When a birth injury strikes a family in College Park, the joy of welcoming a new child transforms into worry about their future health and development. Every year, families throughout Prince George’s County face the heartbreak of discovering their child has suffered preventable harm during delivery.
These injuries often result from medical providers failing to follow established protocols during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. At Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A., our birth injury attorneys have secured over $1 billion for Maryland families affected by medical negligence.
Understanding Birth Injury Claims in College Park, Maryland
Birth injury claims address harm caused by medical professionals who fail to provide appropriate care during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. These cases fall under medical malpractice law but involve distinctive medical and legal considerations specific to childbirth.
Birth injuries range from temporary conditions that resolve within weeks to permanent disabilities requiring lifelong specialized care.
Common injuries include:
- Cerebral palsy from oxygen deprivation
- Brachial plexus injuries affecting arm function
- Spinal cord damage leading to partial or complete paralysis
- Untreated jaundice progressing to kernicterus and brain damage
Maryland law also recognizes wrongful death claims for viable unborn or newborn children who die due to medical negligence. Under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 3-904, parents can seek compensation for the devastating loss of their child when preventable errors occur during pregnancy or delivery.
Proving Negligence in Maryland Birth Injury Cases
Establishing negligence in a College Park birth injury case requires proving four fundamental elements:
- Duty of Care: Healthcare providers must follow accepted standards during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. This duty exists automatically through the provider-patient relationship.
- Breach of Standard Care: The provider failed to deliver care meeting professional standards. This requires showing what actions the standard of care demanded and how the provider’s conduct fell short.
- Causation: The substandard care directly caused the specific birth injury. Medical evidence must link the provider’s actions (or inactions) to the harm suffered.
- Damages: The injury resulted in significant harm requiring compensation, including medical expenses, ongoing care needs, and pain and suffering.
Expert testimony plays a vital role in establishing these elements. Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 3-2A-04 requires a certificate from a qualified medical expert attesting that the healthcare provider violated the standard of care, causing injury.
Birth injury cases may involve multiple responsible parties:
- Obstetricians who fail to recognize complications
- Nurses who miss warning signs during labor
- Hospitals with inadequate staffing or protocols
- Medical practices that fail to supervise providers properly
Maryland law allows healthcare facilities to be held responsible for their employees’ negligence through vicarious liability. This doctrine permits claims against hospitals even when individual providers cannot be identified.
Notably, Maryland follows the contributory negligence rule: if a plaintiff contributes even slightly to their own injury, they may be barred from recovery. In birth injury cases, defense attorneys sometimes attempt to blame maternal behavior during pregnancy. Our attorneys vigorously defend against such tactics to protect your right to compensation.
Statute of Limitations for Maryland Birth Injury Claims
Maryland imposes specific time limits for filing birth injury claims. Under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-109, the general rule requires filing within:
- Three years from when the injury was discovered, or
- Five years from when the injury occurred, whichever comes first
However, for children injured at birth, Maryland extends these deadlines. The injured child may file a claim until age 21 (three years after reaching 18). This extension recognizes that some birth-related conditions may not become apparent until developmental delays emerge in early childhood.
Despite these extended deadlines, acting promptly provides significant advantages:
- Medical evidence remains fresh and accessible
- Witnesses have clearer memories of events
- Healthcare providers’ insurance and employment status can be verified
- Expert witnesses can be secured before they become unavailable
Types of Compensatory Damages in College Park Birth Injury Claims
Maryland law provides specific compensation categories for families affected by birth injuries:
Economic Damages
Economic damages cover quantifiable financial losses with no statutory cap:
Medical Expenses
Birth injuries often require extensive treatment, including:
- Initial neonatal intensive care
- Surgeries and hospital stays
- Medications and medical equipment
- Physical, occupational, and speech therapy
- Specialized education services
These expenses must be calculated for both current needs and future care requirements, often extending throughout the child’s lifetime.
Lost Income
When parents must reduce work hours or leave employment to care for an injured child, these lost wages qualify as recoverable damages.
Future Earning Capacity
Children with permanent disabilities often face reduced earning potential throughout their lives. Economic experts calculate these losses based on the injury’s impact on educational and employment prospects.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages address the human impact of birth injuries:
Pain and Suffering: This category compensates for physical pain, emotional distress, and diminished quality of life experienced by the injured child.
Emotional Anguish: Parents and family members experience significant emotional suffering when a child suffers a preventable birth injury. Maryland law recognizes this suffering as compensable.
Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 3-2A-09 caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. For 2025, this cap stands at approximately $905,000 for most cases, with annual adjustments for inflation.
Wrongful Death Damages
When birth injuries prove fatal, Maryland’s wrongful death statute permits recovery for:
- Funeral and Burial Expenses: The actual costs associated with funeral services and burial arrangements.
- Emotional Pain: Compensation for the grief and mental anguish experienced by parents losing a child due to medical negligence.
- Loss of Companionship: Recognition of the lost parent-child relationship and experiences that would have been shared.
In cases involving unborn children, Maryland courts have established that wrongful death claims may proceed if the fetus was viable (capable of surviving outside the womb) when the injury occurred.
