A Gaithersburg birth injury lawyer from Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. represents families whose newborns have suffered harm due to medical errors during labor or delivery. 

Our attorneys guide parents through the process of seeking justice when medical care falls short of accepted standards. 

For Montgomery County families facing unexpected challenges after childbirth complications, an experienced attorney provides clear explanations of legal rights, ensures compliance with Maryland’s specific requirements, builds cases supported by medical evidence, and pursues maximum compensation for necessary care and services.

Understanding Birth Injury Negligence in Maryland

Birth injury cases fall under medical malpractice law in Maryland. Not all birth complications result from negligence—childbirth carries inherent risks even with proper care. It occurs when healthcare providers fail to meet accepted standards, resulting in preventable harm.

To succeed in a birth injury claim, four key elements must be proven:

  • Duty of Care: The healthcare provider had a professional obligation to deliver care that met accepted medical standards, typically established through the provider-patient relationship.
  • Breach of Duty: The provider failed to meet these standards through action or inaction, such as misreading monitoring data, delaying necessary interventions, or using improper delivery techniques.
  • Causation: This breach directly caused the specific birth injury, requiring proof that with proper care, the injury would not have occurred.
  • Damages: The injury resulted in actual harm requiring compensation, including medical expenses, therapy costs, pain and suffering, and other losses.

Maryland requires birth injury claims to be supported by qualified medical experts who can testify about the applicable standard of care and how it was violated. A “Certificate of Qualified Expert” must accompany the claim, confirming that care deviated from such standard and directly caused injury. 

These experts must have recent clinical experience in the relevant specialty, making their selection particularly important.

Common Causes of Fatal or Catastrophic Birth Injuries

Failure to Monitor Fetal Distress

Electronic monitoring during labor provides vital information about the baby’s condition. When healthcare providers misinterpret data or fail to respond to warning signs, oxygen deprivation can occur, potentially causing permanent brain damage.

Signs requiring prompt attention include abnormal heart rate patterns, decreased movement, and meconium in amniotic fluid. When Gaithersburg medical providers miss these signals, babies may develop hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), cerebral palsy, or other neurological conditions that affect development and function throughout life.

Delayed C-Section

When complications arise during labor, timely cesarean delivery can prevent serious injuries. Delays beyond the prescribed timeframe can result in oxygen deprivation and permanent neurological damage.

Situations requiring prompt surgical intervention include prolapsed umbilical cord, placental abruption, uterine rupture, persistent fetal distress, and failed labor progression. 

Improper Use of Forceps or Vacuum Extractor

Delivery assistance tools require proper training and technique. Misuse of forceps or vacuum extractors can cause skull fractures, brain hemorrhages, facial nerve damage, or brachial plexus injuries affecting arm function. These injuries may result in permanent disabilities, developmental delays, or physical disfigurement. 

Failure to Address Pregnancy Complications

Proper prenatal care includes identifying and managing conditions that pose risks to mother and baby. Maternal high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, infections, and placental abnormalities require careful monitoring and appropriate treatment.

Negligent Post-Delivery Care

Even after successful delivery, newborns require careful monitoring. Failure to recognize and treat conditions like jaundice, infection, or respiratory distress can result in permanent injuries.

Untreated severe jaundice can lead to kernicterus, a form of brain damage, while delayed response to infection can cause sepsis or meningitis. These conditions can result in lifelong disabilities despite being highly treatable when addressed promptly.

Medication or Anesthesia Errors

Medication mistakes during labor and delivery can harm both mother and baby. Improper dosing of labor-inducing drugs, anesthesia errors affecting maternal blood pressure, administration of contraindicated medications, and failure to monitor for adverse reactions all represent potentially negligent care.

These errors typically result from communication breakdowns, inadequate patient monitoring, or failure to account for individual risk factors.

Who Can Be Held Liable for a Birth Injury?

Birth injury cases often involve multiple responsible parties:

  • Delivering Obstetrician or Doctor bears primary responsibility for medical decisions during pregnancy and delivery. Their potential negligence includes surgical errors, improper techniques, medication mistakes, and failure to respond appropriately to complications.
  • Nurses and Other Medical Staff provide direct patient care throughout labor and delivery. Their monitoring, medication administration, and communication with physicians are fundamental to patient safety. When they fail to follow protocols or communicate properly with doctors, preventable injuries can result.
  • Hospitals and Medical Facilities may be liable through direct responsibility for inadequate policies or staffing, vicarious liability for employee negligence, or failure to properly credential or supervise medical staff.
  • Other Healthcare Providers, including anesthesiologists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, and neonatologists may share responsibility for errors within their specialties.
  • Product Manufacturers occasionally face liability when defective medical equipment or medications contribute to birth injuries, though these cases are less common.

