Welcoming a new life into the world should be one of the best days of your life. When a preventable error during labor or delivery leaves your child with a lifelong catastrophic injury instead, the hospital’s malpractice insurer is already building its defense while you are still learning what your baby’s diagnosis means.
A birth injury claim is a medical malpractice claim, which means it moves on a different legal track than an ordinary accident claim, with its own deadlines, its own damages cap, and its own defense playbook built around disputing exactly when and why the injury occurred.
Common Types of Birth Injuries
- Erb’s Palsy and Brachial Plexus Injuries: nerve damage to the arm from birth trauma or improper delivery technique.
- Fractures: bone breaks caused by forceps or vacuum extraction.
- Cerebral Palsy: a neurological disorder affecting movement and coordination, often caused by oxygen deprivation during delivery.
- Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE): brain damage from oxygen deprivation, leading to cognitive and developmental impairment.
- Intracranial Hemorrhage: bleeding within the baby’s brain, often caused by trauma during a difficult delivery.
- Kernicterus: brain damage from untreated jaundice, carrying severe long-term consequences.
In the most severe cases, a birth injury or a complication during delivery can take a baby’s life, or a mother’s. When that happens, California wrongful death law governs the family’s claim, with its own standing rules separate from the malpractice claim described on this page.
Signs of a Birth Injury or Medical Negligence
Delayed developmental milestones, abnormal muscle tone, feeding difficulties, newborn seizures, and asymmetrical movement can all signal an undiagnosed birth injury. On the medical side, warning signs of negligence include inadequate fetal monitoring, delayed response to distress, medication or dosage errors, and a failure to timely diagnose maternal or fetal complications. If you noticed any of these, document them and speak with a doctor and an attorney promptly.
Who Can Be Held Liable
Because so many professionals are involved in a delivery, more than one party can share responsibility: the treating obstetrician, the attending nurses, the hospital itself for inadequate staffing or protocols, and, when a defective device or medication contributed to the injury, the manufacturer through a separate product liability claim. Identifying every liable party matters because each may carry separate insurance, just as it does across every catastrophic injury case we handle.
A Birth Injury Claim Is Not Limited to the Child
A difficult or mismanaged delivery can injure the mother just as severely as the baby, and a mother’s claim is entirely separate from any claim filed on her child’s behalf. Common maternal birth injuries include uterine rupture, severe postpartum hemorrhage, improperly repaired perineal tears, anesthesia errors, and preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome that a provider failed to recognize and treat in time.
The law that governs a mother’s claim is the same law that governs her child’s: California medical malpractice law. The provider owed her the same duty of care, the same negligence standard applies to whether that duty was breached, and the same MICRA damages cap on non-economic damages under Civil Code section 3333.2 applies to her recovery.[1] What differs is the deadline, not the underlying law.
A mother’s claim follows the standard adult medical malpractice deadline described below, three years from the injury or one year from discovery, whichever comes first.[2] The extended filing window until a child’s eighth birthday applies only to the child’s own injury, not to a claim the mother brings on her own behalf, so if you were injured during your child’s delivery, do not assume you have as much time as your child does.
California’s Damages Cap in Birth Injury Cases
Birth injury claims fall under California’s medical malpractice law, which caps non-economic damages, compensation for pain, suffering, and emotional distress, under Civil Code section 3333.2.[1] That cap is not fixed. Under Assembly Bill 35, it increases every year through 2033, when it reaches its final, highest level. Because the applicable figure depends on the year your case is filed or resolved, we confirm the exact current cap for you rather than quoting a number that may already be out of date by the time you read this. There is no cap at all on economic damages, meaning medical bills, future care costs, and lost earning capacity remain fully recoverable regardless of the year your case resolves.
How Haffner Law Builds Your Birth Injury Case
Birth injury cases turn on medical expert testimony establishing exactly what a competent obstetrician or nurse would have done differently, so we bring in pediatric neurologists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, and life care planners early, while the medical record is freshest and easiest to reconstruct.
We also track the minor-specific filing deadline for your child’s case personally, since it runs differently than an adult claim, and we calculate the full lifetime cost of your child’s care, not just the years immediately ahead, before we ever discuss a number with the hospital’s insurer.
California Birth Injury Law FAQs
How long do I have to file a birth injury claim in California?
Generally, three years from the date of the injury, or one year from when the injury is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever comes first, under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5.[2] Because nearly every birth injury victim is under six years old, a special rule usually controls instead: the claim may be filed within three years of the injury or before the child’s eighth birthday, whichever period is longer.[2] This is the single most important deadline on this page. A 90-day pre-suit notice to the healthcare provider is also required before filing.
Is there a cap on how much I can recover?
Yes, but only on non-economic damages, and the cap increases every year through 2033 under a fixed schedule set by Assembly Bill 35,[1] so it is higher than many families expect. Because the exact figure depends on the year your case falls in, we confirm the current cap for your specific case rather than quoting a number that may already be outdated. Medical expenses, future care, and lost earning capacity are not capped at all.
What if my child's symptoms didn't appear until later?
This is common with cerebral palsy and HIE, which can take months to fully diagnose. California’s discovery rule accounts for this, and the minor-specific filing window described above gives most families significantly more time than the standard adult deadline.
What compensation can I recover for my child's birth injury?
Medical expenses, both current and future, pain and suffering within the statutory cap, lost future earning capacity, rehabilitation and therapy costs, home and equipment accommodations, and, in cases involving egregious conduct, punitive damages, which are not subject to the MICRA cap.
What if my claim is denied?
A denial is not the end of your options. We can pursue litigation directly against the hospital, provider, or manufacturer, backed by expert medical testimony establishing the standard of care that was breached. A denial from an insurer is a negotiating position, not a final answer.
Can I file a claim if I, the mother, was injured during delivery?
Yes. Your claim is governed by the same California medical malpractice law as your child’s, but it is legally separate from any claim filed on your child’s behalf, and it follows the standard adult deadline, not the extended window your child has. If both of you were harmed by the same negligent care, we can pursue both claims at once.
Do I need a lawyer who understands medical malpractice specifically?
Yes. Birth injury claims require expert testimony to establish what a competent obstetrician or nurse would have done differently, and they move on the medical malpractice statute of limitations, not the standard personal injury deadline. General case-handling experience is not a substitute for that specific knowledge.
Speak With a California Birth Injury Lawyer
Is your child’s future worth one phone call? Haffner Law holds negligent hospitals and providers accountable, working with pediatric medical experts and life care planners on every case, free of charge unless we win. Our attorneys serve families from our California locations.
Call (213) 514-5681, we are on the mother and your child’s side from the first conversation.
