Alabama Cerebral Palsy Malpractice Lawyers

The arrival of a new child is a moment of unparalleled joy and hope for families across Alabama. You place immense trust in the medical professionals—doctors, nurses, and hospital staff—tasked with ensuring a safe delivery. This partnership is founded on the belief that they will apply their skills with diligence and care to protect both mother and child.

When this trust is broken by a preventable medical error during labor, delivery, or neonatal care, the consequences can be catastrophic. A diagnosis of cerebral palsy resulting from such an error is not an unavoidable risk of childbirth; it is often the outcome of a failure to provide the accepted standard of medical care.

What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy (CP) is not a single disease but a group of permanent neurological disorders that affect a person’s ability to control their muscles. It impacts body movement, muscle tone, and posture. The condition originates from damage to the developing brain, most often before, during, or shortly after birth.

While the effects of cerebral palsy last a lifetime, the condition itself does not worsen over time. The initial brain injury is static. However, the symptoms and challenges a person with CP faces can change throughout their life. While some cases of CP are linked to genetic abnormalities or maternal health issues during pregnancy, a heartbreaking number are the direct result of preventable brain damage caused by medical negligence during the birthing process.

The Difference Between a Birth Defect and a Birth Injury

It is important to distinguish between a birth defect and a birth injury, as the legal implications are vastly different.

• Birth Defect: A birth defect is a health condition that forms while a baby is developing in the womb. These conditions may be caused by genetic factors, environmental exposures, or infections during pregnancy. A birth defect is generally not the result of a medical error that occurs during labor or delivery.
• Birth Injury: A birth injury, by contrast, is damage that an infant sustains during the process of labor or delivery. While some minor injuries are unavoidable, severe and life-altering injuries are frequently preventable. When a healthcare provider’s action or inaction falls below the accepted standard of care and causes an injury like brain damage, it may constitute medical malpractice.

Cerebral palsy caused by a lack of oxygen or physical trauma during delivery is a type of birth injury. It signifies that a mistake likely occurred, and that mistake directly led to the child’s permanent condition.

What Types of Medical Negligence Can Lead to Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy is often caused by an interruption of oxygen to the baby’s brain (a condition known as hypoxia, anoxia, or birth asphyxia) or by physical trauma to the head. These events are rarely unforeseeable. They are typically the result of a chain of errors where medical staff failed to identify warning signs or respond to them appropriately.

Common medical errors that can lead to a cerebral palsy diagnosis include:

• Failure to Monitor and Respond to Fetal Distress: One of the most common causes of preventable brain damage is the failure to recognize and act on signs of fetal distress. Abnormal changes in the baby’s heart rate on a fetal monitor can indicate that the baby is not receiving enough oxygen. A competent medical team should respond immediately, which may involve providing oxygen to the mother or preparing for an emergency delivery.
• Delayed or Improperly Performed C-Section: When signs of fetal distress are clear, or when labor is not progressing properly, a timely Cesarean section can be a life-saving procedure. Unnecessary delays—whether due to poor communication, understaffing, or a doctor’s failure to act—can starve the baby’s brain of oxygen, leading to permanent damage.
• Mishandling of Umbilical Cord Complications: Issues with the umbilical cord can quickly become emergencies. A prolapsed cord (where the cord slips into the birth canal ahead of the baby) or a nuchal cord (where the cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck) can become compressed, cutting off the baby’s oxygen supply. Failure to promptly identify and manage these situations is a serious breach of the standard of care.
• Improper Use of Delivery Instruments: The misuse of assistive delivery tools like forceps or a vacuum extractor can exert excessive force on the infant’s head and skull. This can cause skull fractures, bleeding in the brain (intracranial hemorrhage), and other direct trauma that results in brain damage.
• Failure to Manage Maternal or Fetal Infections: Infections in the mother, such as Group B Streptococcus (GBS) or chorioamnionitis, can be passed to the infant during delivery if not properly diagnosed and treated. These infections can lead to conditions like meningitis, which causes inflammation of the brain and can result in cerebral palsy.
• Failure to Treat Severe Jaundice (Kernicterus): Many newborns develop jaundice, a yellowing of the skin caused by high levels of bilirubin. If bilirubin levels become dangerously high and are not treated with phototherapy or other interventions, a type of brain damage called kernicterus can occur, which is a known cause of a specific type of cerebral palsy.
• Mishandling of High-Risk Pregnancies: Mothers with conditions like preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, or who are carrying multiples require a higher level of monitoring. Failure to properly manage these high-risk pregnancies can lead to complications that endanger the baby and increase the risk of a birth injury.

How is Medical Malpractice Proven in a Cerebral Palsy Case in Alabama?