Maryland Laws and Time Limits for Birth Injury Claims

Statute of Limitations

Maryland imposes strict deadlines for filing birth injury claims. For adult patients (mothers), claims must be filed within five years from when the injury occurred or three years from when the injury was reasonably discovered, whichever comes first.

For children injured at birth, Maryland extends the deadline until the child’s 11th birthday in most cases. This recognizes that some birth-related disabilities may not become apparent until developmental milestones are missed.

Wrongful death claims arising from birth injuries must generally be filed within three years of the date of death.

Generally, missing these deadlines bars recovery permanently, so early consultation with a Gaithersburg birth injury attorney is necessary.

Pre-Filing Requirements

Maryland has specific procedural requirements for medical malpractice claims:

  • Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (HCADRO) filing is mandatory before proceeding to court. While most birth injury cases ultimately move to court rather than completing arbitration, this initial filing step cannot be skipped.
  • Certificate of Qualified Expert must be filed within 90 days of the HCADRO filing. This certificate, signed by a qualified medical professional, must attest that the healthcare provider violated the standard of care and this violation caused the injury.

These requirements create potential barriers for families pursuing birth injury claims without experienced legal representation.

Maryland Damage Caps

Maryland law limits non-economic damages (pain and suffering) in medical malpractice cases. For 2025, this cap is approximately $905,000 for most cases, with annual adjustments for inflation.

However, Maryland places no cap on economic damages like medical expenses, care costs, and lost income. This allows full recovery for the substantial financial costs associated with birth injuries.

Damages Available in Gaithersburg Birth Injury Claims

Economic Damages

Economic damages cover actual financial losses resulting from the birth injury. Medical expenses include current and future costs for treatments, surgeries, hospitalizations, medications, and therapy. For children with permanent disabilities, these expenses often continue throughout life and may total millions of dollars.

Lost income and future earning capacity addresses both parents’ missed work during the child’s care and the child’s potentially reduced ability to earn income as an adult due to disability.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages address subjective losses. Pain and suffering compensate for physical discomfort experienced by the injured child. Emotional distress recognizes the psychological impact of disability, including anxiety, depression, and mental anguish affecting both child and family.

Wrongful Death Damages

When birth injuries prove fatal, Maryland’s wrongful death statute allows family members to recover compensation for funeral expenses, medical costs prior to death, and the emotional trauma experienced by parents losing a child to preventable medical errors.

Why Hire a Birth Injury Lawyer in Gaithersburg, MD?

Legal Expertise in Maryland Malpractice

Birth injury cases involve specialized areas of both medicine and law. Gaithersburg birth injury attorneys understand Maryland’s specific medical malpractice laws, procedural requirements, and local court practices.

This specialized knowledge ensures your case meets all technical requirements and proceeds properly through the legal system. Without this expertise, families risk having valid claims dismissed due to procedural errors or insufficient evidence.

Investigation and Evidence Gathering

Building a strong birth injury case requires detailed investigation. Your attorney will obtain medical records, consult with expert witnesses, and establish exactly how and why your child’s injury occurred.

Medical experts then review these records to identify deviations from standard care and establish causation between these deviations and your child’s specific injuries.

Maximizing Compensation

A skilled birth injury attorney ensures your compensation addresses all aspects of harm. This includes working with life care planners to project future needs, consulting with economic experts to calculate financial impact, and documenting all facets of pain, suffering, and quality of life effects.

Seeking Justice for Your Child’s Future

At Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A., we understand the challenges families face after a birth injury. Our attorneys work diligently to secure the compensation your child deserves while providing supportive guidance throughout the legal process.

Contact Us for a Free Consultation

We offer free, confidential consultations to discuss your potential birth injury claim. Our firm handles birth injury cases on a contingency fee basis—you pay no legal fees unless we secure compensation for your family.

Contact our Gaithersburg birth injury attorneys today to learn how we can help your family obtain the resources needed for your child’s best possible future.