A postpartum negligence lawsuit is about more than the money. It’s also about fairness and accountability. When you stand up for your rights, you make the medical system fairer for all patients who rely on medical professionals to provide competent postpartum care.

If you or your baby were injured because of improper postpartum medical care, the Wapner Newman postpartum negligence lawyers are here to help.

You trusted your healthcare providers to take care of you after your baby’s birth, and now you deserve compensation for the costs you face because they failed to do so properly.

Why Choose Us

A Track Record of Success

The Philadelphia postpartum negligence lawyers have a track record of success. We have an outstanding record in medical malpractice cases, including winning many multimillion-dollar settlements and awards for our clients.

We care about every one of our clients and will always treat you as an individual. We are committed to obtaining life-changing compensation while holding negligent medical professionals and hospitals accountable for the harm that their negligence caused.

We never charge a fee until you win your case.

How We Can Help

Postpartum negligence cases are complex and difficult to prove. We gladly take on the challenge and have the experience, resources, and drive to get excellent results. If you work with us, we will:

  • Investigate the causes and circumstances of your or your child’s medical condition or injury
  • Consult with experts to determine the applicable medical standard of care for your postpartum treatment
  • Gather evidence to show that your provider harmed you or your child by breaching the standard of care
  • Calculate the full extent of your need for compensation for your or your child’s expenses, losses, and non-economic damages
  • Negotiate aggressively with the negligent providers and their insurance companies
  • Fight to get fair compensation for you through a settlement agreement or a trial.

We will keep you informed about important developments in your case and gladly answer your questions throughout the legal process. We offer a free consultation so we can discuss what happened and show you how we can help.

You should get started on your case as soon as possible while the evidence is still fresh and there is still enough time to build a thorough case before the deadlines for filing.

Contact us at (215) 569-0900 today to make an appointment for your consultation.

Examples of Postpartum Negligence

Proper Medical Care Is Important After You Give Birth

After you give birth, your body goes through many changes. You need time to heal. Your doctor or other healthcare providers should monitor your health carefully. They should watch out for any warning signs of complications and promptly and correctly treat any health issues that arise.

Postpartum Complications Can Be Serious or Fatal

You are at an especially high risk for postpartum complications during the week after you give birth. You continue to be at risk for up to a year following your baby’s birth.

According to the CDC, 36% of all pregnancy-related deaths happen during delivery or in the following week, and 33% happen between one week and one year after delivery.

Common postpartum complications include:

If your healthcare provider does not properly recognize signs of these complications or fails to treat them properly, you can have serious health problems.

The tragedy is that these problems often could have been prevented had your healthcare provider given you competent medical care.

When healthcare providers are negligent, women may suffer postpartum complications that could have been prevented.

Common Types of Postpartum Negligence

Healthcare providers are required to meet a professional standard of competence and care. Any time they fail to meet that standard, and their failure causes harm to a patient, they may be liable for medical malpractice.

Common ways that doctors and other healthcare providers can be negligent while treating postpartum women include:

  • Failing to monitor the health of the mother and child properly
  • Failing to diagnose or adequately respond to postpartum complications, including hemorrhage (PPH) and high blood pressure (preeclampsia)
  • Failing to prevent, diagnose, or adequately treat infections
  • Prescribing the wrong medication or the wrong dosage
  • Failing to update medical records correctly
  • Not ordering all necessary medical tests
  • Discharging the mother and child from the hospital too soon.

Injuries to Babies

Babies can also be harmed by postpartum negligence. In addition, medical professionals can be negligent by:

  • Failing to monitor newborns for postpartum birth injuries properly
  • Failing to monitor infants throughout the postpartum period properly
  • Failing to test, properly diagnose, or properly treat health problems.

When babies are not properly treated during the postpartum period, they may develop health conditions that cause permanent disabilities.

What Happens If You Sue a Medical Professional for Postpartum Negligence?

Filing a Malpractice Lawsuit

Postpartum negligence is a type of medical malpractice. Doctors and other healthcare professionals are legally obligated to treat patients in ways that meet the applicable standards of their profession.

When they fail to meet those standards, and their failure causes harm, they may be held legally responsible for the harm they caused.

To hold them responsible, the person who was harmed (or a parent, if a child was harmed) needs to sue the negligent healthcare professional(s) who caused the harm.

In some cases, they can sue the hospital, clinic, or other entities as well.

Substantial Compensation May Be Available

Unlike some other states, Pennsylvania does not place arbitrary limits on how much you may receive for non-economic damages. When you sue for postpartum negligence, you are pursuing financial compensation for your injuries or your baby’s injuries.

This compensation covers a wide range of harms, including past, present, and future medical expenses, lost income, and quality of life losses stemming from the harms caused by the negligence.

How much compensation you may receive will depend on how you were harmed, what treatment you need for that harm, and how long you are expected to have to deal with the effects of that harm.

If, for example, you are expected to have a permanent disability requiring lifelong treatment and medication because of postpartum negligence, your compensation should cover the expected costs of that ongoing medical care.

If you have to take a lower-paying job because of disabilities or limitations stemming from the injury or illness, you should be compensated for the lost income.

It works the same way if your baby suffers birth injuries caused by postpartum negligence. A birth injury lawsuit can provide the funds needed to help ensure that your child can always afford the treatment and care they need.

Building a Strong Case to Prove Negligence in Postpartum Injury Lawsuits

Proving that medical professionals were negligent is challenging. You will need the help of an experienced postpartum negligence lawyer.

Your lawyer will gather evidence, including expert testimony, to:

  • Determine the standard of care that your healthcare provider should have lived up to in your situation
  • Prove that the healthcare provider failed to meet that standard
  • Prove that the provider’s failure to meet the standard caused the harm that you suffer
  • Demonstrate the full financial impact of that harm, including medical expenses and income losses
  • Show that you should also be compensated for “non-economic damages,” which include pain, emotional distress, disability, and other ways that your condition has, and will continue to, affect your life.

The Philadelphia postpartum negligence lawyers at Wapner Newman will fight hard for your right to receive substantial non-economic damages to fully and fairly compensate you for all the ways your life has been changed by postpartum negligence.

FAQs About Postpartum Negligence

How long after delivery can postpartum negligence occur?

Postpartum care extends from right after delivery up to a year later. Medical care that fails to meet the applicable standard for postpartum care for the mother or child during this time frame may be considered postpartum negligence.

Is it morally wrong to sue my doctor?

Most doctors do a tremendous amount of good, but when a doctor fails to meet the standards of their profession, they should be held accountable. This ensures that justice is served because you shouldn’t have to pay for the costs of someone else’s negligent mistake. It also helps ensure that the medical system is fair to all patients.

Get Full and Fair Compensation in Your Postpartum Negligence Case

Pennsylvania law gives you the right to seek compensation for the harm you have suffered by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. The Philadelphia postpartum negligence lawyers at Wapner Newman know how complex these cases are.

We are eager to help people harmed by improper medical care. We fight hard for the rights of people who have been harmed by medical malpractice. We would be glad to talk with you and help you determine what steps you can take next.

Call us at (215) 569-0900 for a free consultation with a member of our postpartum negligence team.