Birth Injury Lawyer Surrey

Servicing Surrey and all of British Columbia

During a pregnancy and into a child’s first years, all eyes are on clocks, stop watches and calendars. When is the due date? How fast is the fetal heart rate? How far apart are contractions? Is the fetus, and eventually baby, meeting important milestones? If there are delays, what kind of medical intervention might be necessary?

Medical providers understand the critical role time can play during the course of a pregnancy. Missed symptoms, a delayed diagnosis, or time lost due to poor decision-making by the care team can have significant consequences.

For example, fetal tachycardia (abnormally fast fetal heart rate) can be an indication of fetal distress due to in utero or maternal infection, poor management of maternal health conditions or medications, placental insufficiency (damage to the placenta causing poor transmission of oxygen and nutrients), meconium aspiration (first fecal matter that mixes with amniotic fluid and is ingested into the lungs) or perinatal asphyxia, hypoxia or anoxia (oxygen deprivation to fetal tissue, including the brain).

With prompt diagnosis and treatment, sometimes birth injuries can be avoided or potential damage can be minimized. However, if standards of care are breached due to negligence and baby suffers serious harm, including permanent disability or death, it’s called obstetrical malpractice. Critical moments lost to inaction or negligent action by a medical provider can cause a lifetime of pain and suffering.

Other Common Types of Birth Injuries

A preventable birth injury can occur at any time during a pregnancy, labour, delivery or in the period immediately following birth.

Common birth injuries include:

Spinal cord or nerve damage – May be caused by undiagnosed or untreated fetal medical conditions, trauma from a forced extraction, misdiagnosis of spina bifida at birth.
Brachial plexus injuries – Damage caused to the nerve network between the neck and shoulder of a baby. Often due to shoulder dystocia which occurs when a baby’s head emerges from the birth canal while its shoulder remain lodged behind the mother’s public bone. May cause Erb’s Palsy and Klumpke’s Palsy.
Brain Injuries and Cerebral Palsy – Occurs when trauma, oxygen deprivation or untreated medical conditions such as kernicterus (serious jaundice) or infection lead to brain damage or malformation of the brain
Broken bones and scarring – During a traumatic birth, forced extraction, or if medical instruments are used improperly, soft tissue damage or broken bones can occur.

When You’ve Been Hurt, We’re Here To Help

If you learn your loved one has sustained a serious birth injury, your grief, anger, despair and sense of profound loss can make it difficult to concentrate on what you’ll need to do to get the financial resources you need to compensate for your pain and suffering and pay for the rehabilitation, therapy and care your loved one may need. That’s why Howie, Sacks and Henry’s birth injury lawyers can help you in Surrey when you need experienced and skilled legal representation, support and advocacy.

Our firm has been recognized as one of Canada’s top personal injury firms by our peers, and we have developed a proud reputation for providing client-centred care where respect, dignity and compassion are our guiding principles. With our expertise in this complex medical matters, HSH birth injury lawyers are well placed to help clients in Surrey navigate this challenging area of law during such a difficult period in their lives.

An HSH birth injury lawyer will gladly arrange to meet with you in your own home in the Surrey area or at a nearby consultation office so you will never have to worry that your ability to travel will be a barrier to accessing high quality legal representation. As we listen to your story, offer advice and answer your questions, we can also assist in facilitating the tests, assessments and rehabilitative therapies you’ll need to support both your case and your loved one’s recovery.

With an HSH birth injury lawyer on your side and by your side in Surrey, you will know you’re not in this journey alone. As your trusted advocate, we will use our experience, knowledge and skills to support you as you seek what you and your loved ones need for a good quality of life. Let us help guide you to better days ahead.