Was your child injured during pregnancy, labor, or delivery in Atlanta, GA?
At Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers, we are trial-tested birth injury lawyers committed to thorough preparation in every matter.
If your child was injured during pregnancy, labor, or delivery at an Atlanta hospital, we can obtain the prenatal and delivery records, determine what the obstetric providers should have done differently, and pursue compensation for your child’s future care. Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers represents children and families in claims against obstetricians, nurses, and hospitals.
Our Atlanta, GA birth injury lawyer reviews the fetal monitoring strips minute by minute and prepares each case as though it will be tried. Contact us for a free consultation about your child’s injury.
Birth Injury Lawyer Atlanta, GA
A birth injury claim seeks compensation when harm to a newborn or the mother results from prenatal, labor, or delivery care that fell below the accepted standard. Some injuries, such as fractures or nerve damage, are apparent at birth. Others, including brain injuries caused by oxygen deprivation, may not be identified until developmental delays appear months later. The medical records are what separate negligent birth injuries from conditions that develop despite appropriate care.
Cesarean deliveries accounted for 34.9 percent of Georgia births in 2024, and 11.80 percent of births were preterm, according to CDC Georgia data. Cesarean and preterm deliveries involve decisions about timing and monitoring that an Atlanta birth injury attorney evaluates when a child is harmed.
Types of Birth Injury Cases We Handle in Atlanta
Birth injuries arise at every stage of care, from early prenatal visits through the first hours after delivery. As birth injury lawyers in Atlanta, we review the prenatal chart, the labor record, and the newborn’s hospital records to determine when the harm occurred.
- Cerebral palsy. Damage to the developing brain before or during birth can cause cerebral palsy, a permanent condition that affects movement and muscle control. The CDC risk factors include untreated severe newborn jaundice, and we examine whether delayed responses to distress or jaundice contributed to the injury.
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. HIE occurs when a baby’s brain does not receive enough oxygen and blood flow. Cooling therapy is typically started within the first hours after birth, so the timing of the neonatal staff’s response is part of our review.
- Delayed cesarean delivery. When monitoring shows a baby in distress, the interval between the decision to operate and the delivery matters. We compare the time the problem appeared in the chart with the time the cesarean began.
- Umbilical cord complications. A prolapsed or compressed cord can cut off a baby’s oxygen supply. These emergencies call for immediate recognition and delivery.
- Placental abruption and uterine rupture. Both conditions can cause sudden bleeding and oxygen loss. A mother’s history, including a prior cesarean, affects how closely she should have been monitored.
- Oxytocin overuse. Pitocin strengthens contractions, and excessive doses can reduce blood flow to the baby. Nursing records show whether the infusion was lowered or stopped when the monitor showed signs of distress.
- Forceps and vacuum injuries. Improper use of delivery instruments can cause skull fractures, bleeding in the brain, and nerve damage in the shoulder and arm.
- Failure to diagnose. Obstetric providers must identify preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and maternal infections during pregnancy. An undiagnosed condition in the mother can lead to premature delivery or injury to the baby.
- Hospital negligence. Labor and delivery nurses monitor the fetal heart rate and notify physicians of changes. Understaffing, missed alerts, and delayed escalation can support claims against the hospital itself.
Why Choose Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers as My Birth Injury Lawyer in Atlanta, GA?
Focused on Injured Patients and Their Families
Since 2018, attorney Daniel J. Moriarty has focused his work on representing people harmed by medical negligence. He knows the defenses hospitals raise in malpractice cases because he spent six years presenting them for health care providers. Daniel holds an honors degree from Notre Dame and a law degree from the University of Texas. Families who retain our medical malpractice lawyer in Atlanta, GA have Daniel handling their child’s case from the first records request through trial. In birth injury matters, that work includes consulting obstetric, neonatal, and life care planning professionals from the outset.
Results in Georgia Malpractice Cases
Clients of our firm have received more than $200 million in recoveries since 2019, including two of Georgia’s top ten all-time malpractice verdicts. Results of that size depend on trial preparation that begins well before a lawsuit is filed.
