Postpartum Medical Negligence
Compensation for your family's future is our why
After the birth of a baby, mothers and newborns need postnatal care from medical professionals. When a doctor, midwife, or other healthcare professional does not follow the proper standards of care, the mother and/or her baby may suffer unnecessary injury due to negligence. Medication errors, failure to diagnose or recognize treatable conditions, conduct standard tests, or treat conditions like jaundice, hypoglycemia, retinopathy , infection, and inadequate wound care are just some examples of what can go wrong.
Please know you’re not alone. Legate Injury Lawyers wants you and your child to be well. If you wonder if you have experienced post-partum negligence, you may be entitled to compensation to help your family secure a better future. Focus on your recovery. Let us handle the rest.
Please know you’re not alone. Legate Injury Lawyers wants you and your child to be well. If you wonder if you have experienced post-partum negligence, you may be entitled to compensation to help your family secure a better future. Focus on your recovery. Let us handle the rest.
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What to Do If You Have Experienced Post-Partum Negligence
In the unfortunate event of a post-partum negligence, follow these steps for a brighter future.
- Focus on the wellbeing of yourself and your baby. Birth is a major life event, even when there are no complications in the care of your child afterward. You need to be well to parent well. That is why recovery should be your top priority. Rest to regain strength so you can enjoy and care of your new baby.
- Collect and preserve information related to your pregnancy, labour, and delivery. Even if your delivery went well, your health and the events during the antenatal, labour, and delivery stages are important for understanding your baby’s baseline health. A pregnancy journal or app can help you recall specifics.
Save any records from the obstetrician, midwife, or hospital. Check your calendar and jot down notes about your pregnancy, labour, and delivery process. Write down what happened to your baby, who provided care to your baby, who was with you and your baby, what was said to you, and what you noticed being done (or not done). Make note if any medical professionals involved seemed “off” (e.g., angry, overworked, uninvolved, complaining, distracted, etc.). - Collect and preserve information related to your baby since the birth. If you have taken your baby home from the hospital or health care facility, write down how your baby has been developing, whether your baby is meeting milestones, your baby’s function compared to siblings, and other day-to-day observations. While gathering text messages, emails, photos and videos, make note of all treatment providers, ongoing treatments, and diagnoses.
Save any records from the pediatrician, family doctor, or hospital. Keep track of all related expenses (hospital parking, health care trips, hotels, meals, special foods, extra diapers, equipment purchases, time off work, etc.). - Contact a lawyer. The full extent of your or your baby’s injuries is often not known for months or even years. Since the legal system is complicated and time intensive, it takes experience to know how to properly develop your claim. Calling a post-partum injury lawyer sooner than later can help strengthen your case and ease your worries while you and your baby recover. Consultations at Legate Injury Lawyers are free.
What to Do If You Have Experienced Post-Partum Negligence
In the unfortunate event of a post-partum negligence, follow these steps for a brighter future.
- Focus on the wellbeing of yourself and your baby. Birth is a major life event, even when there are no complications in the care of your child afterward. You need to be well to parent well. That is why recovery should be your top priority. Rest to regain strength so you can enjoy and care of your new baby.
- Collect and preserve information related to your pregnancy, labour, and delivery. Even if your delivery went well, your health and the events during the antenatal, labour, and delivery stages are important for understanding your baby’s baseline health. A pregnancy journal or app can help you recall specifics.
Save any records from the obstetrician, midwife, or hospital. Check your calendar and jot down notes about your pregnancy, labour, and delivery process. Write down what happened to your baby, who provided care to your baby, who was with you and your baby, what was said to you, and what you noticed being done (or not done). Make note if any medical professionals involved seemed “off” (e.g., angry, overworked, uninvolved, complaining, distracted, etc.). - Collect and preserve information related to your baby since the birth. If you have taken your baby home from the hospital or health care facility, write down how your baby has been developing, whether your baby is meeting milestones, your baby’s function compared to siblings, and other day-to-day observations. While gathering text messages, emails, photos and videos, make note of all treatment providers, ongoing treatments, and diagnoses.
