What Compensation Will I Receive in My Birth Injury Lawsuit?

What Compensation Will I Receive in a Birth Injury Lawsuit? When your child is injured because of a doctor’s negligence during birth, you are understandably angry and confused. You are likely looking at expensive treatments and possibly even the prospect of life-long special needs, not to mention the emotional pain and suffering you, your family, and your new child are experiencing in these moments. The birth injury lawyers at Burger Law understand your pain and will fight by your side to make sure you get the full compensation you need to protect your family’s future. Call us today at or contact us online to get started on the path of recovery.

What Compensation Will I Receive for My Child’s Birth Injury?

Every birth, mother and child is different and complications can arise that are nobody’s fault. However, sometimes a doctor or other medical professional tragically breaks the rules and gives you or your child substandard care. That negligence may have an adverse effect on you and your child for the rest of your life. Burger Law will help assuage this terrible moment by making sure the negligent parties are held accountable and that you get the full recovery you need to help make you whole again.

“I’ve dedicated my entire life to helping our clients receive full compensation for their injuries.”

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Gary Burger

Litigation attorney

The money you receive for your pain are called damages, and there are different types of damages that you will receive:

Economic Damages

Some damages can be easily measured in dollars. Your economic damages will be the sum of the money you needed to spend and will spend

• Medical Expenses. In birth injury cases, these can include but aren’t limited to:
  • Medical expenses such as doctors and specialists appointments, surgeries, therapy or rehabilitation
  • Medications
  • Special equipment such as crutches or wheelchairs
  • Disability costs, such as live-in care or home or vehicle modifications
• Special Education. A child with cerebral palsy or other developmental condition such as speech or behavioral therapy
• Lost Wages and Loss of Earning Potential. If you have to miss work because of doctor’s appointments or having to stay home with your child, either in the past or in the future, those lost wages will be calculated and be part of your compensation.

Noneconomic Damages

Other damages are harder to quantify, and are made to compensate you for the impact your child’s birth injury has had on you and your child’s emotional well-being and ability to enjoy life.

Missouri and Illinois have similar definitions of “nonenomic damages”:

• Pain and Suffering
• Mental Anguish
• Inconvenience
• Physical Impairment
• Disfigurement
• Loss of Capacity to Enjoy Life

While nothing will be able to take back a negligent healthcare professionals’ actions or inaction, noneconomic damages will help ease the burden you and your child feel. Unfortunately, the state of Missouri has placed “damage caps” on medical malpractice cases. In 2022, you will receive a a maximum $450,098 for non-catastrophic injuries, and $787,671 for catastrophic injuries.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are rarely rewarded and are designed to go beyond just making the plaintiff whole. They seek to punish the defendant for “willfull, wanton or malicious misconduct.” In other words, they only apply in special cases where a doctor or medical professional was not merely negligent but intentionally caused you harm. The goal with punitive damages is to discourage malicious behavior in the future.

Who Is Held Liable for a Birth Injury?

Determining liability in a birth injury is often more complicated than other personal injury cases. In a birth injury lawsuit, multiple people or entities may be considered liable for the losses suffered sustained by a victim.

Some of the parties who may be liable for birth injury and associated damages include:

• Physicians
• Nurses
• Nursing aides
• Hospital administrators
• Physician Assistant
• Surgeons

It is also common for a medical organization to be considered liable for your injuries, including urgent care clinics, private medical practices, and hospitals. Have a med mal attorney review who is held liable for a birth injury in your case.

When is a Hospital Liable for Medical Malpractice?

Hospitals are generally liable for employee negligence. A court may compel a health facility to pay an injured victim if any member of their staff was negligent in their duties, resulting in a birth injury.

However, the hospital may be exempt from liability for doctors working as independent contractors. However, a health facility is considered liable for any employee whose working hours, vacation time, and compensation are set by the institution.

In other instances, a hospital may be liable for the actions of a non-employee. If the hospital presents a physician as an employee and doesn’t clarify their status to a patient, they may be liable for their mistakes.

Hospitals may also be liable for giving staff privileges to specific doctors who did not deserve them. For instance, a health facility that hired a doctor with substance abuse problems and who made a mistake, leading to a birth injury.

In addition, many doctors provide treatment in hospital settings but are not not employees of the facilities. As such, a hospital may not be considered liable for their actions.

Proving a Birth Injury Lawsuit

Illinois law requires medical providers— like most professionals— to act with the same ability, skill, and knowledge as medical providers who are reasonably careful in a similar situation. 

To successfully prove a birth injury lawsuit, the injured victim must demonstrate the four elements of medical malpractice:

• A caregiver must owe a professional duty of care to the injured victim
• The medical provider falls below the standard of care of care leading to a birth injury
• You sustained a physical harm(birth injury) as a result of substandard care
• You sustained damages as a result of birth injuries that demand compensation, including medical expenses, lost income, loss of companionship, and pain and suffering.

Usually, you may need an expert witness to establish the expected standard of care and why the care you received qualifies as medical negligence. Usually, an expert witness is someone who practices a similar specialty as the at-fault healthcare provider.

The role of an expert witness is to provide testimony that defines the standard of care and how the actions or omissions of a healthcare provider contributed to the breach. 

In addition to sourcing an expert witness, an experienced medical malpractice attorney can apply their skills to compile various sources of evidence, including:

• Medical records
• Pay stubs
• Video surveillance
• Images of the injuries
• Inspection logs in hospitals

Your attorney will know the actions to take and what evidence to compile that proves a healthcare provider was medically negligent, leading to a birth injury.

Call a Birth Injury Lawyer Today

If you or your child was injured during birth because of a doctor or nurse’s negligence and substandard care, you need the skilled and experienced birth injury lawyers of Burger Law to hold them responsible and help make you whole again. You did not ask for these terrible circumstances, and you deserve to have you and your child’s futures protected. Call us today at or contact us online for a free case evaluation, and to learn more about what the birth injury attorneys at Burger law can do for you.

Gary Burger

Founder | Injury Attorney
Gary Burger has dedicated his career to standing up against bullies. The founder and principal attorney of Burger Law | St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer has helped hundreds of Missouri and Illinois individuals and families recover th …
Years of experience: 30 years
Location: St. Louis, MO

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