A serious birth injury changes a family’s life in ways that go far beyond the hospital stay. Parents may be facing a lifetime of medical appointments, therapy sessions, and difficult questions about what their child will need as they grow. The financial strain alone can be overwhelming, and the emotional toll of watching a child struggle with a preventable injury is something no family should have to carry alone.
Not every birth injury is the result of malpractice. Labor and delivery carry inherent risks, and some complications happen even when medical providers do everything right. But when a child’s injury was caused or made worse by a preventable error, such as a missed warning sign, a delayed response, or a mismanaged delivery, the family may have grounds for a legal claim.
Power Rogers, LLP represents families in Joliet and throughout Illinois in serious birth injury and medical malpractice cases. Our team can investigate what happened during labor, delivery, or newborn care, consult qualified medical experts, and pursue compensation that reflects your child’s current and future needs.
Click here to schedule a confidential consultation or call our office at (312) 236-9381.
Key Takeaways
- Families in Joliet may have grounds for a birth injury medical malpractice claim when preventable errors during labor, delivery, or newborn care cause or worsen a child’s injuries, including cerebral palsy, HIE, Erb’s palsy, and other neurological conditions.
- Birth injury claims may involve negligence by doctors, nurses, midwives, hospitals, or other healthcare providers, with compensation potentially covering lifelong medical treatment, rehabilitation, assistive equipment, educational support, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering.
- Illinois generally allows eight years from the medical act or omission to file a birth injury malpractice lawsuit involving a child, although parents’ separate claims and certain exceptions may have different deadlines, making early legal evaluation important.
Was Your Child’s Birth Injury Preventable?
Parents often sense that something went wrong during delivery long before they know whether anyone was legally responsible. An unexpected C-section, signs of fetal distress, a difficult resuscitation, or a rushed transfer to the NICU can all raise questions, but none of these events on their own prove malpractice occurred.
Determining whether an injury was preventable usually requires a close review of the medical records and a careful look at the timing of decisions made throughout labor, delivery, and the first hours or days of a newborn’s life. Small delays or miscommunications between providers can make a meaningful difference in outcome, and that often isn’t visible without a trained eye reviewing the full chart.
This is where medical experts become essential. They can evaluate the standard of care required in that specific situation and whether a different response would likely have changed the outcome. Parents should not feel like they need to figure this out on their own before reaching out. That evaluation is part of what an attorney and the medical experts they work with are there to do.
How Power Rogers Can Help With a Joliet Birth Injury Claim
Power Rogers, LLP has represented injury victims and their families since our founding in 1993, and with over $6 billion recovered for our clients, we have earned a strong reputation for consistently securing multimillion-dollar recoveries. That experience includes a significant number of birth injury and medical malpractice cases.
Our firm’s birth injury results include a $23 million settlement for a child who suffered severe oxygen deprivation and neurological injuries after delivery was delayed despite worsening warning signs during labor, as well as an $11.5 million recovery for a child who suffered severe brain damage after complications during a water birth delayed delivery.
We understand that many families reaching out to us are already managing a full plate: therapy schedules, specialist appointments, a new diagnosis, and real uncertainty about what their child’s future will look like. Our job as personal injury attorneys is to take the legal and investigative work off your plate so you can focus on your child. That work includes:
- Determining what happened and who may be responsible. We obtain and review the relevant medical records, reconstruct the care provided during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and newborn treatment, and work with qualified medical experts to identify any departures from the standard of care and the providers or institutions involved.
- Connecting the medical failures to your child’s injury. We develop the evidence needed to show not only that something went wrong, but that the negligence caused or worsened the harm your child suffered.
- Documenting the full scope of your child’s losses. We account for ongoing medical treatment, therapy, developmental and educational needs, personal care, assistive equipment, and other support your child may require in the years ahead.
- Pursuing the strongest available resolution. We present the claim to the defendants and insurers, negotiate for a fair settlement, and handle the litigation through trial if necessary.
The goal is to give your family clearer answers about what happened while building a claim that reflects both the harm your child has already experienced and the care and support they may need in the future.
Birth Injury Cases We Handle
Birth injuries range widely in severity and cause, and the type of injury often shapes what the legal claim will need to show. We handle cases involving:
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and other oxygen-deprivation brain injuries
- Cerebral palsy
- Brachial plexus injuries and Erb’s palsy
- Seizure disorders and other neurological injuries
- Skull fractures and traumatic delivery injuries
- Serious injuries arising from newborn care, including resuscitation errors
- Fatal birth injuries
These conditions can sometimes occur without any negligence involved, which is why reviewing the specific medical history and circumstances surrounding the delivery matter is so important.
