Can you sue for a birth injury in Pennsylvania?
Yes. If an obstetrician, midwife, nurse or hospital failed to follow accepted medical practice during pregnancy, labor or delivery, and that failure injured the baby or the mother, the family can bring a medical malpractice claim. Not every difficult birth is malpractice, so the key question is whether careful providers would have acted differently and whether that would have prevented the harm.
Birth injury claims are medical malpractice claims, so they follow Pennsylvania's MCARE Act and its procedures. A lawyer must file a certificate of merit confirming that a qualified medical professional has reviewed the case. Warren I. Siegel lists medical malpractice as one of the main focuses of his practice and has served as a Discovery Master in medical malpractice matters for the Philadelphia court system.
What counts as a birth injury?
A birth injury is physical harm to a baby, or sometimes to the mother, that happens around the time of labor and delivery. Some conditions are present before labor and are nobody's fault. A legal claim focuses on injuries that were preventable with proper monitoring, timely decisions and correct technique.
Warning signs that often appear in these cases include abnormal fetal heart rate patterns that went unanswered, a long or stalled labor, a delayed decision to perform a C-section, rough use of forceps or a vacuum extractor, and a newborn who needed resuscitation or was moved to intensive care right after birth.
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is a group of lifelong movement and muscle-control disorders caused by damage to the developing brain. Many cases have causes unrelated to delivery. Others trace back to oxygen deprivation or trauma during labor, which is where malpractice questions arise.
Signs may not be clear at birth. Parents often notice later that a child is missing milestones such as sitting, crawling or walking, or has unusual muscle tone. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and the delivery involved fetal distress, a delayed C-section or a difficult extraction, the labor and delivery records should get a close review.
Erb's palsy and brachial plexus injuries
The brachial plexus is the network of nerves that runs from the neck into the shoulder, arm and hand. When those nerves are stretched or torn during delivery, the baby can lose movement or feeling in the arm. Erb's palsy is the name for the common form that affects the upper arm and shoulder.
These injuries often happen when the baby's head is delivered but the shoulder is stuck and too much force is used to pull the baby free. Some babies recover over months; others need surgery and therapy and have lasting weakness. The claim looks at whether the delivery team recognized the risk in advance and used accepted techniques once the problem appeared.
Shoulder dystocia
Shoulder dystocia is an emergency in which the baby's shoulder catches behind the mother's pelvic bone after the head is delivered. It is not always predictable, but certain risk factors, such as a large estimated fetal weight, maternal diabetes or a prior shoulder dystocia, should be considered in planning the delivery and discussing a C-section.
Once it happens, the team is expected to use recognized maneuvers to free the shoulder rather than excessive pulling on the head. Delivery notes, the timing recorded by staff and the baby's injuries all help show what was done. Shoulder dystocia can lead to brachial plexus injuries, fractures of the collarbone or arm, and oxygen deprivation.
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
HIE is brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow around the time of birth. It can follow a cord problem, placental abruption, uterine rupture, or a labor where fetal distress went unanswered. Babies with HIE may have seizures, trouble feeding and breathing, and long-term disabilities.
In HIE cases the fetal heart monitoring strips are central evidence. They show when the baby began to show distress and how long the team took to respond. We also look at whether cooling therapy was offered promptly after birth, because timing can matter for outcomes.
Injuries to the mother
Mothers can be hurt too. Claims can involve unrecognized hemorrhage after delivery, untreated preeclampsia, infections, surgical injuries during a C-section, and anesthesia problems, including an epidural that was placed or monitored carelessly. A mother's own claim is separate from the baby's and generally follows the standard two-year deadline, so it should be reviewed early.
What a birth injury claim can recover
A serious birth injury can affect a child for life. The claim is built around a life care plan, which estimates the medical care, therapy, equipment, home changes and support the child will need over time, along with the loss of future earning ability. Parents may also recover medical costs they have paid.
Pennsylvania's Constitution bars the legislature from capping the amount recovered for personal injury in cases against private providers, so there is no general cap on compensatory damages in a birth injury case against a private hospital or doctor. Every case is different, and no honest lawyer can predict a number before reviewing the records.
Deadlines for children's claims
Under the MCARE Act, a malpractice claim on behalf of a minor generally must be filed within seven years of the care or by the child's 20th birthday, whichever is later. That longer window applies to the child's own claim. Claims that belong to the parents or the mother can follow a shorter clock, and the general personal injury deadline in Pennsylvania is two years.
Don't wait for the full window. Records get harder to gather, staff move on, and the life care planning that supports a child's future needs takes time. If a child dies as a result of a birth injury, wrongful death and survival claims based on malpractice generally must be filed within two years after the death.
What to do now
Request the complete records for both mother and baby, including prenatal records, labor and delivery notes, fetal heart monitoring strips, and the newborn intensive care unit chart. Keep a notebook of your child's diagnoses, therapies and milestones, and save every bill.
Your Legal Warrior handles birth injury cases on a 100% contingency fee. There is no attorney fee unless we recover. The firm advances all case costs, including medical reviews, and those costs are repaid only from a recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe nothing. Call (267) 412-4601, answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or send the free case review form.
Questions People Ask About Birth Injury Claims
How long can you wait to sue after a birth injury?
For the child's own malpractice claim, Pennsylvania's MCARE Act generally allows filing within seven years of the care or by the child's 20th birthday, whichever is later. The mother's claims and some parent claims can have a shorter deadline, often two years. Talk to a lawyer early so evidence is preserved.
Can I sue for a traumatic birth?
You can bring a claim if the trauma came from care that fell below accepted medical practice and it caused injury to you or your baby. A frightening delivery by itself is not enough. A review of the labor records and fetal monitoring shows whether the team responded the way careful providers would have.
Is it hard to sue a hospital over labor and delivery?
These cases are demanding. They require records, medical reviewers in obstetrics and pediatric neurology, and a certificate of merit before the case can proceed. Hospitals defend them hard. That is why the early records review matters so much.
What is a wrongful birth lawsuit?
A wrongful birth claim argues a child would not have been born but for a provider's mistake, such as a missed genetic test. Pennsylvania law bars wrongful birth and wrongful life claims under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8305. That is different from a birth injury claim, which is about preventable harm to a baby or mother during care.
Can I sue for a botched epidural?
Possibly. If an epidural was placed or monitored carelessly and caused nerve damage, a dangerous drop in blood pressure, or other harm to you or your baby, that can support a malpractice claim. Known side effects that were properly explained and managed usually do not.
How much is a birth injury case worth?
It depends on the injury, the child's future care needs, and the strength of the proof that the injury was preventable. Serious cases are valued using a life care plan and economic analysis. We won't quote a number before reviewing the records, and nobody honestly can.
What birth injuries happen often?
Brachial plexus injuries such as Erb's palsy, fractures of the collarbone, and injuries tied to oxygen deprivation, including HIE, are among the injuries families ask about. Whether an injury supports a claim depends on whether it was preventable with proper care.
What does it cost to have Your Legal Warrior review a birth injury case?
The review is free and confidential. If we take the case, it is on a 100% contingency fee: no attorney fee unless we recover, and the firm advances all case costs, repaid only from a recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe nothing.
Sources
Written for general information by the office of Warren I. Siegel, Esq., Pennsylvania Attorney ID 65342. Last reviewed 2026-09-25. This is not legal advice for your situation, and deadlines vary by claim. Talk to a lawyer before relying on any date.