Accomplished Memphis Birth Injury Attorneys Putting Families First
Fighting for justice for families in Memphis, Jackson and throughout the state
For every 1,000 births in the United States, between six and eight injuries occur during labor and delivery. Most have a favorable outcome and either resolve on their own or require very little medical intervention. However, some babies suffer tragic birth injuries that will have an impact on the rest of the child’s life.
At the law firm of Greer Injury Lawyers, PLLC, we have compassion for families who are dealing with the pain and confusion of a birth injury to their newborn. We have experience investigating birth injury cases and winning compensation on behalf of our clients. We even have an in-house registered nurse to assist with investigating birth injury claims. With offices in Memphis and Jackson, we are equipped and able to represent families throughout West Tennessee.
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What is a birth injury?
A birth injury is physical harm that occurs to a baby during the labor and delivery process. Birth injuries range in severity from minor bruising and soft tissue damage that resolves on its own, to devastating neurological conditions like cerebral palsy that require a lifetime of care. Not all birth injuries are caused by medical error, but many are the result of preventable mistakes made by the healthcare providers responsible for monitoring, managing, and delivering your child.
It is important to understand the difference between a birth injury and a birth defect. A birth defect typically originates before birth, often involving genetic, environmental, or developmental factors. A birth injury, by contrast, occurs during the labor and delivery process and is frequently the result of how the delivery was managed. When the cause is medical negligence, the family may have the right to pursue compensation through a health care liability claim under Tennessee law.
What causes birth injuries?
- Many birth injuries result from human error during what should be a carefully managed medical event. Common causes of negligent birth injuries include:
- Failure to recognize or respond to fetal distress. Medical staff are responsible for continuously monitoring fetal heart rate during labor. Signs of oxygen deprivation or distress on the fetal monitor require prompt action. A delayed response can cause irreversible brain damage in a matter of minutes.
- Failure to order a timely cesarean section. When complications arise, continuing with a vaginal delivery instead of performing an emergency C-section can cause serious harm to the baby. The decision to wait, and for how long, is a medical judgment that can be scrutinized for negligence.
- Improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors. These delivery tools can be valuable in experienced hands, but misuse can cause skull fractures, brain bleeds, brachial plexus injuries, and facial nerve damage.
- Excessive traction during delivery. Pulling too forcefully on a baby's head or neck during a difficult delivery, particularly when shoulder dystocia is present, can damage the brachial plexus nerves and cause Erb's palsy or other permanent arm injuries.
- Failure to identify or treat umbilical cord complications. A compressed or prolapsed umbilical cord can cut off the baby's oxygen supply. Medical staff monitoring fetal heart rate patterns should recognize the signs and respond.
- Medication errors. Mistakes in dosing medications used during labor, including oxytocin used to induce or augment contractions, can cause uterine hyperstimulation and fetal distress.
- Failure to diagnose or treat maternal infections. Certain infections, if untreated, can be transmitted to the baby during delivery and cause serious harm.
When any of these failures result in injury to your child, the medical providers responsible may be held liable under Tennessee's health care liability laws.
What are the most common types of birth injuries?
Birth injuries can affect any part of a newborn's body, but certain types appear with particular frequency in medical malpractice cases:
Cerebral palsy is a group of neurological disorders that affect movement, muscle tone, and motor control. It is often caused by oxygen deprivation or brain trauma during the labor and delivery process. Cerebral palsy is permanent and typically requires a lifetime of medical support, therapy, and specialized care.
Brachial plexus injuries and Erb's palsy occur when the network of nerves running from the neck through the shoulder and arm is damaged during delivery. This most often happens when a baby's shoulder becomes lodged in the birth canal (shoulder dystocia) and excessive force is used. Depending on severity, the injury can cause weakness, limited motion, or paralysis of the arm, and may require surgery.
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a form of brain damage caused by insufficient oxygen and blood flow to the brain during or around the time of birth. HIE can range from mild to severe and is associated with cerebral palsy, seizures, developmental delays, and cognitive impairments.
Intracranial hemorrhage refers to bleeding in or around the brain. It can result from improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors, or from trauma during a difficult delivery. Depending on the location and extent of the bleed, long-term neurological consequences are possible.
Skull fractures can occur during assisted deliveries involving forceps or in cases of prolonged or obstructed labor. While some fractures are minor and heal on their own, depressed skull fractures may require surgical intervention and can be associated with underlying brain injury.
