Learning that your child may have suffered a preventable birth injury is heartbreaking, especially when you are still searching for answers about what went wrong.
McArthur Law Firm’s Georgia birth injury lawyers help families investigate whether medical negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery caused their child’s injuries.
When preventable mistakes cause lasting harm, we fight to hold negligent providers accountable and pursue compensation to support your child’s future.
Under founder Kathy McArthur’s leadership, our firm draws on 44 years of experience representing injured clients throughout Georgia.
We understand how difficult it can be for families to revisit the details of a traumatic delivery, so our attorneys handle the medical records, expert reviews, and legal proceedings while keeping you informed at every stage.
To find out whether medical negligence may have contributed to your child’s injuries, contact McArthur Law Firm at 404-565-1621 or 478-238-6600. We offer free, confidential consultations 24/7.
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Built for Cases That Last a Childhood
A birth injury case is not resolved in a few months. It often takes years to understand how an injury will affect a child’s development, and the claim has to account for care that may last a lifetime. Our firm is built for that kind of work.
When we review a birth injury, we bring in the specialists each part of the case requires: an obstetrician or maternal-fetal medicine physician for the delivery decisions, a labor and delivery nurse for the monitoring, and a neonatologist or pediatric neurologist for the newborn’s care.
A life care planner and an economist then help measure what the child will need over a lifetime. Those opinions are coordinated before anything is filed, so the case starts on solid footing.
Families often tell us the hardest part is reliving the delivery, so our team handles the records, the reviewers, and the court filings, and keeps you informed without asking you to carry the case yourself.
A family’s needs also change as a child grows, from early therapy to school support to adult care. We plan each case around those changing needs rather than around the fastest possible resolution.
How Long Do You Have to File a Birth Injury Claim for a Child in Georgia?
A Georgia birth injury claim on behalf of a child injured before age five generally may be filed until the child’s seventh birthday.
Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-73, a child injured before turning five has two years from the fifth birthday to bring a medical malpractice claim, subject to an absolute cutoff at the tenth birthday. For an injury at birth, that typically means the claim must be filed before the child turns seven.
Many families assume the usual two-year deadline under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71 has already passed and never call a lawyer. Waiting too long to seek legal guidance can put a child’s right to compensation at risk.
| Child’s Age When Injured | Filing Deadline for the Child’s Claim | Absolute Cutoff |
|---|---|---|
| At birth or before age five | Two years after the fifth birthday (the seventh birthday) | Tenth birthday |
| Age five or older | Two years from the injury | Five years from the negligent act |
| Infant who died | Two years from the date of death | Five years from the negligent act |
These rules govern the child’s own claim. A mother’s claim for her own injuries during delivery follows the standard adult deadlines, and the timing of each family member’s claim should be reviewed separately.
What Types of Birth Injuries Can Lead to a Medical Malpractice Claim?
Different birth injuries require different medical evidence to determine what happened and whether negligent care played a role. Naming the condition precisely matters, because the defense will often argue that the child’s diagnosis has a cause unrelated to the delivery.
Cerebral Palsy and Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is brain injury caused by reduced oxygen and blood flow around the time of birth.
HIE can lead to cerebral palsy, a group of disorders affecting movement and muscle tone that the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes in detail.
When oxygen deprivation followed warning signs the delivery team missed or answered too slowly, the resulting injury may support a claim.
Erb’s Palsy, Brachial Plexus Injury, and Shoulder Dystocia
Shoulder dystocia occurs when a baby’s shoulder becomes stuck behind the mother’s pelvic bone during delivery. Excessive pulling or improper maneuvers can stretch or tear the brachial plexus, the nerves that control the arm, causing Erb’s palsy or more severe paralysis.
Risk factors for shoulder dystocia, such as a large estimated fetal weight, can sometimes be identified before delivery.
Brain Bleeds, Kernicterus, and Newborn Infections
Intracranial hemorrhage can follow traumatic delivery, including misuse of forceps or vacuum extraction. Kernicterus is brain damage from severe newborn jaundice that was not monitored or treated in time.
Neonatal infections, such as Group B streptococcus or meningitis, can cause lasting harm when maternal screening or newborn treatment is delayed.
What Causes Preventable Birth Injuries?
Some birth injuries occur because medical providers fail to recognize warning signs or act quickly when complications arise. Obstetricians, midwives, labor nurses, and hospitals all have roles in watching for danger and acting quickly, and a breakdown at any point can harm a baby.
Common forms of negligence in labor and delivery include:
- Misreading fetal heart monitoring or failing to respond to signs of fetal distress
- Delaying a cesarean section when the circumstances called for one
- Improper use of forceps or vacuum extraction
- Failing to diagnose or manage preeclampsia or gestational diabetes
- Errors with labor-inducing or labor-augmenting medications
- Failing to screen for or treat a maternal infection
Each of these failures leaves a record, often in the fetal monitoring strips and nursing notes, which is why the investigation starts with those documents.
What Is the Difference Between a Birth Injury and a Birth Defect?
A birth injury is harm caused during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, while a birth defect is a condition that developed before birth, usually from genetic or developmental causes. Birth injuries may be preventable and can support a malpractice claim.
Most birth defects are not caused by medical negligence, although a failure to detect or counsel about a defect during prenatal care can raise separate legal questions.
