Nothing brings more joy to a family than the birth of a child—and nothing is more stressful than when complications and injuries arise during delivery.
A severe birth injury can require intensive medical care from day one and lead to a lifetime of physical, developmental, and financial challenges. And now, with New York’s Medical Indemnity Fund—the state program that once covered lifetime medical expenses for neurologically injured infants—suspending new enrollments amid a multibillion-dollar shortfall, many families are left wondering how they will secure the long-term resources their children need.
Pain Injury Law helps families across New York City and New York State navigate this uncertainty. Our attorneys can investigate what happened in the delivery room, determine whether medical negligence played a role, and build a case that accounts for the full lifetime impact of a birth injury.
A birth injury is any physical harm a baby suffers immediately before, during, or shortly after birth. Some injuries occur during passage through the birth canal, while others result from failures in prenatal monitoring or delays in responding to fetal distress. Not all birth injuries are caused by negligence, but many occur when medical professionals fail to follow accepted standards of care.
Knowing what birth injuries look like—and how they happen—can help parents understand whether their experience may have involved medical negligence. Below are some of the most diagnosed birth injuries in New York, along with how they occur and what parents often notice in the first hours or days of life.
Clavicle Fracture
Brachial Plexus Injury / Erb’s Palsy
Shoulder Dystocia (and Resulting Injuries)
Cerebral Palsy
Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
Prematurity-Related Injuries
(Prematurity is not a birth injury, but it dramatically increases risk.)
Bell’s Palsy (Facial Nerve Injury)
Klumpke’s Palsy
Torticollis (Wry Neck)
While these injuries vary widely, both in terms of presentation and causation, many share a common thread: they occur when medical professionals miss warning signs, delay necessary care, or fail to follow established delivery protocols.
Not every adverse outcome during birth is negligence. But when medical providers fail to recognize risk factors, ignore warning signs, or delay necessary intervention, preventable harm can occur.
Medical errors that may lead to a birth injury include:
Improper use of forceps or vacuum extraction. Forceps and vacuums can help during difficult deliveries, but when used incorrectly they can cause nerve damage, fractures, or head trauma.
Failure to monitor fetal heart rate patterns. Doctors and nurses must monitor the baby’s heart rate for signs of stress. If concerning changes are missed, the baby may experience oxygen deprivation.
Delay in recognizing or treating fetal distress. When a baby shows signs of distress, medical staff must respond quickly. Delays can lead to hypoxia, HIE, or emergency delivery.
Mismanagement of breech or abnormal fetal positions. Abnormal positioning requires quick decision-making and sometimes a C-section. Poor handling can injure the baby’s nerves or cause oxygen-related harm.
Failure to diagnose or treat maternal complications. Conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, preeclampsia, or infection can place the baby at risk if not monitored closely.
Delay in ordering or performing a C-section. Some situations require an urgent C-section. Delays can cause the baby to lose oxygen or suffer physical trauma.
Failure to resuscitate an infant after delivery. Some babies need immediate assistance breathing or stabilizing their heart rate. Quick action is critical.
Communication breakdowns in high-volume or teaching hospitals. In busy delivery units, miscommunication between nurses, residents, and attending physicians can lead to missed warning signs or delayed intervention.
To establish negligence, families must prove that the provider deviated from accepted medical standards—and that deviation caused the child’s injury.
Birth injury cases are among the most complex types of medical malpractice claims. They require deep medical knowledge, extensive documentation, and expert testimony.
Types of Evidence
Medical Experts Often Needed
Experts help determine whether the standard of care was met, what should have happened, and how the injury will affect the child’s lifespan and needs.
Birth injury cases are financially complex because the consequences last a lifetime. According to federal data, medical malpractice cases settle out of court more than 95% of the time, and obstetric claims represent about 1 in 10 malpractice payouts nationwide. But averages mean little when a child requires decades of care.
Factors Affecting Compensation
Birth injury cases tend to be among the largest claims seen in medical malpractice cases because the babies, if they survive, could have profound injuries that may require round-the-clock care for the rest of their life. In severe cases—especially HIE or cerebral palsy—damages can reach seven or eight figures. In March of 2022, for example, a couple whose newborn suffered a brain injury during delivery received $97.4 million in a civil verdict.
Birth injuries are especially heartbreaking, and the litigation that can result can be uniquely complex due to factors that include:
This instability makes precise, attorney-guided lifetime planning more important than ever.
Birth injury cases aren’t just about what went wrong in the delivery room. They’re meant to ensure that a child has the resources they need for life, from the first day through adulthood. Typically, what’s awarded for a birth injury is a life-care plan.
Severe neurological injuries often require decades of medical care, therapy, adaptive equipment, home modifications, and supportive services.
For years, New York’s Medical Indemnity Fund helped provide this stability. But with the Fund’s enrollment paused and long-term viability unclear, families that may have formerly relied on the fund must be extra careful that any settlement or verdict accounts for all future costs—not just immediate needs. This requires:
Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between a settlement that runs out and one that truly supports a child throughout their life.
Improved prenatal care and obstetrical techniques have led to declining birth injury rates, but mistakes still happen in the delivery room, and when they do, a one-time error can affect a family for life.
Pain Injury Law combines medical knowledge, legal experience, and modern technology to guide New York families through these complex cases. We work with top experts, review every detail of your child’s birth, and build the strongest possible case for lifelong support. When you work with us, you get:
If your child suffered a birth injury in New York City or anywhere in New York State, Pain Injury Law is here to help.
We represent families in cases involving major hospitals—including Mount Sinai, NYU Langone, New York-Presbyterian, Northwell Health, and NYC Health + Hospitals facilities—where high delivery volumes and complex medical systems can increase the risk of preventable harm.
Our attorneys can investigate what happened during your child’s birth, determine whether medical negligence played a role, and take legal action that puts you and your family back in control.
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All of the emails, paperwork, meetings, calls, court appearances… it’s all free unless we win your injury case.
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