To succeed in a medical malpractice claim for a birth injury in Alabama, your legal team must prove four specific elements. The burden of proof rests on the plaintiff (the injured party).

• A Duty of Care Existed: It must be established that a formal doctor-patient relationship was in place between the healthcare provider and the mother and child. This creates a legal duty for the provider to deliver care that meets the accepted professional standard. In a hospital delivery, this duty is almost always clear.
• The Standard of Care Was Breached: This is the heart of a medical negligence case. We must show that the doctor, nurse, or hospital’s actions—or failure to act—fell below the accepted standard of care. In Alabama, the standard of care is defined as the level of skill and care that a reasonably competent healthcare provider in the same field would have provided under similar circumstances. Proving this requires retaining qualified medical professionals to review the medical records and provide testimony about how the defendant’s conduct deviated from this standard.
• The Breach Caused the Injury (Causation): It is not enough to show that an error happened. We must prove a direct link between the provider’s failure and the child’s brain injury. For example, we must demonstrate that the failure to perform a timely C-section directly led to the oxygen deprivation that caused the child’s cerebral palsy. This link, known as causation, must be clearly established through medical evidence and professional testimony.
• The Injury Resulted in Damages: Finally, it must be shown that the child suffered actual harm because of the medical negligence. These damages are the physical, emotional, and financial costs resulting from the injury. They include past and future medical bills, the costs of therapy and long-term care, permanent disability, pain and suffering, and more.

Who Can Be Held Liable for a Birth Injury Causing Cerebral Palsy?

Investigating a birth injury claim involves identifying all potentially responsible parties. Liability is often not limited to a single person but can extend to the entire medical system that failed the patient.

Depending on the specific facts of the case, several parties could be held responsible:

• The Obstetrician (OB-GYN): As the primary physician responsible for managing the pregnancy and delivery, the OB-GYN is often a central figure in a birth injury case.
• Labor and Delivery Nurses: Nurses are on the front lines, responsible for continuously monitoring the mother and baby, interpreting fetal monitor strips, and alerting the doctor to any developing problems.
• Other Physicians: Specialists such as neonatologists or anesthesiologists involved in the delivery or immediate newborn care can also be held liable for errors.
• The Hospital or Birthing Center: The facility itself can be held directly liable for its own negligence, such as inadequate staffing, a lack of proper training protocols, or malfunctioning equipment. A hospital can also be held vicariously liable for the negligence of its employees, such as nurses.

What is the Time Limit for Filing a Cerebral Palsy Claim in Alabama?

Alabama imposes a strict deadline, known as the statute of limitations, for filing medical malpractice lawsuits. Generally, a lawsuit must be filed within two years from the date the malpractice occurred.

However, the law has special rules when the victim is a minor. For children, the statute of limitations can be extended, providing more time to file a claim. These rules are exceptionally complex and contain critical exceptions. It is vital to contact a knowledgeable birth injury attorney as soon as you suspect that medical negligence caused your child’s condition. Delaying can permanently prevent you from seeking the compensation your child deserves.

Compensation for the Lifelong Needs of a Child with Cerebral Palsy

A diagnosis of cerebral palsy comes with lifelong challenges and expenses. The goal of a medical malpractice lawsuit is to secure the financial resources your family will need to provide for your child’s care, support, and quality of life for their entire future.

Compensation, also called damages, is intended to cover the full scope of these needs, which may include:

• Medical and Healthcare Expenses: This covers all past, current, and future medical costs, including surgeries, hospital stays, doctor visits, prescription medications, and emergency care.
• Rehabilitation and Therapy: The cost of essential therapies that may be required for years or decades, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.
• Assistive Devices and Home Modifications: The expense of wheelchairs, braces, specialized computers, communication devices, and necessary modifications to your home and vehicle to accommodate your child’s disability.
• Long-Term and In-Home Care: The cost of hiring skilled nursing care, personal care attendants, or other assistance needed for daily living.
• Lost Future Earning Capacity: Compensation for the income the child will be unable to earn as an adult because of their injuries.
• Pain and Suffering: Damages for the physical pain, emotional distress, and mental anguish the child has endured and will face in the future.
• Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Compensation for the child’s diminished ability to participate in and enjoy life’s normal activities.

Contact Our Alabama Cerebral Palsy and Birth Injury Lawyers

Discovering that your child’s cerebral palsy may have been caused by a medical mistake is a heavy burden for any family to bear. You do not have to face this challenge alone. J. Allan Brown, L.L.C. is committed to helping families affected by birth injuries seek the justice and accountability they deserve. We will listen to your story with compassion, conduct a thorough investigation into the medical care your child received, and provide you with a clear assessment of your legal options. Let us help you take the first step toward securing the resources needed for your child’s future.

Contact our office at 251-473-6691 for a no-cost, confidential consultation to discuss your case.