Guide to Birth Injury Lawsuits in Georgia

What happens when a healthcare professional commits malpractice during labor and delivery?

The majority of healthcare professionals in Georgia provide excellent care during the stages of labor and childbirth. But in some cases, the care provided falls below the acceptable standard of care. When an injury to a child results from substandard care, a birth injury lawsuit may be appropriate.

In this article, we'll explain what you need to prove to establish a successful birth injury claim. We'll also take a look at when you need to file your lawsuit, and what steps you should take immediately following a birth injury.

When can you sue for a birth injury in Georgia?

Although birth injuries are always stressful for parents, you can't always sue someone for a birth injury. To sue someone for a birth injury, someone has to be at fault. Healthcare providers aren't considered at fault if the birth injury was unavoidable or if the injury was necessary to prevent a more significant injury.

So when is a healthcare provider at fault for a birth injury?

To establish fault in a birth injury case in Georgia, you need to prove that:

1. Your healthcare provider failed to exercise the degree of care and skill expected of a reasonable healthcare professional in the same profession, and
2. The failure was the cause of your child's injury.

In other words, Georgia acknowledges that healthcare professionals should be held to certain standards. If a healthcare professional delivers care that falls below these standards and an injury occurs as a result, the healthcare professional will be held liable.

To convince an insurance company, judge, or jury that a healthcare professional met or failed to meet the applicable standard of care, parties generally retain medical experts to provide reports and testify about the appropriate medical standard of care and whether the healthcare professional met that standard. 

Common examples of actions that might lead to a birth injury lawsuit include:

What is the statute of limitations for Georgia birth injury cases?

Every state has a "statute of limitations" that determines how long you have to file a lawsuit.

If you fail to file a lawsuit within the allotted time, your case will be dismissed and you will be permanently barred from filing the lawsuit.

Under Georgia law, a parent or guardian can file a lawsuit on behalf of their injured child up to the point that the child turns 7 years old.

It's not always clear that a child has been injured at birth. Sometimes, the symptoms of a birth injury don't appear until years after the injury occurs. If you can prove that, despite your due diligence, you weren't aware of the injury until after the child's 7th birthday, you may be able to have the deadline extended (this is called "tolling" the statute of limitations).