Atlanta Birth Injury Lawyers
Birth injuries are not always clear in the delivery room. Parents may begin asking questions later, when their child develops seizures, feeding issues, abnormal muscle tone, developmental delays, or other concerning symptoms.
If you are looking for an Atlanta birth injury lawyer to review what happened during your child’s delivery, Hasner Law represents families across Georgia whose children suffered preventable harm during labor, delivery, or newborn care. The firm has recovered over $1 billion in settlements and verdicts for injured clients.
Birth injury claims are medical malpractice cases. Georgia law requires families to prove that a healthcare provider failed to follow the accepted standard of care and caused the child’s injury. It also requires an expert affidavit under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1, which must be filed with the complaint.
Because this requirement affects how a case begins, early legal review is important. Call Hasner Law at 678-888-4878 for a free consultation about a possible birth injury claim in Atlanta or anywhere in Georgia.
Why Do Atlanta Families Choose Hasner Law for Birth Injury Claims?
We bring more than 100 years of combined legal experience to families across Atlanta, Savannah, Kennesaw, and communities throughout Georgia.
Our founding attorney, Stephen Hasner, co-founded the Georgia Injured Workers’ Advocates (GIWA) and has spent his career representing people harmed by negligence.
Our team includes a former Administrative Law Judge and attorneys who handle complex injury litigation in Fulton County Superior Court and courts across Georgia.
In birth injury cases, our attorneys coordinate early medical reviews with qualified physicians before filing suit.
For example, the team reviews delivery records, fetal monitoring strips, nursing notes, and provider decisions to determine whether a qualified expert can support the affidavit required under Georgia law.
How We Approach a Birth Injury Case
Birth injury claims require a detailed medical review before any legal filing. Our attorneys work with qualified medical professionals to examine fetal monitoring strips, delivery records, nursing notes, and provider decisions from labor through delivery.
This review helps determine whether a provider deviated from the standard of care and whether that deviation caused the child’s injury.
We do not file a complaint until a qualified physician has identified where the standard of care broke down and is prepared to support that opinion through the expert affidavit process.
Our pre-filing preparation reflects the way we have handled birth injury medical reviews across Fulton County and throughout Georgia.
We handle birth injury cases on a contingency-fee basis. Your family pays nothing upfront and owes nothing unless we recover compensation. Call 678-888-4878 for a free case review.
What Types of Birth Injuries Result From Medical Negligence in Georgia?
Birth injuries caused by medical negligence typically involve oxygen deprivation, excessive mechanical force, or failure to respond to signs of fetal distress during labor and delivery.
The specific injury depends on what went wrong, how long it lasted, and how the medical team responded.
The birth injuries that most frequently lead to malpractice claims in Atlanta include:
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which is brain damage caused by reduced oxygen and blood flow to the baby’s brain during labor or delivery
- Cerebral palsy resulting from oxygen deprivation, untreated jaundice, or traumatic delivery that damaged the developing brain
- Erb’s palsy and brachial plexus injuries caused by excessive pulling or twisting of the baby’s head, neck, or shoulders during a difficult delivery
- Bone fractures, particularly to the clavicle or skull, caused by improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors
- Intracranial hemorrhage, which is bleeding inside or around the brain, often linked to traumatic delivery or untreated clotting disorders
Not every birth injury results from negligence. Some injuries occur despite appropriate care.
The distinction between a preventable injury and an unavoidable complication is a medical question that requires physician review before a legal claim moves forward.
How Does a Birth Injury Claim Differ From a Standard Personal Injury Case?
Birth injury claims follow Georgia’s medical malpractice rules, which impose requirements that do not apply to standard personal injury cases. The table below shows the key differences.
| Standard Personal Injury | Birth Injury (Medical Malpractice) | |
| What you must prove | That the defendant acted negligently and caused your injury | That the provider deviated from the accepted standard of medical care and that deviation caused the child’s injury |
| Expert requirement at filing | None | Must file an expert affidavit from a qualified medical professional under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1 |
| Statute of limitations | Two years from the date of the accident | Two years from the date of the negligent act under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71, with a five-year statute of repose |
| Minor’s extended deadline | Tolled until the child turns 18 | Children injured before age five generally have until their seventh birthday to file, with a minor-specific outside deadline of the child’s tenth birthday under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-73. |
| Damage caps | No cap on compensatory damages | No cap on compensatory damages (Georgia’s cap was struck down as unconstitutional in 2010) |
| Pre-suit requirements | None in most cases | Expert affidavit must accompany the complaint |
The expert affidavit is the single largest procedural difference. A birth injury lawsuit filed without the affidavit faces immediate dismissal.
What Medical Errors Lead to Birth Injuries at Atlanta Hospitals?
Preventable birth injuries most often trace back to five categories of provider error: failure to monitor fetal distress, delayed cesarean delivery, excessive force during delivery, missed maternal health conditions, and medication mismanagement.
Obstetric teams at hospitals across Fulton County, DeKalb County, and Gwinnett County face high-volume delivery schedules where any of these failures may cause permanent harm.
The provider errors that most commonly result in birth injury claims include:
- Failure to monitor fetal heart rate patterns that indicate distress or umbilical cord compression
- Delayed decision to perform a cesarean section when vaginal delivery poses a risk to the baby
- Excessive or improper force during delivery, including misuse of forceps or vacuum extraction devices
- Failure to diagnose and treat maternal conditions like preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, or infections that affect the baby
- Medication errors involving Pitocin or other labor-inducing drugs that cause uterine hyperstimulation
Each of these errors may be traceable to a specific provider decision documented in the medical record. Fetal monitoring strips, nursing notes, physician orders, and operative reports all become evidence.
