Birth Injury Lawyer in Sterling Heights, MI
When a delivery goes wrong, the answers can feel out of reach. If your baby was hurt during birth, a birth injury lawyer in Sterling Heights at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. helps families across Macomb County understand what happened. Our office near Livonia is a short drive away; the consultation is free, and our results include a $15.8 million birth injury verdict.
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We know that no amount of money undoes what your family has been through. What a claim can do is secure the care your child will need and hold the people responsible to account. That is the work we have done for Michigan families for decades.
What Is a Birth Injury?
A birth injury is physical harm a baby suffers because of negligent medical care during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. People sometimes confuse it with a birth defect, but the two are not the same.
A birth defect arises from genetics or natural development and is not anyone’s fault. A birth injury, by contrast, is the result of a preventable error by a doctor, nurse, or hospital.
The mistakes behind these injuries tend to repeat: a labor that is not monitored closely enough, a breech or stuck baby handled with too much force, an umbilical cord problem that goes unaddressed, or an emergency C-section that comes too late.
When the team misses a warning sign that a careful provider would have acted on, a newborn can pay the price for life. Proving that requires reading the records the way a clinician does, and that is where a birth injury claim begins.
Families in Sterling Heights welcome their children at Macomb County hospitals and birthing centers, including facilities such as Henry Ford Macomb and McLaren Macomb. We have helped parents throughout the county examine the care they received and decide whether a claim is the right step.
Birth Injury Cases Our Attorneys Handle
No two birth injuries are identical, and the medicine behind each one is dense. Our team leans on attorney Eileen Kroll’s experience as a registered nurse to interpret the clinical record, then builds the legal case around it. The conditions below are the ones we see most, and each falls within the wider field of medical malpractice.
Cerebral Palsy From Medical Negligence
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders affecting movement and posture, frequently linked to oxygen loss or brain injury around the time of delivery. The CDC reports it as the most common motor disability in childhood, found in roughly 1 in 345 children. When the cause traces back to a mishandled delivery, the resulting claim can fund decades of therapy, equipment, and care.
Erb’s Palsy and Nerve Damage
Erb’s palsy is weakness or paralysis of the arm caused by damage to the brachial plexus nerves, often during a delivery where the shoulder becomes lodged and excessive force is used. Some babies regain function with treatment, while others face permanent limitations. The pattern of injury usually reveals how the delivery was managed.
Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
HIE is brain damage from reduced oxygen and blood flow during birth. It is closely tied to failures in fetal monitoring, where distress signals were missed or ignored. As the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke explains, oxygen deprivation around birth is a leading pathway to lasting neurological injury, including seizures and developmental delay.
Forceps and Vacuum Extraction Injuries
Assisted-delivery tools can be lifesaving when used correctly and dangerous when they are not. Misapplied forceps or a vacuum extractor can cause skull fractures, bleeding around the brain, or nerve damage. We examine whether the tool was warranted and whether it was used within accepted limits.
Delayed Emergency C-Section
When a baby shows signs of distress, the window to act safely is short. A C-section ordered too late can leave a child oxygen-deprived and permanently injured. Reconstructing the minute-by-minute timeline often shows exactly when the team should have moved.
Our Track Record: Multi-Million Dollar Birth Injury Results
The strongest measure of a birth injury firm is what it has actually recovered. We won a $15.8 million verdict for a Michigan couple whose son developed cerebral palsy after an error in the final stage of labor. That result reflects the staggering lifetime cost of caring for a child with a permanent birth injury.
Our record also includes a $3.8 million birth trauma settlement tied to oxygen loss during labor and delivery, a $2.2 million recovery for two families whose children were harmed by birth injuries, and a $9 million verdict in a related case where a hospital failed to act on internal bleeding. These and other case results show the depth of our birth injury experience.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, and each case stands on its own facts. What our history demonstrates is a willingness to pursue difficult cases fully, including to trial when that is what justice requires.
Why Sterling Heights Families Trust Our Birth Injury Lawyers
A birth injury case is part law, part medicine. It calls for someone who can challenge a delivering physician’s account, decode a fetal heart-rate tracing, and make sense of it all for a jury. Sterling Heights families turn to us for the qualities those cases demand.
Eileen Kroll holds both a nursing license and a law degree, a combination that lets our team find the turning point in a medical chart that a purely legal eye can miss. The firm’s recognition, including Super Lawyers and Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent honors, reflects that depth, and you can learn why families choose us when the stakes are this high.
We accept birth injury cases on a contingency fee, so there is no cost to begin and no fee unless we win. Our toll-free line is staffed around the clock, and our main office near Livonia is a manageable drive from Sterling Heights and the rest of Macomb County. As members of the Michigan and American Trial Lawyers Associations with decades of courtroom experience, we bring the resources a hospital’s defense team will respect. For a family already managing a child’s care, having that strength on your side changes everything.
