Reviewed by Andrew Needle and Andrew Ellenberg
Did your child experience a birth injury in Fort Lauderdale, FL?
Schedule a free consultation with a Fort Lauderdale birth injury attorney trusted by families throughout South Florida.
If your child was harmed during labor or delivery, you may be wondering whether the outcome could have been avoided. A Fort Lauderdale, FL birth injury lawyer at Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. can request the medical records, have them reviewed, and help you understand whether the care met accepted standards. Our founding attorneys have represented injured patients and grieving families across Florida for decades, and they handle plaintiffs’ injury and medical negligence cases only. When a provider’s care may have fallen short, we can explain what a claim could involve. Consultations are free.
Birth Injury Lawyer Fort Lauderdale, FL
A birth injury refers to harm suffered by a baby or mother during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or shortly after. Some of these injuries resolve on their own. Others can be permanent, and a number of them may trace back to care that fell below what a reasonably prudent provider would have done under the circumstances.
Not every difficult birth involves negligence. Complications can occur even when the medical team acts appropriately. The purpose of a birth injury claim is to determine whether a provider’s choices, or failures to act, caused avoidable harm. Our lawyers investigate that question by reviewing the records, working with qualified medical professionals, and looking closely at what happened in the moments that mattered.
Types of Birth Injury Cases We Handle in Fort Lauderdale
Birth injuries take many forms, and the medical and legal issues differ from one type to the next. Our attorneys review each set of records on its own terms. The cases we handle include the following.
- Brachial plexus injuries. These involve damage to the network of nerves that controls the arm and hand, sometimes producing Erb’s palsy. The brachial plexus can be stretched or torn when a baby’s shoulder becomes stuck and excessive force is used during delivery.
- Shoulder dystocia. This occurs when a baby’s shoulder lodges behind the mother’s pelvic bone after the head has delivered. Improper management, such as pulling too hard on the head or delaying recognized maneuvers, can cause nerve, bone, and oxygen-related injury.
- Cerebral palsy. A group of conditions affecting movement and posture, cerebral palsy can follow a period of oxygen deprivation around the time of birth. When a team fails to recognize and respond to signs of fetal distress, lasting brain injury may result.
- Spinal cord birth injuries. Injury to the spinal cord during a difficult delivery can affect movement and sensation. These cases often require careful review of how the delivery was managed.
- Neonatal injuries. Harm can happen to a newborn in the hours and days after birth, including injuries connected to monitoring, feeding, and care in the nursery or NICU.
- Oxygen deprivation. When a baby’s brain does not receive enough oxygen during labor or delivery, the harm can be severe. These claims often center on whether providers watched for distress and acted in time.
- Maternal injuries. Mothers can also be injured during delivery, including injuries tied to hemorrhage, infection, or a delayed response to a deteriorating condition.
Why Choose Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. as my Birth Injury Lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, FL?
Decades of Focused Plaintiffs’ Representation
Founding partners Andrew Needle and Andrew Ellenberg bring more than 70 years of combined experience in Florida medical negligence and plaintiffs’ injury law. Both handle plaintiffs’ injury and death cases exclusively.
Andrew Ellenberg focuses on plaintiffs’ injury and medical negligence cases, with practice concentrations that include plaintiffs’ injury and medical negligence cases across birth injury, delayed diagnosis, surgical error, anesthesia, and stroke claims. He earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1988. Martindale-Hubbell rates him AV Preeminent. Florida Super Lawyers has listed him every year since 2005, and The Best Lawyers in America has listed him every year since 2009 for plaintiffs’ medical malpractice and personal injury work.
Andrew Needle is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by The Florida Bar. His practice concentrations include complex medical malpractice litigation and trial work, including multi-million dollar verdicts in cases that have tested the outer boundaries of existing Florida legal precedent. He holds a J.D. cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law (1977) and a B.S. from Cornell University (1974). He is a charter member of the Miami chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Best Lawyers in America named him “Lawyer of the Year” for Medical Malpractice Law, Plaintiffs, in Miami for 2020 and 2025.
