Few things are more devastating than harm to a newborn that careful medical care could have prevented. These cases are also among the most complex in all of medical malpractice, because they turn on detailed obstetric medicine, a minute-by-minute record of labor, and the difference between a tragic outcome and a preventable one. I want to be clear and honest about that line, because it matters to families on both sides of it.
Common birth injuries
Birth injury is not the same as birth defect
A birth defect is a congenital condition that forms as a baby develops, and in most cases no one is at fault for it. A birth injury is different. It is harm caused during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, often by a preventable failure in the care that was given. A birth injury case is about that preventable harm. The first question we work to answer, with qualified obstetric experts and the complete record, is whether what happened was an unavoidable event or a departure from the standard of care that a careful team would have met.
Oxygen deprivation and brain injury
Many of the most serious birth injuries trace to oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery. When a baby’s brain is deprived of oxygen for too long, the result can be a lasting brain injury and conditions such as cerebral palsy. What makes these cases medical-legal is that the warning signs are often visible on the fetal monitoring, and the standard of care calls for the team to recognize distress and act on it, including by delivering the baby promptly when the situation demands it. A failure to watch, to recognize, or to act in time is where many of these cases live.
Fetal monitoring and the delayed delivery
Electronic fetal monitoring exists to give the medical team a window into how the baby is tolerating labor. When the monitoring shows a baby in distress and the team fails to recognize it, or recognizes it and does not respond, or waits too long to move to a cesarean delivery, precious time can be lost. The monitoring strips and the timeline of decisions are often the center of a birth injury case, because they show, in the record, what the team saw and what it did about it.
Shoulder dystocia and nerve injuries
Shoulder dystocia occurs when a baby’s shoulder becomes lodged during delivery. It is an emergency, and how the team responds matters enormously. Mishandling it, including using excessive force, can injure the network of nerves that controls the arm, causing a brachial plexus injury sometimes known as Erb’s palsy, which can leave a child with lasting weakness or loss of use of an arm. Whether the response met the standard of care is a question for qualified experts and the delivery record.
Harm to the mother
Birth injury cases are not only about babies. Mothers are harmed too, when conditions such as preeclampsia go unrecognized or untreated, when postpartum hemorrhage is not managed in time, or when delivery is mishandled. These failures can cause serious and sometimes fatal harm, and they are held to the same standard of care.
Why these cases take a team
Birth injury cases require deep medical review, qualified obstetric and neonatal experts, the complete monitoring and delivery record, and often a life care plan projecting the cost of caring for a child who may need support for decades. They are expensive and demanding to prove, and Florida also has a separate program that can apply to certain severe birth-related neurological injuries, which means eligibility and the right path have to be evaluated carefully at the outset. For all of these reasons, I take these cases on together with experienced co-counsel who focus on this work, and the costs are advanced rather than paid by the family. If you believe your child or you were harmed by preventable care during birth, the most important step is to have the records reviewed.
Reading the fetal monitoring record
In many birth injury cases, the single most important piece of evidence is the fetal monitoring record. The strips document how the baby was tolerating labor, and they often show, in the data, when signs of distress appeared and how long it took the team to respond. A pattern that a careful provider should have recognized as dangerous, followed by a delay before anyone acted, can be the center of a case. Reading these records closely, understanding what they show and what the timeline reveals about the decisions that were made, is technical work that qualified experts and careful lawyering bring together. The record frequently answers the crucial question of whether the team saw what it should have seen and did what it should have done.
The lifetime cost of a birth injury
Birth injuries are among the most consequential in all of medicine, because a child harmed at birth may need care, therapy, equipment, and support for a lifetime. That reality shapes both the stakes and the proof. A life care plan prepared by qualified professionals projects what decades of care will require, and an economist can translate those needs into present value, so the claim reflects the true, long-term cost rather than only the harm visible today. Presenting that full picture is a core part of these cases, and it is one reason they demand such thorough preparation.
Why birth injury cases take a dedicated team
Between the medical complexity, the expert review, the monitoring records, the life care planning, and the separate Florida program that can apply to certain severe birth-related neurological injuries, these are among the most demanding cases in the field. They require real resources and specialized knowledge, which is why I take them on together with experienced co-counsel who focus on this work, pairing my trial and cross-examination experience with their depth, and the costs are advanced rather than paid by the family. I represent injured children and their parents, not hospitals or insurers, I handle the case personally, and I am prepared to take it to a jury. Learn more about my background.
Common Questions
What is the difference between a birth injury and a birth defect?
A birth defect is a congenital condition that forms during development, and it is usually no one’s fault. A birth injury is harm caused during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, often by a preventable failure in care. A birth injury case is about that preventable harm, not about a condition the child was born with.
What are the most common preventable birth injuries?
Many trace to oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery, which can cause lasting brain injury, and to the mishandling of complications such as shoulder dystocia, which can injure the nerves of the arm. Failures to monitor the baby, to recognize distress, and to deliver in time are common threads.
Is every difficult birth a malpractice case?
No. Labor and delivery carry real risks even with excellent care, and a bad outcome is not proof of negligence. A case exists when the medical team fell below the accepted standard of care, for example by failing to respond to clear signs of distress, and that failure caused the harm.
Why do birth injury cases take so long and cost so much?
They require detailed medical and expert review, the fetal monitoring records and the full timeline, and often a life care plan for a child who will need care for decades. That is why I take them on together with experienced co-counsel and advance the costs rather than asking families to pay them.
This page is general information about Florida medical malpractice law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The governing authorities include Chapter 766 of the Florida Statutes, including the pre-suit notice and corroborating-expert-opinion requirements in sections 766.106 and 766.203 and the professional standard of care in section 766.102, and the two-year limitations period and four-year statute of repose in section 95.11(5)(c). The former statutory caps on noneconomic damages in section 766.118 were held unconstitutional in Estate of McCall v. United States, 134 So. 3d 894 (Fla. 2014), and North Broward Hospital District v. Kalitan, 219 So. 3d 49 (Fla. 2017). Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertisements.
