A birth injury refers to any harm or physical trauma sustained by a baby during or shortly after labor and delivery. Depending on the severity of the birth injury, some babies can make a full recovery with proper medical care and intervention. However, many birth injuries result in long-term complications, missed developmental milestones, lifelong disabilities, or even death.
Children who are born with birth injuries often require specialized medical care and early intervention services, and the cost of these specialized treatments and services can place a significant financial strain on families. But when a child suffers a birth injury because of preventable medical mistakes, some of that financial burden can be alleviated through consulting with a specialized birth injury attorney who can help file a medical malpractice claim.
We are prepared to meticulously investigate the circumstances of your case, gather crucial medical records, consult with top medical experts, and fight tirelessly to secure the compensation you deserve for your child's injury.
We represent families and their birth-injured children throughout the Houston metroplex and Greater Houston area. You can contact us today to schedule your free legal consultation by calling our toll-free line at 888-987-0005 or by filling out our online request form. We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you won't pay any legal fees unless we win your case.
Our Birth Injury Lawyers are available to meet you in your home or the hospital in Houston.
Pearland | Sugar Land | Katy | Cypress | The Woodlands
Recent Birth Injury Settlement:
Birth Injury settlement against a Hospital area hospital in which nurses and physicians failed to detect a uterine rupture during delivery causing an HIE event resulting in seizures, and severe brain damage. Our national birth injury lawyers recovered $9,200,000 for the family to help with future medical expenses and developmental therapy.
A 2024 report on maternal and infant health from the Harris County Public Health department released concerning statistics for maternal mortality rates in Houston. According to figures from 2016 to 2021, the rate of pregnancy-related deaths in Harris County stayed consistently higher than the U.S. rates. The numbers were especially worrying for Black, non-Hispanic mothers, who were three times more likely to die during pregnancy than any other racial or ethnic group.
The report goes on to estimate that nearly 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.
This is an infant mortality rate of 5.2 deaths per 1000 births, a slight increase from 5.1 deaths the previous year. Overall, however, the infant mortality rate has been on a downward trend, decreasing by over 10% in the last decade.
Research reveals that the majority of these infants died prematurely from medical conditions caused by insufficient medical treatment.
Birth Injury and Medical Statistics in Texas
According to the most recent CDC estimates, around 389,741 babies are born in Texas each year. Texas was one of four states whose infant mortality rates increased in 2022, along with Georgia, Iowa, and Missouri. 2% of these infant deaths are estimated to be the result of fatal birth injuries.
A child's chances of suffering a fatal birth injury are highest within the first 28 days after birth. In 2020, 1,946 Texas babies died before their first birthday. The causes of infant deaths within the first 28 days after birth are usually related to conditions or diseases that develop due inadequate treatment and care immediately after birth.
In Texas, the rate of severe complications during pregnancy and childbirth skyrocketed between 2018 and 2020. It was 58.2 per 10,000 cases in 2018 and in 2020, there were 72.7 cases per 10,000. The term pregnancy-related maternal death describes deaths resulting from pregnancy complications that occur during pregnancy or within one year of the end of pregnancy.
Compared to the national average of 17.4, the maternal mortality rate in Texas in 2018 was 18.5 per 100,000 live births. In 90% of cases reviewed by the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee, there was at least some chance of saving a pregnant mother's life. Obstetric hemorrhage, which refers to excessive bleeding during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum, was the leading cause of maternal mortality in Texas.
In November of 2022, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services launched Hear Her Texas, a maternal health campaign that aims to prevent pregnancy-related deaths and birth complications. The program was an extension of the CDC’s 2020 nationwide campaign Hear Her. According to the Hear Her Texas website, approximately 4 out of 5 pregnancy-related deaths in the state are preventable.
More than 700 women die each year in the U.S. from pregnancy-related complications up to one year after giving birth. In Texas, approximately 4 out of 5 of these deaths are preventable.
- Hear Her Texas Campaign
March of Dimes is a nonprofit organization founded initially in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt with the aim of improving maternal and infant health through education, fundraising and the promotion of prenatal care programs and resources.
CDC WONDER (Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) is a comprehensive online database search tool for medical researchers to parse through medical statistical figures across the nation. The system was created in 1990 as an internal tool for CDC scientists, but it was opened to the public two years later for state epidemiologists, external partners, and independent researchers. Many cities and county health programs cite data from CDC WONDER in their monthly and annual reports.