- $9 million, medical malpractice recovery
- $8.8 million obtained in medical malpractice litigation
- Medical malpractice: $8 million
- $7.9 million resolution of a medical malpractice claim
What Is Important to Understand About a Birth Injury Case?
What Is the Birth Injury Case Timeline?
Georgia sets special deadlines for children injured by medical malpractice. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-73, a child injured before age five has two years from the fifth birthday to bring a claim. No claim on the child’s behalf may be brought after the child’s tenth birthday. A mother’s own injury claim is subject to the two-year limitation period in O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71. Because the two deadlines differ, we calculate both at the start of every case.
The full extent of a birth injury often becomes clear only as a child’s development can be assessed, so these cases can take longer to prepare than other malpractice claims.
- We obtain the prenatal records, fetal monitoring strips, delivery notes, and neonatal intensive care records.
- Our Atlanta, GA birth injury attorney retains physicians in obstetrics, neonatology, and pediatric neurology to review the care and the cause of the injury.
- Treating providers and life care planners project the child’s future medical, therapy, and support needs.
- We file the lawsuit, exchange evidence with the defendants, and take depositions of the physicians and nurses who attended the delivery.
- Mediation, settlement negotiations, or a jury trial concludes the case.
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Birth Injury Cases
Georgia’s malpractice standard, found in O.C.G.A. § 51-1-27, obligates anyone who practices medicine for compensation to exercise a reasonable degree of care and skill. In obstetric cases, that standard governs how providers read fetal monitoring, respond to complications, and time the delivery. Proving liability also requires showing that different care would have prevented or lessened the injury, and causation is a central disputed issue in these cases.
Compensation in a birth injury claim can include:
- The cost of lifetime medical care, therapy, adaptive equipment, and home modifications. Children with cerebral palsy may need extensive support, and NICHD cerebral palsy information notes that some people with the condition need intensive, lifelong care
- Lost future earning capacity when an injury limits the child’s ability to work as an adult
- Pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life
- Parents’ separate claims for the medical expenses they pay while their child is a minor
A life care plan, prepared with input from the child’s physicians and therapists, estimates future needs such as surgeries, therapy, medical equipment, and residential support. An economist then calculates the present cost of that care and the earnings the child may lose over a lifetime. Those projections form the basis of the damages we present in negotiation or at trial.
What Are Important Aspects of a Birth Injury Case?
Birth injury claims rest on a detailed record of the minutes and hours before delivery, and several parts of that record deserve close review.
- Fetal heart rate tracings, which show when a baby began to show fetal bradycardia or signs of a cord prolapse
- Medication records for Pitocin, including each dose change and the reason recorded for it
- Blood gas results and imaging that help establish when hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy began
- Prenatal records, since prenatal care errors can lead to complications at delivery
- Documentation of bleeding or abdominal pain that preceded a placental abruption, and how quickly staff responded
- Staffing records and nurse assignments on the labor and delivery unit at the time of the birth
- Operative notes describing any forceps use and the number of attempts
Georgia’s Babies Can’t Wait program provides early intervention services for children from birth to age three with developmental delays. Evaluations from that program can document how a birth injury has affected a child’s development.
What Should You Bring to Your Birth Injury Consultation?
Bring whatever records you have gathered so far. Our Atlanta birth injury attorney will request the remaining hospital and physician records.
- Discharge summaries for both mother and baby
- Names of the obstetrician, midwife, hospital, and any neonatal intensive care unit
- Therapy, early intervention, or developmental evaluation reports
- Notes you kept about the pregnancy and delivery, including dates and times
- Bills and insurance statements for your child’s care
- Photographs or videos that show your child’s development and daily care needs
We will review the circumstances of the delivery with you, explain whether the records support a claim, and describe the next steps if you decide to move forward.
Reach Out to Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation
When an error during pregnancy or delivery has harmed your child, our Atlanta birth injury lawyer can review the records with you without charge. Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers takes birth injury cases on contingency, and our fee comes only from compensation we recover. We will also identify the Georgia filing deadlines for your child’s claim and for any claim of your own. Contact us for a no-cost case evaluation.