Birth Injury Lawyers Serving Pittsburgh

The arrival of a new child is a cherished event. It represents hope, continuity, and the future of your family. But when this profoundly personal moment is shattered by a preventable medical error, that hope can feel lost, replaced by confusion, distress, and a deep concern for your child’s health.

A birth injury caused by medical negligence is a devastating event, and has left many families in Allegheny County to navigate a future they never anticipated. 

Pittsburgh families affected by birth trauma are not alone. If your child has suffered a birth injury,  you deserve to know what happened. Seeking guidance from birth injury lawyers serving Pittsburgh is the first step toward finding answers and securing the resources your child needs. At ABC Law Centers, we are here to provide that guidance with the compassion, strength, and focus your family deserves.

Choosing the right law firm is critical when your child’s well-being is at stake. Birth injury law is a uniquely challenging field that demands an exceptional depth of medical and legal knowledge. A general practice firm that handles many different types of cases usually does not have the focused experience required to build the strongest possible claim for your child.

At ABC Law Centers, helping children injured at birth is not just one part of our practice—it is our entire practice. We have dedicated our firm to serving families like yours since 1997.

Here is how our focused approach benefits your family:

• Unwavering Dedication: We only focus on birth injury cases. This allows our team to stay at the forefront of medical research and legal developments in this specific area, providing your family with the sophisticated representation you deserve. We understand how a birth injury affects your child’s entire life and future.
• A National Presence with Local Insight: Our firm helps families across the country, including in Pittsburgh. While our attorneys are based in Michigan, we partner with trusted local Pennsylvania attorneys for court filings and appearances. We travel to meet our clients where they are and plan around your convenience, not the other way around. 
• Over 25 Years of Results: We have a long history of securing multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts for our clients. This compensation is vital, providing families with the financial means for a lifetime of medical care, therapies, and support for their child.
• Compassionate Advocacy: We recognize that your family is going through an incredibly difficult time. Our team is committed to shouldering the legal burdens for you and handling your case with the sensitivity and respect you deserve so you can focus on your child.

Your initial consultation is always free, and we operate on a contingency fee basis – that  means you pay no legal fees unless we recover compensation for you.

A birth injury case is the result of negligent actions by your medical providers. When you place your and your baby’s health in the hands of a medical professional, you have the right to expect a certain level of competent care, known as the “standard of care.” When a doctor, nurse, or hospital’s actions deviate from this accepted standard and cause permanent harm, it’s considered medical malpractice.

The core of a birth injury lawsuit is proving that your child’s injury was not an unavoidable tragedy, but a preventable outcome caused by negligence. This requires a deep and thorough investigation into the medical care your family received.

Medical errors during labor and delivery can  often be caused by a medical professional’s failure to monitor, react, or follow established protocols. These failures can have catastrophic consequences. Examples of birth injury negligence include:

• Failing to properly interpret fetal heart monitor strips and act on signs of distress.
• Mismanaging a high-risk pregnancy, such as one involving preeclampsia or gestational diabetes.
• Applying excessive force or improper technique with forceps or a vacuum extractor.
• Delaying a medically necessary C-section.
• Administering an inappropriate dose of a labor-inducing drug like Pitocin which can cause extreme contractions that can deprive the baby of oxygen.
• Failing to anticipate and properly manage a known complication, like a prolapsed umbilical cord or shoulder dystocia.

When medical professionals fail to provide adequate care, a newborn can suffer permanent, life-altering injuries. Our firm has extensive experience helping families whose children are living with conditions such as:

• Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE): Brain damage resulting from a critical lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain around the time of birth. It can lead to severe disabilities, such as cerebral palsy.
• Cerebral Palsy (CP): A disorder affecting a child’s ability to control their muscles. It is frequently caused by brain damage from HIE or other birth trauma.
• Erb’s Palsy and Brachial Plexus Injuries: Nerve damage affecting the arm, hand, and shoulder, often caused by excessive pulling or stretching during a difficult delivery.
• Seizure Disorders: Seizures in a newborn are a serious medical emergency and often a primary indicator of brain injury.
• Kernicterus: A preventable form of brain damage that occurs when severe jaundice in a newborn is left untreated.
• Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL): Damage to the brain’s white matter that can lead to motor disorders and developmental delays.

After a traumatic birth, it is natural to feel a mix of grief and confusion. You may be asking yourself, “Was this just bad luck, or did someone make a mistake?” Getting a clear answer to this question is essential for both your peace of mind and your child’s future.

While only a detailed medical-legal review can confirm negligence, certain events during and after delivery can serve as powerful indicators that a preventable error occurred. Consider if any of these situations apply to you:

• Your baby required cooling therapy. This treatment, also called hypothermia therapy, is used specifically to treat brain damage from HIE.
• There were immediate signs of distress. Your baby may have been born with a blue or gray skin tone, appeared limp or floppy, or did not cry right away.
• Your baby experienced seizures in the hours or days after birth.
• Resuscitation was necessary. Medical staff may have needed to use a bag and mask or intubate your baby to help them breathe.
• Your baby spent a significant amount of time in the NICU, such as  UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
• The delivery was chaotic, with a sudden, unexplained rush to perform an emergency C-section.

The absence of these signs does not rule out medical malpractice. Sometimes, the effects of a birth injury become apparent later, as a child misses developmental milestones related to sitting up, crawling, walking, or talking. If your intuition tells you that something went wrong with your delivery, it is a feeling worth exploring.

