Childbirth should mark one of life’s most treasured moments for Frederick families. Yet when medical providers make preventable errors during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, this joyful occasion can transform into the beginning of a difficult journey. Birth injuries caused by medical negligence can result in lifelong disabilities requiring extensive care and treatment.
A Frederick birth injury lawyer from Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. provides valuable legal support for families whose children have suffered preventable birth injuries. Our attorneys help parents secure financial compensation while holding negligent medical providers accountable for their actions.
Understanding Birth Injury Claims in Frederick, Maryland
Birth injury claims represent a distinct subcategory of medical malpractice law with unique characteristics and requirements. Recognizing how these claims function under Maryland law is the first step toward securing justice for your child.
Birth Injuries as Medical Malpractice
Birth injury claims occur when medical professionals fail to provide the appropriate standard of care during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, resulting in preventable harm to the infant or mother. Unlike general medical malpractice cases, birth injury claims frequently involve:
- Longer timeframes for recovery projections
- Multiple potentially responsible healthcare providers
- Specialized medical experts in obstetrics, neonatology, and pediatric neurology
- Detailed life care planning for children with permanent disabilities
These distinctive elements require attorneys with specific experience in birth injury litigation rather than general medical malpractice.
Maryland’s Medical Malpractice Framework
Frederick birth injury cases must adhere to Maryland’s medical malpractice laws, which include several key provisions:
- Statute of Limitations: Standard medical malpractice claims in Maryland must be filed within five years of the injury occurring or three years from when the injury was discovered, whichever occurs first. However, for minors injured at birth, Maryland law extends this deadline until the child’s 11th birthday in most cases, providing families additional time to recognize developmental issues and pursue legal action.
- Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office: All medical malpractice claims in Maryland, including birth injury cases, must first be filed with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (HCADRO). This administrative filing initiates the legal process and includes specific documentation requirements. While parties typically waive arbitration to proceed directly to court, this initial filing remains mandatory.
- Certificate of Qualified Expert: Within 90 days of filing with HCADRO, Maryland law requires the submission of a certificate from a qualified medical expert attesting that the healthcare provider violated the standard of care and that this violation caused the injury. This expert must have clinical experience or teaching credentials in the relevant medical specialty within five years of the incident.
- Contributory Negligence: Maryland follows the contributory negligence doctrine, which can bar recovery if the plaintiff is found even partially at fault. While this rarely applies to infant victims in birth injury cases, it highlights the importance of working with knowledgeable attorneys who can counter defense attempts to shift blame.
These procedural requirements create potential obstacles for Frederick families pursuing birth injury claims without experienced legal representation. A single missed deadline or improperly prepared filing can result in case dismissal, regardless of the merits of your claim.
Common Causes of Birth Injuries Leading to Legal Claims
Not all birth complications result from medical negligence—childbirth carries inherent risks even with proper care. However, certain patterns of substandard care frequently lead to preventable birth injuries and subsequent legal claims in Frederick.
Failure to Monitor Fetal Distress or Delayed C-Section
Medical standards require continuous monitoring of both mother and baby during labor. When healthcare providers miss signs of fetal distress or delay necessary emergency C-sections, oxygen deprivation can occur, potentially causing permanent brain damage.
Electronic fetal monitoring tracks the baby’s heart rate during labor, providing key information about their condition. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated that when patterns indicate distress, medical professionals must respond promptly. Failure to recognize concerning patterns or communicate them to physicians can result in delayed intervention and preventable injury.
Similarly, when complications arise during delivery, a timely cesarean section is often necessary. Undue delays can result in permanent neurological damage.
Improper Use of Forceps or Vacuum Extraction
When labor progress slows, physicians sometimes employ delivery assistance tools like forceps or vacuum extractors. While these instruments can be appropriate in certain situations, their misuse causes numerous preventable birth injuries in Frederick hospitals.
Forceps used with excessive force can fracture an infant’s skull, damage facial nerves, or cause intracranial bleeding. Vacuum extractors applied improperly can lead to scalp injuries, cephalohematomas, or intracranial hemorrhages. These tool-related injuries often result in conditions like cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy (brachial plexus injury), or facial paralysis.
Medication Errors During Pregnancy or Delivery
Medication mistakes during pregnancy, labor, or delivery pose serious risks to both mother and baby. Common errors include:
- Improper dosing of labor-inducing drugs like Pitocin, causing uterine hyperstimulation and fetal oxygen deprivation
- Incorrect administration of epidural anesthesia, leading to maternal hypotension and reduced fetal blood flow
- Prescribing medications contraindicated during pregnancy
- Anesthesia errors during cesarean deliveries
These medication errors are typically preventable through proper verification protocols and staff communication.
