How Can Our Baltimore Cerebral Palsy Attorneys Ease Your Family’s Worries Right Now?
We know that hearing the words cerebral palsy after what should have been a joyful birth can turn your world upside down. In one moment you are celebrating a new life, and in the next you are facing questions about lifelong medical needs, therapy costs, and your child’s future quality of life.
Baltimore cerebral palsy lawyer Jonathan Schochor and fellow trial attorney Kerry Staton have guided Maryland families through this heartbreak for more than three decades. Together, we have helped secure over $1 billion in verdicts and settlements for victims of medical malpractice, including birth-injury cases involving preventable oxygen deprivation and delivery errors.
Our office at 1211 St Paul Street in Baltimore is minutes from Johns Hopkins, UMMC, and other hospitals where avoidable mistakes sometimes occur despite excellent reputations. Because we handle only serious malpractice claims, we understand the medical issues, the Maryland legal process, and the experts needed to prove negligence when a child’s brain injury could, and should, have been prevented.
We welcome you to call (410) 234-1000 for a free, no-pressure consultation. In the pages that follow, we answer the questions most parents ask after a cerebral palsy diagnosis and explain exactly how we pursue justice and lifelong support for your child.
What Is Cerebral Palsy, and Why Does It Matter to Your Legal Case?
Cerebral palsy is a group of lifelong neurological disorders that impair a child’s muscle control, movement, and posture. The condition results from brain damage or abnormal brain growth that occurs before, during, or shortly after birth, and it does not worsen over time even though its effects last a lifetime. Roughly 1 in 345 U.S. children live with cerebral palsy, and 8,000–10,000 babies receive the diagnosis each year.
How Can You Recognize the Signs and Types of Cerebral Palsy in Your Child?
Early signs of cerebral palsy often show up in the first two years of life and usually involve delayed or unusual movement. Parents may notice floppy or very stiff muscles, a baby who cannot hold up the head, or developmental milestones, like sitting or crawling, that come later than expected. Some infants favor one side of the body, have persistent newborn reflexes, or struggle with feeding and swallowing.
Doctors classify cerebral palsy into distinct sub-types so therapists and lawyers alike can tailor support and proof of damages.
- Spastic CP (≈70–80 % of cases) causes tight, stiff muscles and jerky movements that make everyday tasks difficult.
- Athetoid/Dyskinetic CP produces uncontrolled, writhing motions and fluctuating muscle tone, so a child may drop objects or have trouble speaking clearly.
- Ataxic CP is the rarest and affects balance and coordination, leading to shaky movements, wide-based walking, and trouble with precise tasks.
- Mixed CP means a child shows features of more than one type.
Knowing which form of CP your child has is critical because each type carries different therapy needs and lifetime costs. When families bring these facts to us, we work with pediatric neurologists and life-care planners to value future expenses accurately for a malpractice claim.
What Causes Cerebral Palsy, and Could Better Care Have Stopped It?
Cerebral palsy begins when a baby’s brain is injured before, during, or just after birth, disrupting muscle-control pathways for life even though the damage itself doesn’t worsen.
Most cases stem from unavoidable factors, prenatal infections such as rubella or CMV, genetic anomalies, placental failure, extreme prematurity, or later events like severe neonatal infection or head trauma.
Medical studies still find about 1 in 5 CP diagnoses come from preventable delivery errors: prolonged oxygen loss, mismanaged breech births, untreated cord prolapse, or delayed C-sections. If labor felt rushed, monitors flashed warnings, or staff offered vague explanations, those details could signal negligence. We scrutinize every fetal strip, nursing note, and NICU record to see if prompt, proper care would have spared your child’s lifelong challenges.
How Can Medical Negligence Turn a Safe Birth Into a Cerebral Palsy Crisis?
Medical negligence during labor, delivery, or the fragile minutes after birth can deprive a newborn’s brain of oxygen or inflict trauma that produces permanent cerebral palsy. A single delay or mishandled procedure in those moments can mean a lifetime of muscle stiffness, therapy, and mobility aids for a child who should have been healthy.
Delivery errors we see most often include:
- Delayed C-Section: When fetal monitors show distress yet the surgical team waits too long, the brain can suffer preventable hypoxia.
- Ignored Fetal Distress or Umbilical-Cord Problems: Prolonged abnormal heart tracings or a prolapsed cord demand immediate action; hesitation prolongs oxygen loss.
- Improper Use of Forceps or Vacuum Devices: Excessive traction or misplacement can fracture the skull or trigger intracranial bleeding that damages motor centers.
- Anesthesia Complications: Maternal blood-pressure crashes or over-sedation can silently starve the baby’s brain of oxygen.
- Botched Intubation or Neonatal Resuscitation: A misplaced tube or delay in ventilation leaves a struggling newborn without the oxygen vital organs require.
- Untreated Severe Jaundice (Kernicterus): Failing to manage high bilirubin lets toxins injure brain tissue and can result in athetoid CP.
- Other Rare but Devastating Mistakes: Mismanaging breech extraction, excessive fundal pressure, or inadequate staffing can all cascade into catastrophic brain injury.
When families bring us these red-flag events, we collaborate with obstetric, neonatal, and anesthesia experts to reconstruct the timeline, quantify how long the brain was deprived of oxygen, and prove that decisive care would have avoided the harm. Our goal is simple: show exactly where the standard of care broke down so your child receives the resources needed for a full life.
“We would highly recommend the firm to anyone needing legal assistance as we did. Jim and his team were always available to answer questions and guide us thru (sic) the process.” Mike Mantua