What Medical Errors Can Cause a Preventable Birth Injury?
Proving a birth injury claim starts with identifying the specific failure in care. Common errors we investigate include:
- Failure to respond appropriately to signs of fetal distress
- Unreasonable delay in performing a necessary C-section
- Improper use or management of Pitocin or other labor-inducing medications
- Inadequate fetal or maternal monitoring during labor
- Failure to properly manage shoulder dystocia
- Improper use of forceps or vacuum extraction
- Failure to respond to placental or umbilical cord complications
- Errors during newborn resuscitation or immediate neonatal care
Identifying one of these errors is only part of the equation. The evidence also has to connect that specific failure to the child’s actual injury, since a mistake that didn’t affect the outcome won’t support a malpractice claim on its own.
Click here to schedule a confidential consultation or call our office at (312) 236-9381.
Who May Be Responsible for a Birth Injury in Joliet?
Responsibility for a birth injury can rest with a single provider or stem from a series of failures across an entire medical team. Parties who may be responsible include:
- OB/GYNs
- Labor and delivery nurses
- Midwives
- Maternal-fetal medicine specialists
- Anesthesiologists
- Neonatologists and other pediatric providers
- Hospitals and health systems
Hospitals may also face liability for their own failures, including problems with staffing, supervision, communication, or procedures for responding to complications. In a complex delivery, determining responsibility often means tracing who made each decision, what information was available at the time, and how the medical team responded as conditions changed.
What Compensation May Be Available After a Birth Injury?
Severe birth injuries can create costs that follow a child through childhood and well into adulthood, which means claim value has to account for far more than the bills already on hand. Depending on the circumstances, compensation may be available for:
- Past and future medical care, including surgeries and specialist visits
- Physical, occupational, and speech therapy
- Medical equipment and assistive technology
- Home or vehicle modifications
- Nursing or attendant care
- Educational and developmental support
- Future loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Disability, disfigurement, and loss of normal life
- Wrongful death damages, when applicable
Valuing a birth injury claim correctly means looking years or even decades ahead, not just adding up current medical bills. A child diagnosed with cerebral palsy or HIE, for example, may need ongoing therapy, specialized equipment, and personal care well into adulthood, and a settlement or verdict should reflect that full picture.
Click here to schedule a confidential consultation or call our office at (312) 236-9381.
What to Expect During a Birth Injury Lawsuit
Birth injury lawsuits follow a general process, though the timeline varies based on the facts and the parties involved.
- Initial consultation. You’ll meet with one of our Joliet birth injury attorneys to discuss what happened, your concerns, and whether the facts warrant a deeper review.
- Investigation and medical review. Our legal team obtains the relevant records, reconstructs the care provided, and consults qualified medical experts to determine whether there’s a reasonable basis for a malpractice claim.
- Pre-suit negotiations, when appropriate. Once the evidence is developed, our attorneys may present the claim to providers or insurers to explore resolution before litigation begins.
- Filing the lawsuit. If the case isn’t resolved, we file a complaint against the appropriate providers or institutions.
- Discovery and expert development. Both sides exchange evidence, take depositions, and develop expert testimony addressing negligence, causation, and the child’s long-term needs.
- Settlement discussions or mediation. Negotiations often continue even after filing, as more evidence comes to light.
- Trial, if necessary. If a fair resolution cannot be reached, the case proceeds to trial.
Each stage builds on the last, and the strength of the medical review early on often determines how the rest of the case unfolds.
FAQs About Joliet Birth Injury Claims
For a birth injury involving a child, Illinois generally allows eight years from the medical act or omission that caused the injury to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. That deadline does not necessarily apply to every claim arising from the birth injury. Parents may have separate claims with different filing periods, and certain exceptions can affect the timeline. Because of those differences, it is still important to have an attorney review the specific deadline rather than assuming the full eight years applies to every part of the case.
Power Rogers, LLP offers a free initial consultation, and birth injury cases are handled on a contingency fee basis, meaning there are no upfront attorney fees. You only pay if we recover compensation on your behalf.
Most birth injury cases settle before trial, but settlement isn’t guaranteed in every case. Our firm prepares each case as though it may go before a jury, so we’re ready to take a case to trial when a fair settlement isn’t on the table.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Joliet Birth Injury Lawyer at Power Rogers
You don’t need to know exactly what went wrong during your child’s delivery before reaching out. Our team can review the medical records, consult appropriate medical experts, and help determine whether the evidence supports a claim. If preventable negligence contributed to your child’s injury, we can help you pursue compensation for both the losses your family has already experienced and the needs your child will have in the years ahead. Contact Power Rogers, LLP today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
