Key Takeaways
- Stillbirth occurs after 20 weeks of pregnancy, affecting about 20,000 babies in the U.S. annually.
- Risk factors include hypertension, obesity, diabetes, fetal distress, birth defects, multiple pregnancies, and substance use.
- Proper prenatal care involves monitoring fetal heartbeat, checking for infections, and conducting non-stress tests during labor.
- Medical negligence, such as failure to detect complications, misdiagnoses, or errors during delivery, can contribute to stillbirth.
- Families may seek legal assistance from a birth injury attorney to pursue compensation for medical costs, lost earnings, mental anguish, and punitive damages.
Wagner Reese, LLP, birth injury attorneys understand how devastating a stillbirth can be. If you believe the stillbirth was due to medical negligence, our birth injury lawyers are here for you.
Our Indiana birth injury attorneys have an excellent track record of holding negligent medical professionals and institutions accountable for causing birth injuries. Because of our stellar legal work, many of our lawyers belong to the coveted Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, which admits only the top 1% of attorneys in America.
Many Wagner Reese attorneys were named to the Best Lawyers in America© by Best Lawyers® in 2022 and 2024. These accolades show the impressive case results our attorneys regularly achieve in their birth injury and other personal injury work. Contact our birth injury attorneys today for a complimentary legal consultation.
What Is Stillbirth?
Stillbirth is when a baby dies during or before the delivery. Most people believe that a stillbirth is a miscarriage, but this is a misnomer. A miscarriage is usually before the woman is 20 weeks pregnant, while a stillbirth happens after the 20th week. Approximately 20,000 babies are stillborn in the US annually. It is estimated that up to 25% of stillbirths could have been prevented.
The following are risks that could increase your chances of stillbirth. If you have any of these risks, speak to your obstetrician about how to minimize the chances of a stillbirth:
- Hypertension
- Umbilical cord problems
- Obesity
- Fetal distress
- Previous stillbirths
- Birth defects
- Pregnancy with twins
- Epilepsy
- Diabetes
- Smoking, drinking, or taking drugs
What Causes a Stillbirth?
Doctors should use the following methods during the pregnancy to reduce stillbirth risks:
- Listen to the fetus’s heartbeat during every appointment to ensure that it is strong and regular
- Check the mother’s urine often to ensure there are no infections or abnormalities that could injure the fetus
- Use a fetal non-stress test during labor and delivery. The test lets the doctor review the baby’s heartbeat and movement
If the doctor does not perform these checks and there is a stillbirth, medical negligence could be a factor. Also, if the risk factors above were not addressed and the baby dies, it could be medical negligence.
Your attorney could argue that medical malpractice occurred in your stillbirth case because the risk factors should have been noticed and treated during prenatal visits or delivery. In many cases, the medical professional or facility may be found negligent if complications were noticed during delivery, but nothing was done to resolve them.
Your birth injury attorney may also be able to prove that the stillbirth was due to medical negligence if these factors were involved:
- The medical professional didn’t use the correct skills, knowledge, and care that is expected when handling a pregnant woman and an unborn baby.
- The failure of action led to the stillbirth.
Potential medical errors that may lead to stillbirth are not diagnosing complications, not referring the mother to specialists, misdiagnosed infections, errors made when performing a C-section, and not interpreting fetal monitoring strips correctly.
When to Seek a Birth Injury Attorney For Stillbirth
If your baby was stillborn and you think something was not done correctly during the pregnancy or delivery, speak to an experienced birth injury lawyer today. A birth injury claim usually involves a doctor or hospital defendant. It’s challenging to go up against defense attorneys alone.
An Indiana birth injury attorney can fight for your rights. They know how to take on doctors and hospital attorneys in a birth injury case and win. You don’t need to know definitively that malpractice was involved in your stillborn case. Your attorney will listen to your story and investigate the matter if it has merit. As part of your settlement or court award, you could expect compensation for:
- Medical expenses
- Lost earnings related to the loss
- Your baby’s pain and suffering
- Mental anguish for you and your family
- Punitive damages, if appropriate
Speak to an Indiana Birth Injury Attorney Now
If a stillbirth may have been caused by medical negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, mental anguish, lost earnings, and more. Wagner Reese, LLP, is an experienced birth injury law firm that will hold the negligent party accountable for your losses. We have over 150 years of combined legal experience holding at-fault parties accountable for their negligence.
Our personal injury attorneys will review your stillbirth claim immediately to determine if you have a valid case. Call us at (888) 204-8440 for legal assistance.
