For Professionals · Legal Consulting

When the standard of care is in question, experience is the whole case. Available Now

Case review, expert witness and litigation consulting for birth-related matters, grounded in decades of direct, hands-on clinical practice in a wide range of settings and populations, in addition to health sciences research and teaching, and management of clinical and education programs.

Why This Matters for Your Case

Credible expert opinion and testimony on midwifery and obstetric nursing standards of care requires more than familiarity with a textbook or recollections from a long-ago career; it requires current expertise and practice in addition to experience in the full range of care settings and with the specific clinical situations a case might turn on. The depth and breadth of our expert nurse-midwives is the biggest asset here:

Thousands of births attended personally, not reviewed secondhand
Experience across home, hospital, and birth-center settings, and multiple countries, giving real comparative context on differing standards and protocols
Direct practice in both normal and complicated deliveries, including the judgment calls that don't show up cleanly in a chart note
Certified Nurse-Midwife credential plus a PhD in nursing and education, meeting the credentialing bar courts expect, backed by lived clinical judgment
Unusual background and expanded areas of expertise for a certified nurse-midwife, formerly a doula, traditional and direct-entry midwife, maternal-child and public health nurse, nurse-practitioner, and doctorally-prepared professor, researcher and director of clinical and education programs

What Kinds of Cases Are We Talking About?

Illustrative examples of case types, not descriptions of any actual past or current legal matter.

New parents who want to learn more and better understand what happened at their baby's birth from an independent review of their medical records and/or recollections
Legal standard-of-care disputes in women's health, labor, delivery, and postpartum management
- Questions about timely recognition of perinatal complications, including fetal distress or postpartum hemorrhage
- Birth injury allegations requiring credible testimony on whether standard maternity nursing or midwifery care practices were followed
- Informed consent disputes, whether or not a patient was appropriately informed of risks, options, and alternatives to medications and procedures
- Community birth settings: home birth and freestanding birth center questions, including whether risk assessments or hospital transfers happened appropriately and when it should have
Scope-of-practice questions involving midwives, doulas, obstetric nurses, and the interprofessional teams they are part of

Pricing

Initial 15-minute consultation: no cost
Clinical and educational consulting: $100/hour
Medical record review for legal case: $350/hour
Written reports for legal case: $350/hour
Deposition testimony: $350/hour (4-hour minimum)
Trial testimony: $500/hour (4-hour minimum)
Travel time: $100/hour, plus expenses
Minimum retainer for legal case: $1,400, non-refundable and due before work begins

Process

1. Initial confidential consultation to discuss the matter and determine fit, no obligation
2. Thorough review of clinical records and legal materials if applicable, with timeline and standard-of-care analysis, if retained
3. Written report which is clear, defensible, and grounded in direct clinical experience with current references from professional organizations and best available research literature
4. Deposition & trial testimony availability, as needed

Discuss your case confidentially.

No obligation, no cost for a 15-minute initial call by phone or video. Bring the specifics, we'll talk through whether we can help and this is the right fit.

Request a Case Consultation