Users can sort and filter through the birth data with an incredible number of factors, including by state, by year, by maternal age, by different maternal risk factors present such as gestational diabetes or maternal infections, by NICU admissions upon birth, and many more variables.
You can access the CDC WONDER natality database search tool for yourself here.
What Types of Birth Injuries Can Medical Negligence Cause?
No matter where you live, birth injury medical negligence can cause severe, lifelong disabilities for babies. Parents of birth-injured children need to be aware of how their symptoms can develop and worsen over time. They must understand the nature and intensity of their child’s injuries so they can accurately assess what legal options exist for them to recover compensation for the cost of care.
Here are some of the most common types of injuries a baby can suffer due to medical malpractice:
A pregnancy complication known as preeclampsia, which is characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Untreated preeclampsia can result in reduced fetal blood flow and increase a baby’s risk for developing HIE.
Premature birth and being more prone to blood flow issues due to the incomplete development of the brain and other organs.
Bruises and swelling can happen when too much pressure is put on the baby's scalp, typically during a prolonged or difficult delivery. Swelling can also occur when a doctor or other medical professional improperly or negligently uses a vacuum extractor or forceps to assist with difficult vaginal delivery.
Swelling can also occur when a doctor or other medical professional improperly or negligently uses a vacuum extractor or forceps to assist with difficult vaginal delivery. Vacuum-assisted deliveries carry significant risks for both the mother and her newborn compared to vaginal deliveries without the use of assistive delivery tools.
Women between the ages of 25 and 34 are the most likely group to suffer injuries during delivery from the use of assistive delivery tools like forceps and vacuum extractors. When delivering without assistive delivery tools, women between 15-17 are most likely to sustain injuries during childbirth.
When a physician misuses instruments like forceps or vacuum extractors, it can leave scratches on an infant's scalp. Minor bruising and scratches usually heal on their own unless they become infected. Serious injuries caused by brain swelling and brain bleeds, like cephalhematoma, intracranial hemorrhage, and subgaleal hemorrhage, are commonly caused by trauma to the head resulting from improper use of birth-aiding tools (forceps, vacuum extractors).
Fetal heart rate monitoring allows healthcare providers to measure a baby's heart rate and rhythm. If the fetal heart rate signals that the baby is in fetal distress, doctors and other healthcare providers must intervene immediately to prevent oxygen deprivation and reduced blood flow to the baby's brain.
Monitoring a baby during labor and delivery with electronic fetal monitoring equipment is also critical to detect when the baby’s heart rate is abnormally low, a condition known as fetal bradycardia.
A slow and irregular heart rhythm is the most common indicator that the baby is suffering from fetal distress. If a medical provider fails to notice abnormalities in heart rate and/or delays treatment when fetal distress is detected, it may lead to serious long-term effects, including brain damage, paralysis, hypoxia or anoxia, and cerebral palsy.
Injuries From Prolonged or Arrested Labor
Allowing labor to continue for too long can be dangerous for a mother and her baby. Prolonged labor refers to labor that lasts over 20 hours for first-time mothers and over 14 hours for mothers who have previously given birth. Arrested labor, also known as failure to progress, occurs when the delivery process stops completely.
When a medical professional fails to diagnose or respond to labor that progresses too slowly or stops altogether, the baby can suffer an intracranial hemorrhage, fetal distress due to oxygen deprivation, and be at risk for developing long-term injuries such as cerebral palsy, HIE, and seizure disorders.
Injuries From Labor Inducing Medications
Pitocin is administered to either strengthen or induce contractions during the labor. It is a synthetic version of oxytocin, which is the hormone that typically stimulates the uterus and starts contractions. A medical professional will sometimes decide to induce labor with Pitocin when a mother has a pregnancy complication like gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or failure to progress.
When healthcare providers administer labor-inducing medications improperly, the mother may begin having contractions that are too strong and/or close together. Excessive uterine activity (uterine hyperstimulation) can deprive a fetus of oxygen and lead to emergency complications like a uterine rupture. The complications of hyperstimulation may be life-threatening and result in long-term outcomes for the baby, including hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, and seizure disorders.
Medical professionals should immediately lower the dosage of labor-inducing medications or stop administering them entirely when a woman shows signs of hyperstimulation to prevent fetal oxygen deprivation.
What Medical Mistakes Can Cause Birth Injuries?
