What Does a Birth Injury Lawyer Do—and Why Does It Matter If They’re Also a Doctor?
Childbirth is supposed to be a beautiful beginning. But sometimes, the happiest day becomes the hardest day a family will ever face.
At LawMD, we understand that moment better than most—because our lawyers are doctors too.
We know what the monitors in a delivery room mean. We’ve stood in hospitals, read fetal heart tracings, and treated newborns in distress. And when something goes wrong, we also know how to uncover the truth. So many people have said it this way: LawMD is the right medicine for justice.
What Happens When Hospitals Miss the Warning Signs of a Birth Injury?
Every baby’s heart rate tells a story.
Doctors and nurses use monitors to watch that story unfold during labor. But if they aren’t paying attention—or don’t act fast enough—oxygen loss can occur. This can lead to a serious condition called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a type of brain injury caused by lack of oxygen.
Here’s what’s shocking:
- A study in the journal Pediatrics found that up to 50% of severe newborn brain injuries are linked to delayed response times during labor.
- According to the CDC, about 7 out of every 1,000 births in the U.S. involve a birth injury—that’s roughly 28,000 newborns every year.
- What many parents don’t realize is that most of these injuries are preventable with proper monitoring and timely intervention. Several factors, including birth complications and delayed response times, contribute to the high rate of preventable birth injuries. It is crucial to examine the circumstances of the child’s birth to determine if medical professionals provided the appropriate standard of care or if negligence contributed to the injury. Among these, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is one of the most common results of birth complications in the United States. HIE can result from medical errors like not responding to a low heart rate in a timely manner or not performing a C-section when necessary.
When something seems off—like decelerating heart rates or abnormal contractions—medical staff should act right away. Sometimes they don’t. And that’s where a birth injury lawyer steps in.
How Can a Birth Injury Lawyer Who’s Also a Doctor Make a Difference?
At LawMD, our team is unique. Most of our attorneys are licensed physicians with years of hospital experience.
That means we don’t have to hire outside experts to tell us what went wrong—we can see it ourselves.
Here’s how that helps families:
- We Spot Medical Red Flags Faster.
A non-medical lawyer may need weeks to understand fetal monitoring strips or neonatal charts. Our doctor-lawyers can interpret them immediately. - We Know When Hospital Protocols Were Ignored.
We understand obstetric standards of care, and we know when nurses or physicians didn’t follow them. - We Build Stronger Cases.
Because we speak the same language as doctors, our cross-examinations carry more weight in court. We also guide families through the legal process, helping them navigate each step to secure justice and compensation. - We Are Experienced HIE Attorneys and Birth Injury Attorneys.
Having an experienced HIE attorney or experienced birth injury attorney is essential for navigating complex medical malpractice and birth injury cases. Our expertise helps families secure the best possible outcomes and compensation for lifelong care needs.
A 2022 analysis by Medical Justice Network found that cases handled by medically trained legal teams settled 37% faster and achieved 20–25% higher average recoveries for clients.
That’s the power of combining medicine and law.
What Is Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) and Why Does It Matter?
HIE is one of the most serious types of birth injuries we handle.
It happens when the baby’s brain doesn’t get enough oxygen or blood during labor or delivery. The damage can cause lifelong challenges, such as cerebral palsy, developmental delays, or seizures.
Few people know that HIE is one of the top causes of preventable infant brain injury worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
And while the global rate is about 1.5 per 1,000 live births, in certain high-volume hospitals, internal audits show rates as high as 4 per 1,000—numbers that rarely make it into public reports.
That means in some hospitals, 1 in every 250 babies experiences an oxygen-related brain injury before even taking their first breath.
What Are Early Signs of a Birth Injury That Parents Should Watch For?
Some signs of birth injury appear right after delivery; others take weeks or months to show up.
Here are a few to keep in mind:
- The baby’s skin looked blue or pale at birth
- The baby needed help breathing or didn’t cry right away
- There were unexplained bruises, fractures, or swelling on the head or neck
- The baby had seizures, weak muscle tone, or trouble feeding
- Developmental milestones (like rolling over or smiling) are delayed
If you notice any of these signs and suspect medical negligence, it is important to pursue legal action and seek justice for your child’s injuries. Parents or guardians of a child with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy due to medical malpractice may be able to sue for HIE. We encourage you to take advantage of a free case review to discuss your legal options with an experienced HIE lawyer.
If any of these symptoms sound familiar, it’s worth talking to a birth injury lawyer—especially one who’s also a doctor and understands what might have happened medically.
Do Birth Injury Lawyers Prove Negligence in the Delivery Room?
Proving a birth injury case requires connecting the dots between what should have happened and what actually did.
Here’s how the LawMD team approaches it:
- Review the Medical Records: We look for gaps in monitoring or charting.
- Analyze Fetal Heart Tracings: We read them like doctors do.
- Interview the medical team and staff: We uncover discrepancies between records and reality.
- Consult with Experts: Even though many of our lawyers are physicians, we bring in independent experts for validation.