Determining accountability for a birth injury requires a deep investigation. Liability often extends beyond a single person’s mistake and can point to systemic failures within a healthcare setting. A comprehensive legal review is necessary to identify every party whose negligence contributed to your child’s harm.

In a Pittsburgh birth injury case, potential defendants may include:

• Physicians: This includes the primary obstetrician, but also any consulting specialists who failed to provide an appropriate standard of care before, during, or after the delivery.
• Nurses and Medical Staff: Labor and delivery nurses are on the front lines of patient care. A failure to properly monitor the baby’s heart rate, recognize signs of distress, or communicate critical information to a doctor can be a direct cause of injury.
• Hospitals and Healthcare Systems: A hospital, whether it’s UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), or a community hospital in the suburbs, can be held directly liable for its own negligence. This can include failing to have proper policies in place, providing inadequate staff training, or being understaffed, creating a dangerous environment for patients.
• Anesthesiologists: Errors in administering an epidural or other anesthesia can lead to a drop in the mother’s blood pressure, which in turn can reduce oxygen flow to the baby, causing brain damage.

The legal team at ABC Law Centers works with the nation’s top medical experts to dissect the complex chain of events, ensuring all responsible parties are held accountable for their actions.

While no lawsuit can turn back the clock, a successful case can provide the financial foundation your child needs for a secure and fulfilling life. The compensation, or “legal damages,” awarded in a lawsuit is designed to address the profound and lifelong impact of a birth injury.

This financial recovery is a crucial tool that can fund:

• A Lifetime of Medical Needs: This covers everything from initial hospital bills to future surgeries, doctor’s appointments, and necessary medications.
• Essential Therapies and Support: Compensation can pay for physical, occupational, and speech therapies that help a child reach their maximum potential.
• Adaptive Equipment and Home Modifications: This includes funds for wheelchairs, communication devices, accessible vehicles, and modifications to your home to make it safe and accessible for your child.
• Educational Support: Many children with birth injuries require special education resources, tutors, and specialized learning programs, all of which can be expensive.
• Relief from Intangible Harms: The law also recognizes the immense non-economic losses, such as the child’s physical pain, emotional suffering, and the loss of the ability to enjoy life’s simple pleasures.

Our mission is to build a case that accounts for every one of these needs, ensuring your child has access to every available resource for life.

State law sets a firm time limit, called a statute of limitations, for filing any lawsuit. For medical malpractice cases in Pennsylvania, the general deadline is two years from the date the malpractice occurred.

However, the law makes a critical exception for cases involving minors. The two-year clock is “tolled,” meaning it does not begin to run, until the child’s 18th birthday. This effectively means a birth injury claim may be filed anytime up until the child turns 20. 

While this provides a long window, it’s important to take action much earlier. Memories fade, hospital staff may change, and critical evidence can become harder to obtain over time. Contacting an attorney promptly ensures the best opportunity to build a strong and compelling case and recover the compensation your child needs as they grow up.

We firmly believe that a family’s financial situation should never be a barrier to seeking justice for their child. That is why we represent every client on a contingency fee basis.

What this means for you is simple:

• There are no upfront costs to hire our firm.
• We take on all expenses required to build and pursue your case.
• You pay us no legal fees unless we recover money for you. Our fee is a percentage of the settlement or verdict we secure for you. If we are not successful, you owe us nothing for our efforts.

This approach removes all financial risk from your shoulders and allows you to access top-tier legal representation focused exclusively on birth injury law.

When you choose ABC Law Centers, you are not just hiring an attorney; you are gaining a dedicated partner for your family’s fight. We manage every legal detail, allowing you to devote your energy to your child. Our approach involves:

• A Thorough and Free Initial Review: We start by listening. We want to hear your story and understand your concerns before beginning our confidential review of your case.
• Securing and Analyzing Evidence: We will promptly gather all medical records from the involved Pittsburgh-area hospitals and providers. We then work with our network of medical experts to pinpoint the negligent acts that caused your child’s injury.
• Calculating a Lifetime of Needs: We consult with life-care planners and economic experts to create a detailed projection of your child’s future financial needs, ensuring your lawsuit covers everything.
• Fighting for a Fair Settlement: We will aggressively negotiate with the defendants’ insurance companies, leveraging the strength of our case to demand a full and fair settlement.
• Providing Powerful Trial Advocacy: If the opposition refuses to be reasonable, our attorneys are always prepared to take your case before a judge or jury to fight for the justice your child deserves.

The first step is to contact a law firm that focuses exclusively on birth injury cases for a free and confidential consultation. Our legal team can help you understand your rights and begin the process of reviewing medical records to determine if negligence occurred.

Many birth injury cases are resolved through a negotiated settlement without ever going to trial. However, we prepare every case as if it will be heard by a jury. This thorough preparation often convinces the other side to offer a fair settlement.

Proving causation is a critical part of the case. We work with highly credentialed medical experts who review your family’s medical records. These experts provide professional opinions on how the healthcare provider’s actions fell below the standard of care and directly led to your child’s injury.

No. Signing a consent form means you consent to medical treatment; it does not mean you consent to negligent medical treatment. If a healthcare provider’s actions were careless or substandard and caused harm, you still have the right to hold them accountable.

Your child’s future is paramount. You need a team that not only understands the medicine and the law, but also understands what your family is going through. At ABC Law Centers, our entire firm is structured to provide knowledgeable, compassionate, and powerful advocacy for children with birth injuries.

You do not have to face this journey alone. Let us help you find the answers, accountability, and resources you need to move forward. Contact our team today for a completely free, no-obligation case evaluation.