What Filing Deadlines Apply to a Birth Injury Claim in Atlanta?
Georgia imposes three overlapping deadlines that govern when a birth injury lawsuit must be filed. Missing any of them may permanently bar the claim.
The Two-Year Statute of Limitations
Georgia’s medical malpractice statute of limitations under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71 requires filing within two years of the negligent act. For most birth injuries, that means two years from the date of delivery.
In limited circumstances involving foreign objects or certain concealed injuries, Georgia law may delay when the clock begins. Most birth injury claims, however, are measured from the date the negligent act occurred.
The Five-Year Statute of Repose
Georgia also applies a five-year absolute deadline under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71(b). No medical malpractice claim may be filed more than five years after the negligent act, regardless of when the family learned about the injury.
This deadline overrides all other provisions and applies even to claims where a diagnosis like cerebral palsy came years after delivery.
The Minor’s Extended Deadline
Georgia has a special deadline rule for medical malpractice claims involving young children.
Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-73, if the child was under age five when the malpractice happened, the family usually has two years from the child’s fifth birthday to file the claim. In many cases, this means the deadline may extend until the child’s seventh birthday.
Georgia also has a final deadline for these claims. If the child was under age five when the malpractice happened, the claim generally cannot be filed after the child’s tenth birthday.
These deadline rules can be complicated and depend on the facts, so families should talk to an attorney as soon as possible.
What Compensation May Your Family Recover in an Atlanta Birth Injury Case?
Georgia does not cap compensatory damages in birth injury cases, and lifetime costs frequently reach into the millions when a child requires decades of medical care, therapy, and personal assistance. Juries determine the full value based on the evidence.
The categories of damages that a successful birth injury claim may include:
- Lifetime medical expenses covering surgeries, hospitalizations, therapy, prescriptions, medical equipment, and specialist care
- Cost of in-home nursing, personal assistance, and adaptive equipment if the injury limits the child’s independence
- Special education and developmental therapy costs beyond what public programs provide
- Lost earning capacity over the child’s entire working life if the injury prevents future employment
- Pain and suffering experienced by the child, plus the parents’ claim for loss of companionship
Working with life care planners and economists to project these costs accurately is what separates a strong claim from one that settles for far less than the child requires.
Ask Hasner Law
Do I need a medical expert to file a birth injury lawsuit in Georgia?
Yes. Georgia requires an expert affidavit from a qualified medical professional under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1. The affidavit must state that the provider deviated from the standard of care and that the deviation caused the injury.
Filing without the affidavit results in dismissal. Your attorney coordinates the medical review and retains the expert before filing.
How do I know if my child’s birth injury resulted from negligence?
Not every birth complication results from negligence. A qualified medical professional reviews your delivery records, fetal monitoring strips, and the provider’s decision-making timeline to determine whether the standard of care was met.
That review happens before any lawsuit is filed and is a required part of the process in Georgia.
What if my child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy months after birth?
Many birth injuries, including cerebral palsy, are not diagnosed immediately. Georgia’s five-year statute of repose under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71(b) applies as an absolute outer deadline regardless of when the diagnosis occurs.
Contacting an attorney as soon as you suspect a connection between the delivery and your child’s condition is the safest approach.
FAQs for Atlanta Birth Injury Lawyers
What is the expert affidavit requirement in Georgia medical malpractice cases?
Georgia law under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1 requires every medical malpractice complaint to include an affidavit from a licensed healthcare professional.
The affidavit must confirm that the provider deviated from the accepted standard of care and that the deviation caused the injury. Filing without the affidavit results in dismissal.
Does Georgia cap damages in birth injury cases?
No. Georgia does not impose a cap on compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases. The state’s previous cap was struck down as unconstitutional in Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery v. Nestlehutt (2010).
Juries determine the full value of both economic and non-economic damages. Punitive damages are subject to a separate statutory cap under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1.
What if the hospital says my child’s injury was unavoidable?
Hospitals and their insurers routinely characterize birth injuries as unavoidable complications rather than the result of negligence.
Your attorney retains independent medical professionals to review the records and provide an opinion on whether the provider met the standard of care.
The hospital’s characterization is a defense argument, not a medical determination.
What happens if both parents disagree about whether to file a birth injury claim?
Either parent may initiate a claim on behalf of the child. Georgia law allows a parent or legal guardian to file a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of a minor.
If the parents disagree, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem to act in the child’s best interest during the litigation.
What if the birth injury happened at a military hospital or VA facility in Georgia?
Claims against federal facilities like military hospitals follow the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) rather than Georgia’s medical malpractice statutes. The FTCA requires a formal administrative claim with the appropriate federal agency before a lawsuit may be filed.
The deadlines and procedures differ from state law claims, and consulting with an attorney familiar with federal malpractice claims is particularly important.
Get Answers About Your Child’s Birth Injury From Atlanta Birth Injury Lawyers
Your child’s medical records hold the answers to whether negligence played a role in what happened during delivery. Those records do not get clearer with time.
Fetal monitoring data, nursing notes, and provider documentation all become harder to interpret as months and years pass.
Georgia’s deadline rules are strict, and the expert affidavit requirement means the medical review must happen before any lawsuit begins.
Speaking with an attorney early helps protect the claim and preserve key medical evidence. Call 678-888-4878 today for a free, confidential case review.w we might be able to help you and your family at this difficult time.