Michigan Birth Injury Laws Affecting Sterling Heights Families
Birth injury cases are governed by Michigan’s medical malpractice rules, and those rules can decide whether your claim survives. The overview here is general information rather than advice for your specific case, and the surest way to protect your rights is a free, prompt consultation. The full statutes are available at the Michigan Legislature website.
Time Limits for Filing a Birth Injury Claim
In most Michigan medical malpractice cases, a claim must be filed within two years of the negligent act or within six months of when the harm should reasonably have been discovered, whichever falls later. Minors receive added protection: a child injured at birth can often bring a claim up to their tenth birthday when the malpractice happened before age eight. Still, the sooner you act, the easier it is to preserve records and witness memories that a strong claim depends on.
Michigan’s Notice of Intent Process
Michigan law requires you to serve a Notice of Intent on every provider you plan to sue and then wait up to 182 days before filing suit, a period meant for both sides to investigate. The eventual complaint must include an Affidavit of Merit from a qualified medical expert affirming that the care fell below the standard. These requirements are technical and unforgiving of mistakes, which is why early legal help is so valuable.
Compensation Available in Birth Injury Cases
A birth injury claim should account for the real, lifelong cost of your child’s care, not a quick estimate. Recoverable damages generally divide into two categories.
- Economic damages cover medical treatment, surgeries, ongoing therapy, medication, mobility and assistive devices, in-home care, special education, modifications to your home or vehicle, and your child’s reduced future earning capacity. Serious cases may also involve a spinal cord injury requiring specialized support.
- Non-economic damages address the pain, diminished quality of life, and loss of normal childhood experiences, along with the emotional impact carried by parents.
Michigan caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice claims, with the limit adjusted yearly for inflation and a higher cap reserved for the most catastrophic injuries, such as permanent loss of brain function. We avoid promising a set figure because the honest answer depends on your child’s condition and care plan. Our focus is documenting those lifelong needs in full so the claim reflects them.
Our Process: How We Handle Birth Injury Cases
Our aim from day one is simple: let your family concentrate on your child while we manage the legal work. A birth injury case with our firm moves through clear stages.
- We start with a free, private conversation about what happened and give you a straight answer on whether a claim makes sense.
- We obtain and study the records from prenatal care through delivery and the newborn period, reading them with a nurse’s eye for what went wrong.
- We bring in independent medical experts to confirm where the standard of care was breached and how that breach caused your child’s injury.
- We secure and protect the evidence, from monitoring data to staffing logs, before it can disappear.
- We handle every filing and deadline, including the Notice of Intent, Affidavit of Merit, and complaint.
- We negotiate hard and prepare for trial. Roughly 95% of our cases settle, but we ready each one as though a jury will decide it.
At every step, you can speak directly with your legal team and always know where your case stands.
Contact Our Birth Injury Lawyers in Sterling Heights
If your child suffered a preventable birth injury, you may have a legal claim against the medical team responsible. When a medical provider’s negligence is responsible, families in Sterling Heights have the right to pursue justice and secure the care their child deserves.
Contact us at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. for a free consultation. We’ll review your case, explain your options, and map out the strongest path forward. Remember, we don’t get paid unless you win.
Call us at 1-866-MICH-LAW anytime, 24/7, to schedule a free case evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a birth injury lawyer in Sterling Heights cost?
There is no upfront cost. We take birth injury cases on a contingency fee, so you owe no attorney fee unless we secure a recovery. The first consultation is free, and if we do not win, you pay no fee.
What is the deadline to file a birth injury claim in Michigan?
Generally two years from the negligence or six months from discovery, whichever is later, with an extension for minors that can reach the child’s tenth birthday in many cases. Deadlines are strict, so reach out as soon as you have concerns.
How do I know whether I actually have a case?
You may not know for certain, and that is fine. We review the records at no cost and, when needed, ask an independent medical expert to weigh in. If there is no viable claim, we will tell you honestly.
How long will a birth injury case take?
Most cases at our firm resolve within about 18 to 24 months, although complicated medical malpractice claims can run longer. We keep you informed at each phase so the process never feels uncertain.
Can I hold the hospital responsible and not just the doctor?
Frequently, yes. When a hospital’s nursing staff, policies, or systems contributed to the harm, the hospital may share liability. We pursue every party whose negligence played a part.
What is the difference between a birth injury and a birth defect?
A birth defect develops from genetics or natural causes and is not the result of negligence. A birth injury is caused by a preventable medical error during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. Only a birth injury supports a malpractice claim.
What should I bring to a free consultation?
Bring whatever you have: medical and hospital records, billing statements, discharge papers, and any notes you have written about the delivery. If you do not have records yet, come anyway, since we can help you obtain them.
How soon should I call after a birth injury?
As soon as possible. Early contact lets us preserve fetal monitoring data and other evidence, line up experts, and make sure no filing deadline slips by while your family focuses on your child’s care.