Failure to Diagnose or Treat Maternal Infections
Maternal infections can be transmitted to the baby during pregnancy or delivery if not properly diagnosed and treated. Group B streptococcus, chorioamnionitis, and urinary tract infections require timely antibiotic treatment to prevent serious complications for the newborn.
When Frederick healthcare providers fail to screen for these infections, misinterpret test results, or delay appropriate treatment, newborns may develop meningitis, sepsis, or pneumonia—potentially resulting in permanent neurological damage or developmental disabilities.
Oxygen Deprivation (Birth Asphyxia)
Oxygen deprivation during birth can occur through various mechanisms, including umbilical cord complications, prolonged labor, or respiratory issues immediately after delivery. Even brief periods without adequate oxygen can damage a baby’s brain, leading to conditions like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), cerebral palsy, or intellectual disabilities.
The severity of these injuries often correlates with the duration of oxygen deprivation and how quickly resuscitation occurs. Medical professionals must recognize signs of respiratory distress and intervene immediately to prevent permanent brain damage.
Hospital or Staff Errors
Systemic issues within Frederick hospitals and birthing centers can contribute to birth injuries, including:
- Inadequate staffing levels, particularly during nights and weekends
- Poor communication between nurses, physicians, and specialists
- Insufficient training on emergency protocols
- Equipment failures or unavailability
- Administrative policies that prioritize financial considerations over patient safety
These institutional failures often compound individual provider errors, creating dangerous situations for mothers and babies during childbirth.
A Frederick birth injury attorney investigates these potential causes of injury, working with medical experts to identify exactly how and why your child was harmed.
Proving Negligence in a Birth Injury Case
Birth injury claims require proving that medical negligence—not simply an unfortunate outcome—caused your child’s injury. This requires establishing four specific legal elements while meeting Maryland’s procedural requirements.
The Four Elements of Medical Negligence
For a Frederick birth injury claim to succeed, your attorney must prove:
- Duty of Care: Healthcare providers involved in your pregnancy, labor, and delivery owed a professional duty to provide care meeting accepted medical standards. This element is typically straightforward to establish in birth injury cases, as a clear provider-patient relationship existed.
- Breach of Duty: The provider failed to meet the standard of care expected of a reasonable healthcare professional in the same specialty under similar circumstances. This might involve actions taken (like using excessive force with forceps) or actions not taken (like failing to order a timely C-section despite signs of distress).
- Causation: This breach directly caused your child’s injury. Your attorney must demonstrate that without the provider’s negligence, your child would not have suffered the specific harm. This often requires establishing both actual cause (the negligence directly led to the injury) and proximate cause (the injury was a foreseeable result of the negligence).
- Damages: Your child and family suffered actual harm because of the negligence. In birth injury cases, damages typically include medical expenses, future care needs, pain and suffering, and diminished quality of life.
These elements must be proven through medical records, expert testimony, and other evidence. The burden of proof rests with the plaintiff in these cases.
Expert Testimony Requirements
Maryland law requires birth injury claims to be supported by qualified medical experts who can testify about the standard of care and how it was violated. Under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 3-2A-04, experts must:
- Have clinical experience, provided consultation, or taught medicine in the relevant specialty within five years of the incident
- Be board-certified in the relevant specialty if the defendant provider is board-certified
- Spend no more than 20% of their professional time as expert witnesses in personal injury cases
Finding appropriate experts who meet these qualifications requires extensive professional networks and the resources that experienced birth injury attorneys possess.
Certificate of Qualified Expert
Within 90 days of filing with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office, Maryland law requires submission of a Certificate of Qualified Expert. This document must:
- Be signed by a medical professional meeting Maryland’s expert witness requirements
- Attest that the healthcare provider violated the standard of care
- State that this violation was the proximate cause of the injury
The certificate must be accompanied by a report from the expert detailing the specific standard of care violations and how they caused the injury. Failure to file a proper certificate within the required timeframe can result in dismissal of your claim.
Maryland’s Contributory Negligence Doctrine
Maryland follows a strict contributory negligence rule, which can bar recovery if the plaintiff is found even 1% at fault for their injury. In birth injury cases, this rule rarely applies to the injured infant, as newborns cannot contribute to their own injuries.
However, defense attorneys may attempt to argue that maternal actions during pregnancy contributed to the injury. Your Frederick birth injury attorney will anticipate and counter these arguments to protect your right to compensation.