Save any records from the pediatrician, family doctor, or hospital. Keep track of all related expenses (hospital parking, health care trips, hotels, meals, special foods, extra diapers, equipment purchases, time off work, etc.). - Contact a lawyer. The full extent of your or your baby’s injuries is often not known for months or even years. Since the legal system is complicated and time intensive, it takes experience to know how to properly develop your claim. Calling a post-partum injury lawyer sooner than later can help strengthen your case and ease your worries while you and your baby recover. Consultations at Legate Injury Lawyers are free.
What Can I Expect from a Post-Partum Negligence Lawyer?
Given the emotional gravity of postpartum negligence, it pays to have the right law firm on your side. The team at Legate Injury Lawyers are kind, compassionate people who genuinely want to help you.
Common Places Where Post-Partum Negligence Occurs
- Hospitals
- Delivery or operating room
- Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
- Newborn nursery
- Family doctor’s office
- Midwife’s office
- Outpatient neonatal or pediatric clinic
Common Post-Partum Medical Negligence Errors Include
- Failure to detect and treat hyperbilirubinemia (jaundice)
- Failure to treat meconium aspiration syndrome
- Failure to monitor and manage neonatal glucose
- Failure to detect and treat infection
- Failure to treat or manage abnormal blood pressure
- Failure to treat or manage oxygen levels or respiratory distress
- Failure to properly use neonatal treatments such as cooling therapy, resuscitation, and medications
- Failure to recognize, detect and treat injuries that may have occurred during birthing process (e.g., fractures, hemorrhaging, swelling, and bleeding)
- Failure to refer patient to the appropriate level of hospital
- Failure to refer patient to proper specialists
- Failure to order appropriate/standardized tests
- Misreading test results
- Hospitals that are ill-equipped to handle newborns
- Subpar or malfunctioning medical equipment
- Untrained/unaccredited staff
Common Post-Partum Negligence Injuries
Legate Injury Lawyers helps families who’ve been experienced many types of postnatal injuries, including:
- Brain damage
- Cerebral palsy
- Erb’s palsy
- Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy
- Perinatal stroke
- Seizures
- Hypoglycemic brain injury
- Kernicterus
- Bilirubin-induced neurologic dysfunction (BIND)
- Spinal cord injury
- Paralysis
- Cardio-pulmonary disorders
- Developmental disability or delays
- Intellectual disability or delays
- Learning disability or delays
- Speech or language impairment
- Hearing loss
- Vision loss
Post-Partum Negligence FAQsAll FAQs
In Ontario, people have two years from the day they discovered the negligence to bring forward a claim (called the “limitation period”). Generally, if your child was injured in the post-partum period, your child’s two-year limitation period will start running the day they turn 18. There are exceptions. For example, if a litigation guardian is appointed for your child, the limitation period will start running on that date. Also, if your child is found to not have legal capacity when they turn 18, the limitation period will not start. Each case is unique, and Legate Injury Lawyers can help you determine your deadline to start a claim.
Each case is different. Sometimes our lawyers purposefully delay settling your case or going to trial until we have a better idea of your and/or your baby’s prognosis. That way, we have a stronger sense of what financial compensation you and your infant may need—not just today, but also for the future. Other times, we try to get the case “set down for trial” to expedite the legal process. So much depends on the unique circumstances of your case. Contact us for a free consultation.
Any medical practitioner or institution that fails to take the proper steps to care for you and your baby may be liable. This can include pediatricians, neonatologists in the neonatal intensive care unit, radiologists reading imaging, nurses caring for your child, and technicians involved in ordering and conducting testing, referring your baby to proper specialists, and conducting medical examinations. These circumstances are often complicated and unique to your and your newborn’s case. Legate Injury Lawyers are skilled in recognizing the steps medical practitioners should take while providing you and your baby with care. We can help you identify who may be responsible.
Our Your Team
Your loved one’s health, security and future is our why. Advocating for people who’ve experienced injuries is a labour of love for Legate Injury Lawyers. We’ve helped hundreds of families see beyond their current circumstances and secure brighter futures.
