You come home from the hospital with a healthy baby girl. It seems everything went smoothly during delivery. Then you notice your baby doesn’t react to loud noises. A few months go by, and you’re worried because your baby never seems to smile or laugh.
After two years, you notice that your child has missed several important developmental steps. You fear the worst, but you don’t know what you can do. The latency of birth injuries can be difficult to accept. Thankfully, if your child suffered from a previously unnoticed birth injury, you have options.
What Is a Latent Birth Injury?
Some birth injuries are, clearly, more noticeable than others. A forceps mark on a baby’s face is difficult to ignore. However, some birth injuries take years to manifest. These injuries are, typically, those affecting the brain.
When babies are cut off from oxygen, they can suffer brain damage that may cause a variety of mental and developmental disorders. There are many reasons for this, the baby may become stuck in the birth canal or there may be improper monitoring of the mother’s blood pressure.
While many oxygen-deprived newborns make a full recovery with proper medical attention and therapy, others are less fortunate. The doctor may not order proper treatment, and the baby could be changed forever. The family would return home, not realizing what happened until their child misses critical developmental milestones months or even years later.
While this is a devastating time for the family, they still have an opportunity to file a claim against the hospital for birth injuries. While most states place a two-year statute of limitations on birth injury claims, the state of Georgia has protections in place for latent birth injuries.
Your Options as a Resident of Georgia
In Georgia, the statute of limitations time does not begin until your child turns five-years-old. You then have two years, up to your child’s seventh birthday, to file a claim. This important bit of legislation means that if you discover your child has a latent birth injury, you have plenty of time to speak with an attorney and file a claim.
If you suspect your child missed developmental milestones because of a latent birth injury, you may want to seek legal representation. If you’d like an experienced Atlanta birth injury attorney from the Tolson Firm to evaluate your birth injury claims, contact us today or call (404) 800-9166.