Results and Fee Structure
Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients across all practice areas, including multiple eight-figure results in medical malpractice matters. Many of the healthcare cases involved birth injuries, delayed diagnosis, surgical errors, anesthesia complications, and health system negligence. Our fees are contingent. We offer free consultations, and staff members speak Spanish.
Understanding Birth Injury Cases
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Birth Injury Cases
Florida law defines the standard of care as the level of care, skill, and treatment that a reasonably prudent health care provider would have provided under the circumstances. A birth injury claim may require showing that a provider’s care fell below that standard and that the breach caused the injury.
Liability can extend beyond a single physician. Obstetricians, nurses, anesthesiologists, and the hospital system itself may share responsibility depending on what the records show. Our lawyers pursue medical malpractice and birth injury claims involving many of Florida’s largest health care systems, including AdventHealth Systems, Ascension Health, Baptist Health, BayCare Health System, Cleveland Clinic Florida, HCA Healthcare, and Orlando Health.
Economic damages can include the financial losses that were sustained and/or that reasonably will be suffered in the future, due to the malpractice. These can include lost wages, diminished earning capacity, past and future care, treatment, therapies and services. In a birth injury case, they may also include the cost of a lifetime of medical care and support a child could require.
Non-economic damages include pain, suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, scarring and disfigurement since the time of the alleged malpractice and into the future. While there was once a limit on the amount that could be recovered for this category of damages, those caps were overruled by Florida’s highest court. Some healthcare providers claim that the caps on non-economic damages still apply to a certain category of claimants who receive health insurance through Medicaid, but this is regularly disputed by lawyers for victims of malpractice. Florida’s high court has not yet ruled on this issue.
Where a birth injury results in the loss of a child, families may also have a claim through Florida’s wrongful death framework, and our attorneys can explain how those rules could apply.
What Are Important Aspects of a Birth Injury Case?
Florida also has a state program known as NICA that can affect certain birth injury cases involving severe neurological injury. We view this program as deeply problematic. In qualifying cases, it can strip families of the right to bring a traditional medical malpractice lawsuit, and it frequently provides far less than what a catastrophically injured child may need over a lifetime. As lawyers for families in this situation, we look for ways, when possible and appropriate, to keep a case out of NICA.
Proof also matters. A birth injury claim generally depends on establishing a breach of the standard of care, causation, and damages, which is why early review of the complete records can be so important.
What Is The Birth Injury Case Timeline?
Every case moves at its own pace, but many follow a similar path. The first phase involves gathering and reviewing the prenatal, labor, delivery, and newborn records. Next comes investigation, where qualified medical professionals assess whether the care fell below accepted standards. Florida law then requires a presuit period before a medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed, including a sworn affidavit from a qualified medical provider supporting the claim. After that, the case may proceed into litigation, and many matters resolve before trial.
What Should You Bring to Your Birth Injury Consultation?
Bringing a few items can help our attorneys assess your situation more quickly. Helpful materials include the following:
- Prenatal, labor, delivery, and newborn medical records, if you have them
- Any imaging, lab results, or discharge summaries
- Notes on your child’s diagnoses and ongoing care
- A written timeline of what happened, in your own words
You do not need every document to meet with us. The consultation is free, and it gives you a chance to ask questions and learn whether a review could be worthwhile.
What Are Important Florida Legal Resources for Birth Injury Cases?
These public resources can help families understand how Florida handles negligence claims and damages. Listing them here is for general information and is not an endorsement.
- The Florida Legislature publishes the state’s negligence and damages statutes, which set out core rules for civil injury claims.
- The Florida Courts website offers general information about how civil cases move through the state court system.
Reach Out to Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. to Schedule a Consultation
If you have questions about your child’s birth injury, our attorneys are ready to listen and review what happened. Our fees are contingent, and the initial consultation is free. Contact us to arrange a time that works for you, and we will follow up promptly to discuss the records and explain how a Fort Lauderdale birth injury lawyer could help.