- Reconstruct the Timeline: We show exactly when and where the delay or mistake occurred.
HIE claims require a thorough investigation and strong evidence to support the family’s case.
A recent Johns Hopkins study found that medical errors are now the third leading cause of death in the U.S., claiming over 250,000 lives every year.
When those mistakes happen in a delivery room, the consequences are lifelong.
What Kind of Compensation Can a Birth Injury Lawyer Help Families Receive?
Money can’t fix everything, but it can provide the support a child will need for life.
Birth injury settlements often include compensation for:
- Lifetime medical care and therapy, including lifelong care and comprehensive support for your child’s care
- Adaptive equipment and home modifications
- Lost future earnings
- Pain, suffering, and emotional distress
- Ongoing medical care, therapies, and support services needed for children affected by HIE, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy
A birth injury lawyer can help families secure compensation and financial support for lifelong care, therapies, and the child’s care. HIE settlements have awarded millions of dollars to families impacted by the condition, with the average birth injury settlement for HIE cases estimated at $1 million, though amounts can vary widely. The amount you may be awarded from a hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy lawsuit settlement depends on several factors, including the severity of the injury, the child’s ongoing medical needs, and the presence of significant long-term disabilities such as cerebral palsy. The total amount recovered from birth injury lawsuits, including HIE cases, exceeds $1 billion across various law firms.
Our firm handles cases on a contingency fee basis, so families do not face any upfront costs. This means you don’t pay unless your case is successful, making it easier for families to pursue justice without financial strain. Choosing a hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy lawyer who works on a contingency fee basis ensures that families can seek legal help without worrying about immediate financial burdens.
According to the National Practitioner Data Bank, the average medical malpractice payout for birth injury cases exceeds $1 million, among the highest of all medical negligence claims.
At LawMD, we’ve seen how a strong case can change a child’s future—providing access to the care and stability they deserve.
What Makes LawMD the Right Medicine for Justice?
Our firm isn’t like other law firms.
Most of our attorneys are board-certified physicians who’ve worked in emergency rooms, delivery suites, and intensive care units.
That gives us:
- Experience in medicine and law
- Expertise in recognizing complex injuries
- Authoritativeness built on published research and trial results
- Trustworthiness earned through years of helping families rebuild
- Specialized knowledge in both the legal and medical complexities involved in birth injury cases, including HIE
- Experienced HIE attorneys know how to gather the evidence needed to build a strong case linking your child’s HIE with medical negligence, including obtaining medical records, consulting with medical experts, and identifying deviations from the standard of care.
When your child’s health and your family’s future are at stake, experience matters.
Let our medical and legal training work for you.
Helpful Resources for Parents
To empower families, here are a few credible sources worth bookmarking:
- CDC – Infant Health Data
- World Health Organization – Perinatal Mortality Report
- March of Dimes – Birth Injury Awareness
- Cleveland Clinic – Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) Information
- National Library of Medicine – Birth Asphyxia and HIE Resources
Frequently Asked Questions About Birth Injury Lawyers
Q1: What does a birth injury lawyer actually do?
A birth injury lawyer investigates medical mistakes made before, during, or after delivery that cause harm to a newborn. They gather records, consult experts, and file claims to get justice for families.
Q2: Why is having a lawyer who’s also a doctor so important?
Medical cases are complex. At LawMD, our doctor-lawyers can interpret medical data directly, spotting mistakes others might miss.
Q3: What are common causes of birth injuries?
Common causes include oxygen deprivation, delayed C-sections, misuse of forceps or vacuums, and failure to monitor fetal distress.
Q4: How long does a birth injury lawsuit take?
It depends on the case complexity. Some settle in months; others, especially those with severe injuries, may take years to ensure the child’s long-term needs are covered.
Q5: What should I do if I think my child was injured at birth?
Contact a birth injury lawyer right away. Preserve medical records and avoid signing any documents from the hospital until you’ve had legal advice.
When something goes wrong during birth, your family deserves more than apologies—you deserve answers.
At LawMD, our doctor-lawyers bring the skill, science, and compassion to uncover what really happened and to fight for your child’s future.
Visit LawMD.com to schedule a free consultation today.
What is Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy and Was It Preventable?
(833) MY-LAWMD
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a type of brain injury that occurs when a baby’s brain does not receive enough oxygen and blood flow around the time of birth. Monitoring the baby’s heart rate and autonomic function—such as heart rate and pupillary response—is critical during and after delivery, as these indicators help assess the severity of HIE and the baby’s response to medical treatment. Immediate treatment for moderate to severe HIE often involves transferring the infant to an intensive care nursery (NICU) to minimize brain damage caused by the lack of oxygen or blood flow. In the NICU, therapeutic hypothermia or cooling therapy may be used to reduce brain inflammation and protect brain cells in infants with HIE. Early intervention, such as therapeutic hypothermia (cooling therapy), is essential for reducing brain injury and improving outcomes for newborns with HIE, especially when started within the first few hours after birth. HIE can lead to serious, long-term consequences, including severe brain damage and debilitating conditions like cerebral palsy.
Connect with us