Why the Distinction Matters in Court
Hospitals and their insurers may argue that a child’s condition developed naturally rather than resulting from negligent medical care. Brain imaging, placental pathology, and genetic testing can help answer that argument.
Our reviewers look at timing evidence to show when the injury occurred and whether better care would have changed the outcome.
Does Georgia Require an Expert Affidavit for a Birth Injury Lawsuit?
A Georgia birth injury lawsuit must include an affidavit under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1 from a qualified medical professional identifying at least one negligent act.
Birth injury cases often require more than one reviewer, because obstetric, nursing, and neonatal care each involve distinct standards.
The Specialists These Cases Require
An obstetrician or maternal-fetal medicine physician typically reviews prenatal and delivery decisions.
A labor and delivery nurse may evaluate monitoring and communication, and a neonatologist or pediatric neurologist may address the newborn’s care and the cause of the injury. Coordinating these opinions before filing protects the case from early challenges.
What Compensation Can You Recover in a Georgia Birth Injury Lawsuit?
Compensation for a serious birth injury should account for your child’s long-term needs, not just their immediate medical expenses. A child with cerebral palsy or serious brain injury may need therapy, medical equipment, home and vehicle modifications, and attendant care for decades.
Georgia places no cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases following Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. v. Nestlehutt.
Compensation in a birth injury case can address these losses:
- Future medical care, therapy, and equipment documented in a life care plan
- Lost earning capacity over the child’s working life
- Physical pain, emotional suffering, and lost enjoyment of life
- Medical expenses the parents have already paid
A life care planner, working with treating doctors and economists, projects these needs year by year. That plan often becomes the most important damages evidence in the case.
Early intervention services through Georgia’s Babies Can’t Wait program can also help families now, while a claim is being evaluated.
How Do Our Georgia Birth Injury Lawyers Investigate Medical Negligence?
Our attorneys examine what happened throughout labor and delivery, including when warning signs appeared and how the medical team responded. The goal is to identify the moment when a different decision would have protected the baby.
We request and review these records:
- Fetal heart rate monitoring strips from admission through delivery
- Labor and delivery nursing notes and physician orders
- Apgar scores and newborn resuscitation records
- Umbilical cord blood gas results
- Newborn brain imaging, including MRI, and placental pathology
Some of these records, especially monitoring strips, must be specifically requested and may not be included in a standard copy of the chart. Securing them early prevents gaps later.
What Happens After a Birth Injury Case Settles?
A birth injury settlement in Georgia is structured to protect the child for decades, not just to pay past bills. A settlement of a minor’s claim above $25,000 generally requires court approval, and the court may require a conservator to manage the funds until the child turns 18.
Families often use a structured settlement, which pays out over time, or a special needs trust, which can hold funds without disqualifying the child from Medicaid or other needs-based benefits. These choices affect taxes, flexibility, and long-term security, so financial and benefits planning is part of resolving the case.
If Medicaid or a health plan paid for the child’s care, it may assert a lien or reimbursement claim against the recovery. Those claims are often negotiable, and resolving them correctly before funds are distributed protects the family from later disputes.
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FAQs for a Georgia Birth Injury Lawyer
How do I know if my child’s condition was caused by malpractice?
Determining whether a Georgia child’s condition resulted from malpractice requires an independent medical review of the pregnancy and delivery records. Not every case of cerebral palsy or nerve injury is caused by negligence, and an honest review can rule a claim in or out.
Do parents have a separate deadline for their own birth injury claim?
In Georgia, parents generally hold the claim for a minor child’s medical expenses, and that claim may not receive the same extended deadline as the child’s own claim. Families should have both claims evaluated early rather than relying on the child’s longer filing window.
What is HIE, and why does cooling therapy matter?
HIE, or hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, is newborn brain injury from oxygen deprivation, and therapeutic hypothermia, or cooling therapy, is generally most effective when started within about six hours of birth.
A delay in recognizing HIE or transferring a baby for cooling can be part of a birth injury claim.
Is there a damages cap, and how is a child’s settlement protected?
Georgia has no cap on non-economic damages in birth injury cases. A minor’s settlement exceeding $25,000 generally requires court approval, and larger settlements may require a conservator to protect the child’s funds.
Funds are often placed in a conservatorship, structured settlement, or special needs trust to protect the child’s long-term care and benefits.
What will a birth injury case cost my family?
A consultation with McArthur Law Firm about a Georgia birth injury case is free. Because these cases require several medical reviewers and a life care plan, we explain our fee agreement and how case costs are handled in writing before your family commits to anything.
Get Answers About Your Child’s Birth Injury From an Experienced Georgia Legal Team
Founding Partner
Your child’s future deserves careful planning, and understanding whether medical negligence played a role in their injuries is an important first step.
At McArthur Law Firm, we know that no legal action can undo what your family has experienced. However, a successful birth injury claim may provide financial support for the medical treatment, therapy, and long-term care your child needs to thrive.
Our Georgia birth injury lawyers have the experience and resources to investigate what happened, identify responsible providers, and fight for your family’s interests.
Call 404-565-1621 or 478-238-6600 for a free, confidential consultation. We are available 24/7 to discuss your concerns and help you determine your next steps.
Call Us Now for a Free Consultation!
Our Macon Office
McArthur Law Firm
6055 Lakeside Commons Dr #400
Macon, GA 31210
Representing Georgia families in birth injury cases