Shoulder dystocia injuries occur when the baby's shoulder becomes stuck behind the mother's pubic bone after the head has been delivered. How the medical team responds in that moment, including which maneuvers they use, can be the difference between a healthy delivery and permanent injury.
Perinatal asphyxia is oxygen deprivation to the newborn, often resulting from umbilical cord compression or prolapse. If not immediately addressed, it can lead to lasting brain damage.
What are the Warning Signs of a birth injury?
Some birth injuries are immediately apparent in the delivery room. Others take weeks, months, or even years to become fully evident. Learn more about post-partum negligence and delayed discovery. Parents should be alert to the following warning signs:
- Requiring resuscitation at birth or a low APGAR score
- Limp or floppy muscle tone (hypotonia) after delivery
- Bluish or dusky skin color at birth
- Difficulty feeding or a weak sucking reflex in the newborn period
- Seizures or tremors
- Abnormal or asymmetric arm or hand movement
- Failure to reach developmental milestones within expected timeframes, including holding up the head, rolling over, sitting, crawling, walking, and speaking
- Muscle stiffness or spasticity that develops in the first months of life
- Persistent one-sided weakness or limited range of motion in an arm
If your delivery involves difficult labor, the use of forceps or vacuum extraction, an emergency C-section, shoulder dystocia, or concerns about fetal heart rate, and your child is now showing any of these signs, a birth injury evaluation is warranted. Do not rely solely on the hospital or the physicians involved in the delivery for answers. Seek an independent assessment from your child's pediatrician and consult a birth injury attorney who can independently review the medical records.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Birth Injury in Tennessee?
Tennessee's health care liability laws allow injured patients and their families to pursue claims against any healthcare provider whose negligence caused harm. In a birth injury case, liable parties may include:
Obstetricians and delivering physicians bear primary responsibility for managing the labor and delivery process, recognizing complications, and making timely decisions about interventions. A physician who delays a necessary C-section, misuses delivery tools, or fails to respond to signs of fetal distress may be liable for the resulting harm.
Labor and delivery nurses are responsible for continuously monitoring the mother and baby during labor, including fetal heart rate monitoring. Nurses who fail to recognize or escalate signs of distress, or who execute interventions incorrectly, can share liability for a birth injury.
Hospitals and health systems can be held liable for the negligence of their employed staff, as well as for systemic failures such as inadequate staffing, poor training, or deficient protocols. Even when a physician is not a hospital employee, a hospital may be liable if it held out the physician as its agent.
Anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists can be liable for errors in administering epidurals or other anesthesia that contribute to maternal or fetal harm during labor.
Midwives and birth centers are held to the same standard of care as any licensed healthcare provider managing labor and delivery.
Identifying the full scope of liability in a birth injury case requires a careful review of all medical records, monitoring strips, and the timeline of the delivery. Greer Injury Lawyers works with qualified medical experts to reconstruct what happened and identify every party whose negligence contributed to your child's injury.
What Compensation Can My Family Recover?
Birth injuries often result in damages that extend far beyond the immediate hospital stay. When a child is diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Erb's palsy, HIE, or another serious condition caused by medical negligence, the costs can span an entire lifetime. Under Tennessee law, families may be entitled to recover compensation for:
- Medical expenses incurred as a result of the birth injury, including NICU care, surgeries, and hospitalization
- Future medical costs, including ongoing therapy, specialist visits, medications, adaptive equipment, and long-term care
- Home modifications needed to accommodate a child with physical disabilities
- Lost earning capacity if the child's injuries will prevent them from working as an adult
- Pain and suffering experienced by the child
- Emotional distress suffered by the child and family
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- In wrongful death cases, funeral and burial costs, lost future income, and loss of companionship
Tennessee law caps noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering in health care liability cases. An experienced birth injury attorney can help you understand what categories of damages apply to your child's situation and what a realistic recovery looks like.
How can a Memphis birth injury attorney help?
In the days following the discovery that your newborn’s injuries might have been the result of medical negligence, you may have many questions, and you may feel hesitant about the idea of suing your doctor. You may consult with one of our attorneys and receive accurate legal guidance about your case and possible next steps. This consultation will give you the information you require to make an informed choice about whether or not you want to take legal action.
