Phoenix Delayed C-Section Injury Attorney

Most expectant mothers plan for a vaginal delivery as the most natural way to give birth with minimally invasive medical intervention. However, there are many inherent risks in the life-altering process of giving birth. Fortunately, today’s labor and delivery doctors and care teams can quickly identify and address emergency problems during delivery with life-saving care such as performing an emergency C-section delivery. When doctors fail to promptly identify an emergency condition in the laboring mother or baby and delay a decision to deliver through a C-section, the results can be serious or even devastating.

If the joy of welcoming your new little one into the world turned to worry, trauma, or sorrow due to a delayed C-section, you have legal options. No one can erase the distress or injury, but a successful delayed C-section injury claim in Phoenix can bring justice, accountability, and compensation. Call the Phoenix birth injury lawyers at Knapp & Roberts today for a free consultation so we can begin prompt action on your case.

Why Choose Us for Your Delayed C-Section Injury Case in Phoenix?

As expert Phoenix delayed C-section attorneys at Knapp & Roberts, we take the time to get to know each client and witness the impacts of injuries on their lives and their families. This helps us to build a more compelling case for their compensation. With an attorney from Knapp & Roberts navigating your case, you’ll enjoy significant advantages including the following:

• Our strong reputation in the Phoenix area gives us access to the best medical experts and other resources to make a powerful case for your compensation
• A legal team dedicated solely to helping injury victims through the civil court system to recover financial compensation for a wrong done to them and their families
• A team with twenty years of experience in personal injury cases, including a strong track record of success in birth injury claims
• Open and honest communication and availability—as the injury victim in our case you are always informed about every step in the process through skilled legal counsel and guidance throughout the claim
• A team of renowned investigators, negotiators, and litigators who are ready to navigate your claim with attention to detail and assertive advocacy from the initial investigation to recovering your compensation in a settlement or winning a jury verdict in court

We offer free initial case consultations so we can begin action on your case right away. You only pay us after we settle or win your case through our contingency-based payment structure so you pay nothing upfront.

What Types of Emergencies Require a C-Section Delivery?

Giving birth is a natural process, but it’s also an incredibly stressful physical process for both mother and baby. Sometimes things go wrong and the laboring mother requires immediate action to maximize the chances of a positive outcome. Examples of emergencies during labor and delivery that require immediate action include the following:

• Fetal distress
• Prolonged labor
• Cord prolapse (the cord drops down the vaginal canal ahead of the baby)
• Fetal hypoxia
• Placental abruption (the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus, cutting off oxygen and nutrients to the fetus)
• Uterine rupture (the uterus tears, often alone a scar from a previous C-section)
• Perinatal asphyxia (lack of blood flow or oxygen to or from the baby during labor)
• Maternal distress
• Maternal hemorrhage

When a mother’s labor fails to progress, there are signs of fetal and/or maternal distress or an infant moves into a breech or sideways position, it’s critical for caregivers to notify the doctor immediately and for the doctor and medical team to take prompt action. Failure to do so can result in birth injury to the infant, maternal complications, and in the worst-case scenario, the death of the mother and/or child.

What Types of Injuries Result from Delaying a C-Section During an Emergency?

Birth injuries commonly result from delaying a C-section during a medical emergency with fetal distress, including the following:

• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
• Cerebral Palsy
• Brachial plexus injury
• Fetal lacerations
• Fetal stroke

Birth injuries range in severity from mild and temporary injuries to severe, life-altering injuries or death.

What Is Failure to Monitor in a Delayed C-Section Case?

Both laboring mother and unborn infant require careful monitoring during labor and delivery to ensure that staff recognizes and promptly addresses an emergency. Labor and delivery units rely on fetal monitors and tracking maternal vital signs to ensure patient safety. Proper monitoring alerts care providers to a problem and the providers must react appropriately, including swiftly notifying the doctor of the change. Failure to properly monitor a patient or failing to promptly update a doctor on changes in a mother or baby’s condition is negligence. 

Failure to monitor is a leading cause of delayed C-sections and related birth injuries. For example, if the fetal heart rate drops it is a sign of an emergency, such as a lack of oxygen to the baby. If the mother’s blood pressure rises to a dangerous level it’s a medical emergency for the mother. Medical staff have a duty to immediately respond to emergencies like this with swift action to prevent birth injuries to the baby or injury or death to the mother.

Other Causes of Delayed C-Sections

Lack of proper monitoring and reporting is the most common cause of delayed C-section injuries. Other common causes include the following:

• Inadequate monitoring
• Improperly diagnosing signs of stress in the baby or mother
• Hospital understaffing
• Hospital insurance concerns

When medical staff fail to catch signs of a medical emergency, fail to promptly communicate the problem to the doctor, or the doctor fails to take fast action with an emergency C-section delivery, either the doctor or the facility may be liable for damages to the family.

Damages In Phoenix Delayed C-Section Claims

Birth injuries cause lifelong expenses for families and emotional anguish at a child’s loss of quality of life. Common compensation in delayed C-section claims covers damages such as the following:

• Medical costs
• Future medical expenses
• Income loss if a parent must leave the workforce or take less hours to care for an injured child
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish
• Loss of quality of life
• Wrongful death

An experienced Phoenix C-section lawyer will carefully calculate your damages and seek the maximum amount available to compensate you for your damages.

Call the Phoenix Delayed C-Section Injury Lawyers

You shouldn’t have to deal with a complicated legal process to get justice in a birth injury case, especially when you’re dealing with the serious results of a delayed C-section and caring for your child and family. Reach out to the delayed C-section lawyers at Knapp & Roberts today so we can hear about your case and its impacts on your family. We’re ready to take action.