Maternal Birth Injuries
Maternal Birth Injury Lawyer Philadelphia
Our Firm Fights for Mothers Who Suffered Traumatic and Dangerous Labor or Delivery
When you are ready to grow your family, the news of a pregnancy is one of the best things that can happen. However, gestating and delivering a child is not easy—and when mothers do not get proper information and/or care from medical professionals, they may suffer intense trauma and injury in the delivery room.
What should be a moment of pure joy can be the start of a very long nightmare. Injuries to mothers can make it more difficult for them to care for their baby and affect their participation in work, hobbies, and social situations.
If you feel trapped after suffering an injury during birth, our team wants to fight for you. We have more than 20 years of experience representing the injured, including mothers and families whose lives were turned upside down by negligent doctors and birth injuries. Let us help you make a claim for the compensation you deserve.
Call The Villari Firm, PLLC at 215-372-8889 to schedule a free consultation with our attorney. We represent mothers like you who were injured during childbirth.
How Common is Birth Injury to Mothers?
Most discussion of birth injury centers on babies, but that does not mean all mothers make it through pregnancy and childbirth without suffering serious trauma. Over 100,000 women likely suffer preventable injuries during childbirth each year. Often, these women report that they were never even warned about risk factors or dangers—or, worse, that they raised concerns only to have their doctors blow them off.
Childbirth is a naturally traumatic experience, which our society clearly recognizes given the medical system we’ve created to handle labor and delivery. However, mistakes made by a care team or systemic deficits can let mothers down in crucial moments. The injuries sustained during birth may affect a woman for the rest of her life.
Types of Maternal Birth Injury
Whether through negligence or inappropriate intervention during delivery, mothers can suffer injury to their reproductive organs, genitals, and other systems. Below are some of the most common harms mothers face.
Vaginal and Perineal Tears
Vaginal/perineal tears happen in almost every vaginal birth, but some are worse than others. Small tears (first-degree) can heal naturally; more serious ones (second-degree) may need stitches. However, the most serious perineal tears, classified as third- and fourth-degree injuries, can damage the anal sphincter and the lining or muscles of the anus. Women may experience complications including:
- Infection
- Fecal incontinence
- Rectovaginal fistula
- Pain and soreness when sitting still for long periods or exercising
- Pain during sexual intercourse
Worse, some doctors do not perform adequate follow-ups with a mother, meaning these tears may go untreated for weeks or even months.
Postpartum Hemorrhage
Some blood loss is natural during and after delivery, but extreme blood loss is unusual and could be life-threatening. Hemorrhage can happen directly following childbirth or up to 12 weeks after. It is the leading cause of maternal mortality.
Hemorrhage may be caused by a range of complications including:
- Abnormal placentation
- Coagulation disorders
- Lacerations to genital tract
- Retained placenta
- Uterine atony
- Uterine inversion
- Uterine rupture
Doctors should be able to differentiate between expected vaginal bleeding and hemorrhage; aside from the acute blood loss, hemorrhage causes symptoms like increased heart and respiratory rate, decreased blood pressure, and feeling unusually faint or cold.
Postnatal Depression and PTSD
A difficult childbirth can have psychological effects on a mother, causing her to develop postnatal depression or PTSD. Her relationships with other family members may suffer and may mothers with one of these conditions initially feel rejection toward their baby. While psychological treatment can help mothers overcome the worst impacts of these disorders, it is not always easy to access without financial assistance.
Severe or Fatal Complications
Though extremely uncommon, some women suffer life-threatening or fatal complications during childbirth. These complications include:
- Acute renal failure
- Aneurysm
- Cardiovascular disease
- Myocardial infarction
- Respiratory distress syndrome
Shock
These complications may not be preventable in themselves, but doctors should know when women display certain risk factors (such as relatively advanced age or high weight) and be vigilant for any signs of trouble. The speed at which a mother is treated can literally be the difference between life or death.
Filing a Claim for Maternal Birth Injury
Suffering a serious injury because your healthcare team was negligent is an emotional hardship even for those who did not just give birth. For new mothers, birth injury can infringe on their ability to bond and spend time with their child. Injuries can also lead to mothers being unable to return to work or avoiding social situations or activities because of pain, disability, or the shame caused by their medical conditions.
In a birth injury claim, you can ask for compensation to address these damages and more, including:
- Medical bills
- Future medical needs
- Rehabilitation or therapy
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
Our attorney can assess your case and pinpoint all the areas in which you are entitled to compensation. Then, we can get started on your claim.
The Villari Firm, PLLC Is Here for You
Fighting for the injured is what our team does, no matter if we’re taking on negligent individuals or an entire hospital system. As a new mother, it is unconscionable that you should not receive the best medical care possible. If you suffered a preventable birth injury, we want to help make things right.
Our team is experienced in medical malpractice cases of all types; we know how to handle the complexities of such claims and have a roster of medical professionals on call to offer their advice and input. We also fight for you until the end. Our tenacity and dedication to finding justice for our clients have helped us win over $125 million in settlements and verdicts.
You deserve a caring lawyer who will give her all to help you find justice if you suffered a serious injury while giving birth. The Villari Firm, PLLC is on your side.
We offer free, no-obligation consultations to mothers in and around Philadelphia. Call us today at 215-372-8889 to see how our skill and experience can help you find justice.
