Infant Wrongful Death Claim for Compensation

Fact Checked

An infant wrongful death occurs when a baby dies because of a medical provider’s negligent care. Parents can file an infant wrongful death claim for compensation, a lawsuit to seek justice and to recover damages for the loss of their child.

About Infant Wrongful Death

Infant death is always a tragedy. Newborns are more vulnerable than children and adults. Even the smallest errors while caring for them can cause tragic consequences.

In the most tragic of infant deaths, a medical provider’s negligence caused it. The death would not have happened if they had provided better care.

Many things can go wrong when a baby is born, both during and after delivery:

• For example, a baby can become asphyxiated or deprived of oxygen during delivery.
• An infant may also experience a traumatic birth injury from coming out of the womb or being manipulated with birthing instruments. Inappropriate use of forceps or vacuum extractors is a common cause of infant death.
• A doctor’s failure to order a Cesarean section can also cause a child’s death. If complications are suspected, it is a doctor’s responsibility to recognize that possibility and make the right decision about performing a Cesarean section. If the doctor is not careful and opts for a vaginal birth instead, complications could result in the infant’s death.
• Shortly after a baby is born, many other mistakes can lead to its death. For instance, if a child is born with a condition that goes undiagnosed, it could die from lack of treatment.
• A baby can also die if someone makes an error with medication. If the wrong medication is given or the wrong dose is given, the consequences could be severe.

What Makes an Infant Death Wrongful?

Many things can go wrong during and after delivery, leading to an infant’s death, but what makes that death legally wrongful?

There are three factors involved in proving that death is wrongful:

• You must prove that the person, medical team, or institution that made the mistake was responsible for your and your child’s care. If your doctor makes an error and it is clear they were caring for your child during and after delivery, you have met this burden of proof.
• You must also prove that the person responsible for your child’s care made a negligent mistake. This could mean not ordering a Cesarean section when it was apparent complications were likely or making a mistake with dosing medication, for example.
• Finally, you have to prove that the above error contributed significantly to the death of your infant.

Why File an Infant Wrongful Death Claim for Compensation?

Filing an infant wrongful death claim may seem daunting, and as a parent experiencing a terrible loss, you may not feel up to coping with this added burden.

However, there are some important reasons that you should file this claim if you believe that your caregiver was responsible for your child’s death:

• The first is that a successful claim brings justice to your child. Someone was responsible, and that person should be brought to justice.
• Another reason to file this claim is to protect other infants. When someone is brought to justice for medical negligence and punished, it forces doctors and other health professionals to be more careful in the future. It may even force an entire hospital to develop better safety procedures. These measures could save babies in the future.
• Finally, filing an infant wrongful death claim for compensation can provide you and your family with much-needed money.

It may seem selfish to think of money at this time when facing so much grief, but that money could help pay medical expenses and funeral expenses and will help you care for the other children in your family.

How Much Compensation Can Parents Get for Infant Wrongful Death?

Every case is different. An experienced birth injury lawyer can explain how compensation works and what kinds of damages you can claim if medical malpractice led to your child’s death. Some of the types of damages parents can recover in an infant wrongful death lawsuit include: 

• Medical expenses
• Funeral costs
• The costs of emotional pain and suffering

How to File an Infant Wrongful Death Claim for Compensation

You will need expert guidance to file an infant wrongful death claim to seek justice and compensation.

A lawyer experienced in medical malpractice can help you file this claim and give you the best chance of getting compensation for the loss of your child.

There are statutes of limitation, forms to complete, and proof to collect, and a good lawyer can ensure it is all done correctly. Your lawyer will also represent you in settlement discussions and at trial if it comes to that.

Examples of Infant Wrongful Death Claims

Filing a claim for the wrongful death of your infant is tough to face, but it is important, and there are many examples of other parents doing just that.

Medication Mistake

For example, in Idaho, the parents of a deceased child filed an infant wrongful death suit against a healthcare company and a nurse after their baby died at just seven months old.[1]

The mistake was made when the infant was brought to a hospital for treatment for a non-life-threatening heart condition. A nurse used the wrong IV solution, a dose prepared for an adult, to treat the baby, and the baby died.

Misuse of Forceps During Delivery

In another case, a mother won a $10.2 million settlement in an infant wrongful death claim for compensation in Texas. Her daughter died just four days after being born.

The doctor who delivered the baby was accused and found guilty of causing the wrongful death by using forceps to deliver her instead of performing a Cesarean section.[2]

The award included compensation for funeral expenses, loss of companionship, mental anguish, and physical pain.

Lack of Oxygen

In a tragic case from New Haven, Connecticut, a jury awarded a mother $6.5 million for the loss of her newborn as a result of medical malpractice. 

Jomayra Rodriquez was admitted to Yale New Haven Hospital. Doctors induced labor but then determined she should have a cesarian section because labor was not progressing.

For some reason, the doctors continued with a vaginal delivery anyway. The baby became lodged in the birth canal and could not be delivered before it died. The baby suffered asphyxiation from a torn umbilical cord and a broken neck.[3] 

If you have suffered because of the wrongful death of your infant, you, too, could file a successful claim for compensation.

It’s important to seek justice for these innocent victims and to get the compensation that will help you and your family move forward after this tragedy.