made up of qualified professionals who have the training and education necessary to provide care to you and your child during the delivery. Because of this, those in charge of your care need to be on the lookout for signs that things aren’t going according to plan. Negligence can occur if your doctor fails to diagnose something particularly obvious that leads to injury during the birth, or if your doctor fails to order the standard tests or appropriate tests, that would provide information necessary to prevent injury. If you are given a medication during birth that your doctor knew, or reasonably should have known would cause injury to your child, that may be negligence as well.
“THAT’S NOT NORMAL…”
If another medical professional tells you that something unusual happened during your child’s birth, it may be time to start listening really closely. It may also be a good time to start asking lots of questions. What happened that wasn’t normal? Did a medical professional make a mistake? If so, which medical professional made the mistake? What caused the mistake to occur? The medical care professional may not have all the answers to your questions, but the more you can find out about the incident, the better a legal team will be able to advise you
UNEXPECTED SIDE EFFECTS
Let’s say you go under anesthesia for a tonsillectomy. You wake up and you’re immediately overwhelmed by the pain you’re feeling at the site of the surgery. Can you sue for that? Well, probably not. The problem here is that in order to sue for malpractice, there needs to be evidence that a caregiver’s negligence caused the injury. Pain at the site of surgery is a normal and expected outcome, especially immediately after you wake up. However, let’s say you go under anesthesia for a tonsillectomy and you wake up permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Now that may be evidence of malpractice.
What to Expect During Your Birth Injury Case
If you believe your child’s birth injury was caused by medical malpractice, you may be unsure about what the legal process will involve. A birth injury case typically begins with a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the injury. Your birth injury attorney will collect and review medical records, consult with medical experts, and gather evidence to establish whether medical negligence occurred. Throughout the entire process, your attorney will keep you informed and guide you every step of the way, from the initial consultation to the resolution of your case. You can expect your legal team to work diligently to determine the cause of the birth injury and to calculate the full extent of your damages, including future medical expenses, ongoing care needs, and emotional distress. With the support of an experienced injury attorney, you can focus on your child’s recovery while your legal team fights for the compensation your family deserves.
Utah Birth Injury FAQs
How do I know if my baby’s medical condition was actually caused by a mistake in the delivery room?
It can be really hard to tell right away because some birth injuries don’t show symptoms until your child starts missing developmental milestones down the road. However, there are a few immediate red flags to watch for right after delivery, like a baby arching their back while crying, constant vomiting, seizures, spastic movements, or a limp arm. Conditions like cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, or brachial plexus injuries are often linked to a lack of oxygen or physical trauma during labor, like a doctor pulling too hard when a baby’s shoulder gets stuck. If you suspect something went wrong, an attorney can have independent medical experts review the delivery records to find out if a medical mistake caused the harm.
How long do I have to file a birth injury lawsuit in Utah?
In Utah, you generally have a strict two-year window from the date you discovered (or reasonably should have discovered) the injury to file a medical malpractice claim. However, Utah also enforces a “statute of repose,” which creates an absolute cutoff at four years from the date the medical error actually happened, no matter when you finally figured it out. Because tracking down hospital records, hiring medical experts, and building these cases takes a massive amount of time, it is incredibly important to talk to a lawyer the moment you suspect negligence.
We are already drowning in medical bills. How much does it cost to hire a birth injury lawyer?
It actually costs nothing upfront. Personal injury firms like ours handle birth injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means we cover all the expensive upfront costs of the lawsuit, like ordering thousands of pages of medical charts and paying top medical experts to testify. You only pay us a pre-negotiated percentage of the final settlement or jury award if we win your case. If we go all the way to trial and lose, you do not owe us a single dime.
Hire the Top Birth Injury Lawyer Today
There are myriad birth injury lawyers out there, but not all of them have a passion for helping the injured party and the families affected take legal action. In many cases of birth injury, both the child and the mother are injured during the delivery. Birth injuries can have a lasting impact on a child’s development, affecting their growth and overall well-being over time. Proper care during pregnancy and delivery is essential to protect the health of the unborn child and reduce the risk of birth injuries. If you need to take legal action to compensate you and your child for the injuries sustained during the delivery, you need to hire a lawyer with a proven track record of winning compensation for their clients. It may even be a good idea to focus on birth injury lawyers who are familiar with birth injury cases similar to yours. At Moxie Law Group, our birth injury lawyers aren’t afraid of birth injury lawsuits. If you’re considering legal action, you need a firm that you can trust. Sometimes cases do go to court. Because birth injury lawsuits can be long, and emotionally draining, it’s always a good idea to have an attorney on your side who you can trust.