When your lawyer begins work on your case, they must gather and assess medical records in order to determine whether it is likely that negligent actions injured your child during birth. In assessing medical records, your attorney may consult with medical specialists who can help them to determine the likelihood that the injuries that your child has suffered were caused at birth. If your attorney is able to conclude that your child’s injury is likely the result of negligence, they can file your claim for damages.
How Does a Tennessee Birth Injury Claim Work?
A birth injury claim in Tennessee is a type of health care liability action, which is governed by a specific set of procedural requirements under Tennessee law. These requirements are stricter than in an ordinary personal injury case, and missing any one of them can jeopardize your family's right to compensation.
Pre-suit notice. Under T.C.A. Section 29-26-121, before filing a health care liability lawsuit, you must provide written notice of your potential claim to every healthcare provider you intend to sue. This notice must be sent at least 60 days before filing and must include a HIPAA-compliant medical authorization permitting the defendants to obtain your complete medical records from all other providers being notified.
Certificate of good faith. Under T.C.A. Section 29-26-122, most birth injury plaintiffs are required to file a certificate of good faith with the court when the lawsuit is filed. This certificate confirms that your attorney has consulted with a qualified medical expert who has reviewed the case and believes there is a good-faith basis for the claim. Failure to file a certificate of good faith can result in dismissal of your case.
Investigation and expert review. Birth injury cases require the testimony of qualified medical experts — typically physicians or nurses who practice in the same specialty as the defendant — who can explain to a judge or jury how the standard of care was breached and how that breach caused your child's injury. Greer Injury Lawyers works with experienced medical experts and conducts a thorough review of all records before filing a claim.
Negotiation and litigation. Many birth injury cases resolve through settlement negotiations with the hospital's or physician's malpractice insurance carrier. Cases that cannot be resolved fairly are prepared for trial. The attorneys at Greer Injury Lawyers have nearly four decades of courtroom experience and are fully prepared to take your child's case to a jury.
How Long Do I Have to File a Birth Injury Lawsuit in Tennessee?
The time limits for birth injury claims in Tennessee are among the strictest in the country, and they require prompt action.
Under T.C.A. Section 29-26-116, the standard statute of limitations for a health care liability action is one year from the date the negligent act or omission occurred. If the injury was not discovered within that one-year period, the discovery rule extends the deadline to one year from the date of discovery.
However, regardless of when the birth injury is discovered, Tennessee's statute of repose imposes an absolute outer limit of three years from the date of the negligent act. With limited exceptions for fraudulent concealment, no birth injury claim can be filed after this three-year deadline, even if the family did not discover the injury until recently.
It is also critical to know that the 60-day pre-suit notice requirement must be satisfied before you can even file your lawsuit, which means the practical deadline for beginning the legal process is earlier than many families realize.
Because of Tennessee's strict deadlines, and because gathering the medical records and expert opinions needed to support a birth injury claim takes significant time, it is essential to contact an attorney as soon as you suspect medical negligence may have contributed to your child's injuries. Do not wait.
How Long Will a Birth Injury Case Take?
Birth injury cases are among the most complex in personal injury law. They involve detailed medical records, expert testimony, and often multiple defendant healthcare providers. Most birth injury cases take between 18 months and several years from the initial consultation to final resolution, depending on the severity of the injuries, the number of defendants, and whether the case settles or proceeds to trial.
At Greer Injury Lawyers, we keep our clients informed at every stage of the process. We will not recommend settling your child's case until we have a complete picture of their medical needs, both current and future, and until we are confident that any settlement will fully account for the lifetime of care your child may require.
How Much Does a Birth Injury Lawyer Charge?
Greer Injury Lawyers handles birth injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your family. There are no upfront costs and no out-of-pocket expenses. Once we resolve your case, all legal fees and case-related costs are paid from the recovery..
This arrangement ensures that every family, regardless of financial means, has access to experienced legal representation when they need it most.
Is a Birth Injury Lawyer Near Me?
Greer Injury Lawyers, PLLC has offices in Memphis, Jackson, and Nashville and represents families throughout Tennessee. If your child's condition makes travel difficult or impossible, we will come to you — whether that means a hospital room, a rehabilitation facility, or your home. We also offer virtual consultations and telephone appointments.
Discovering that your child's birth injury may have been preventable is devastating. You deserve honest answers and experienced representation. Greer Injury Lawyers, PLLC has been fighting for Tennessee families for nearly four decades. Contact us today to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation — call our office or fill out our contact form.
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