Birth Injury

Helping Families of Children with Erb’s Palsy, Shoulder Dystocia, and Brain Injuries

Babies are extremely vulnerable to injury during labor and delivery, and should be handled with the utmost care. A doctor, nurse, or other member of the delivery team who fails to provide care of a reasonable standard can forever alter the lives of the baby and the baby’s family. If you believe medical malpractice caused your child to be born with Erb’s palsy, another type of brachial plexus injury, or a brain injury, contact the birth injury attorneys of Vlasac & Shmaruk, LLC, serving Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to schedule a free consultation. John Vlasac and Boris Shmaruk, who are fluent in Spanish and Russian, will explain how you may be eligible to receive financial compensation for your child’s injury.

Common Birth Injuries

Erb’s palsy is a condition stemming from injury to the brachial plexus, a network of spinal nerve roots that run from the neck through the collar bone and armpit. The brachial plexus is responsible for enabling movement and sensation in the hand, arm, and shoulder; injury to this area results in paralysis and underdevelopment of the arm. Erb’s palsy and other brachial plexus injuries are often caused by shoulder dystocia, a complication that occurs during delivery in which the baby’s shoulders are unable to pass through the birthing canal. Though medical professionals have a responsibility to anticipate these complications and act appropriately, a negligent doctor may fail to prevent a brachial plexus injury. Erb’s palsy can improve with physical therapy, but some victims face a lifelong struggle.

Infants need proper oxygen supply during labor and delivery. If the delivering doctor makes an error that deprives the baby of sufficient oxygen, the child can suffer an irreversible brain injury. The seriousness of the injury and severity of the child’s disabilities will depend on the degree of oxygen deprivation. Brain injuries can cause developmental delays, epilepsy, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation.

If a newborn’s neck or spine is bent or compressed by a careless or reckless doctor during birth, the child could suffer a neck or spinal cord injury. These injuries, which can cause paralysis and complications with the respiratory, urinary, and gastrointestinal systems, can require extensive medical care for the rest of the child’s life.

Medical professionals can be held legally responsible for mistakes they make that injure patients. If a medical error caused your child’s birth injury, the attorneys of Vlasac & Shmaruk, LLC, serving New Jersey and Pennsylvania, would like to speak with you. Contact our law firm today to schedule a free consultation.

Causes of Birth Injuries

The attorneys of Vlasac & Shmaruk, LLC, handle cases in which a medical professional’s negligence, ignorance, recklessness, or intentional wrongdoing caused a child’s birth injury. Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and other medical professionals have a duty of care to act according to certain professional standards; should they breach this duty and act in a way that harms the child, they can be held accountable for any resulting physical and emotional injuries. Behavior that is considered reckless, negligent, or otherwise wrongful in a birth injury case includes:

• Failure to respond to fetal distress
• Improperly using forceps or a vacuum
• Failure to perform a timely C-section
• Other behavior that deprives the baby of oxygen or blood flow during the delivery

If you believe that medical negligence caused your child’s birth injury, contact our attorneys today to schedule a free consultation.

How Our Attorneys Can Help

Families of children with birth injuries face significant challenges, including funding what could be lifelong medical treatment and care. In cases of medical malpractice or negligence, the birth injury attorneys at Vlasac & Shmaruk, LLC, help families seek financial compensation from the party or parties’ at-fault for the child’s injury. Using our depth of experience and extensive base of resources, we will develop a legal strategy that demonstrates negligence and proves liability on the part of the party responsible for your child’s needless suffering. We will also illustrate the financial burden that the birth injury has caused, so that you can recover compensation for the expenses incurred by the injury. We take care of the details of your case, providing updates at your request, so that you can focus on your child.

Contact Our Birth Injury Attorneys

If a medical professional’s negligence caused your child’s birth injury, the attorneys at Vlasac & Shmaruk, LLC, serving New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, can help you pursue financial compensation. Contact to our firm to schedule a free consultation today!