YOU GET A SECOND OPINION
If you speak with another medical care worker regarding your procedure, and they arrive at a different conclusion than your initial healthcare worker, malpractice may have occurred. For example, individuals who have obesity may face inadvertent discrimination at the doctor’s office. Doctors and other medical care providers can be too quick to write off serious symptoms as obesity-related side effects when in reality, they were signs of serious illness. Doctors need to be especially careful with patients who have obesity and are pregnant. Obesity can cause complications with the pregnancy therefore doctors and medical staff involved in prenatal care and delivery need to be prepared for any potential complications resulting from pre-existing conditions such as obesity. If a different doctor tells you that your doctor should have done something different during the procedure, it may be evidence of medical malpractice. If you have a condition that doctors are unable to diagnose in a timely manner, but you go to another doctor and they order tests and are able to quickly diagnose you, malpractice may have occurred.
PROVING MALPRACTICE REGARDING BIRTH INJURIES
Proving malpractice requires that the medical care provider’s conduct meets the standard of malpractice. This is an incredibly high standard. In order to prove this, an attorney will need to show that all elements of malpractice are there: duty of care, breach of duty, damages, and causation.
DUTY OF CARE
In the context of malpractice, the duty of care refers to a medical professional’s duty to adhere to the standard of care. When it comes to malpractice, duty of care can be easier to prove because the doctor or member of the medical staff usually has a duty to care for their patients as evidenced by the doctor-patient relationship. But healthcare professionals also have more specific duties aside from just caring for their patients in general. As previously mentioned, a doctor may have a duty of care to order tests depending on the patient’s symptoms. Also, a doctor may have a duty of care to correctly diagnose a patient, or correctly interpret test results.
BREACH OF DUTY
Those working in the healthcare field can breach their duty in numerous ways. Even what some people may consider to be a small breach of duty may end up causing serious injuries. Those working in the medical field may breach their duty by improperly administering medication. In more serious malpractice cases, healthcare workers have caused a patient to have the wrong limb amputated. Though having the wrong limb amputated sounds much more serious than an improper dose of medication, both breaches of duty can result in very serious injury. For example, if a doctor gives a patient medicine that the patient is allergic to, or if the doctor gives a patient too much medicine, the patient could be seriously injured. It can be difficult to discern whether or not a breach of duty has occurred. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to have a personal injury attorney review the incident and determine whether or not you have a good claim.
DAMAGES
You may be able to prove that the care provider breached their duty, but you’ll also need to prove damages. Let’s say you’re allergic to iodine and your nurse accidentally uses it to treat you. You break out in hives due to this, but you do not suffer any further reactions. The nurse clearly breached his duty because your doctor noted that you were allergic to iodine in your chart, and your nurse should have seen your doctor’s notes. So, do you have a personal injury claim? Of course, the answer is maybe. However, it’s less likely that you have a claim because your personal injury attorney will need to prove that you have damages that you need compensation in order to remedy. Of course, hives are incredibly uncomfortable. But in the personal injury world, hives aren’t usually damages by themselves. How would a jury decide what the injury was worth if it didn’t cause you anything financially? So, if your baby is born with benign bruising around her head, and it goes away on its own, it’d be difficult to file a claim against the doctors, even if their breach of duty caused the bruising. This is because damages often refer to economic damages. You can also sue for non-economic damages, however, non-economic damages almost always go with economic damages; attorneys rarely, if ever, ask for compensation for only non-economic damages. Let’s say your doctor fails to recognize your symptoms of diabetes during your pregnancy. Because of this, the baby is born with birth defects. These birth defects may constitute damages, especially if your baby needs additional medical care due to those damages.
CAUSATION
Causation refers to the proximate cause of the damages. In other words, what was the immediate cause of the injury? You’re driving down the road when a pedestrian walks out right in front of your car, causing you to slam on your breaks. The guy behind you was following too closely, and couldn’t stop in time. Your car is damaged, but is it the pedestrian’s fault, or the other driver’s fault? Most likely, it’d be the other driver’s fault because the proximate cause of the crash is that the other driver was following too closely. It works the same way with malpractice cases. Personal injury attorneys need to show that the care provider’s negligence was the proximate cause of the injury.
GETTING YOU THE COMPENSATION YOU DESERVE
When it comes to birth injuries, there’s no telling how much compensation will be needed to care for all the medical costs associated with such injuries. Examples of complications and injuries that may result in compensation include pitocin overdose, cesarean section complications, issues during a c section, congenital heart disease, and brain injury. Other birth injury cases don’t normally provide answers because no two cases are alike. If you believe you or your child has sustained injury during the delivery, you may be eligible for compensation. Contact Moxie Law Group today to find out how we can help you get the compensation you deserve. Don’t wait until it’s too late, get started on your free consultation today.
Schedule your free, no-obligation consultation with Moxie Law Group today. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.
Utah Birth Injury FAQs
What counts as a birth injury?
A birth injury is harm to a baby or mother caused by negligent medical care before, during, or shortly after delivery, such as oxygen deprivation, improper use of delivery tools, or missed warning signs. A Salt Lake City birth injury lawyer can review whether the standard of care was met.
How long do I have to file a birth injury claim in Utah?
Utah sets specific deadlines for medical claims, and the rules for a child’s claim can differ. Because timing is critical, it is best to talk with an attorney early.
Most Importantly, Our Experience Speaks for Itself