Medical errors are among the leading causes of accidental deaths in the United States. According to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, almost 157,000 birth injuries could have been prevented in a single year with more efficient and comprehensive medical care. Obstetrics legal claims data from 2013 to 2017 revealed that 40% of high-severity OB liability claims involved labor management issues.
There are several medical mistakes that can occur before, during, and after delivery. Among the most common errors are failing to monitor a mother and fetus while administering labor-inducing medications, failing to recognize and respond to a non-reassuring fetal heart rate (NRFHR), or failing to diagnose and respond promptly to obstetric emergencies. 41% of obstetric claims involve neurological/brain injuries, while 34% involved death or stillbirth.
The mismanagement of any of these conditions can lead to a serious birth injury that necessitates a lifetime of special treatment and care. The birth injury lawyers at Miller Weisbrod Olesky can help file a claim against the negligent party or parties responsible for your child's birth injury and evaluate the potential damages in your case to determine how much you may be eligible to recover.
What Can Healthcare Providers Do to Prevent Birth Injuries?
While it is not always possible to prevent every complication that arises from childbirth, doctors and other healthcare professionals can reduce risks of pregnancy-related complications by closely monitoring the mother and baby for warning signs and responding immediately with proper treatment.
Some of the most important aspects of birth injury prevention include:
Doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other medical professionals have a duty to always provide a mother and her baby with the best possible care. When healthcare providers and hospitals fail to meet the required standard of care, they may be held liable for medical malpractice.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for Medical Negligence?
When thinking of healthcare professionals that could be held liable in a birth injury negligence lawsuit, one might automatically think of doctors and nurses. But in addition to doctors and nurses, defendants in a medical negligence lawsuit can be any healthcare provider or medical facility that causes harm or injury to a patient.
Sometimes several parties are liable for a child's birth injuries. Examples of healthcare providers and/or entities that can be held liable for medical negligence include:
Maternal-fetal medicine physicians and specialists (MFM)
Laboratory staff
A hospital may indirectly be held liable (known as ‘vicarious liability’) if a patient suffers harm due to the negligent actions of their employees. For example, a hospital can be held vicariously liable for a doctor's failure to monitor a mother and her baby before, during, or after delivery.
A hospital may also face direct liability for its own negligent actions or omissions. For instance, hospitals may be liable for failing to staff certain units properly or for labeling medication improperly. When bringing a medical malpractice claim against a negligent healthcare provider, the plaintiff (injured party) must present sufficient evidence to show that the defendant (healthcare provider) breached their duty of care and caused the plaintiff to suffer an injury.
Our birth injury lawyers are specialized in handling traumatic birth injury cases against major hospitals throughout the entire state of Texas, including Houston and Harris County.
How Do You File a Birth Injury Malpractice Lawsuit?
When a child and their family have been affected by sub-standard medical care, pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit against the negligent doctor, hospital, nurse or other medical professional can help them recover compensation to cover the cost of their child's current and lifelong needs.
If you decide to file a birth injury claim, your Houston Birth Injury Attorney will have the burden of presenting evidence to prove that your child's birth injury was caused by medical malpractice.
The following are the Four Key Elements that must be established in a medical malpractice claim related to a birth injury:
Duty of care: The plaintiff (the mother and her representatives) must establish that they had an existing relationship with the physician or other healthcare provider. Once established, the doctor has a duty to provide reasonable care to a mother and her child during childbirth.
Breach of duty of care: The plaintiff must prove that the physician failed to provide an expected standard of care that another medical professional would have provided under the same or similar circumstances. This is what is commonly known as "medical negligence" or "medical malpractice."
Causation: The doctor's breach of duty (negligence/malpractice) must be proven to be a cause or contributing factor to the birth injury.
Damages: The plaintiff must prove that the doctor's negligence caused the child to suffer compensable damages (i.e., lost income, the cost of medical care, disability, mental anguish, and pain and suffering).
Establishing these legal elements requires testimony from expert witnesses. Medical professionals with extensive experience in the relevant field and knowledge of accepted practices within that specialty can offer invaluable insight as expert witnesses and play a critical role in determining whether negligence occurred. A qualified birth injury law firm like Miller Weisbrod Olesky work with highly regarded experts across the United States.
Our specialized birth injury lawyers in Houston can find out who is at fault for your child's injuries and hold them accountable for their actions. Your attorney will begin investigating the facts of your case as soon as possible and gather all relevant evidence to support your claim.
What Evidence is Needed to File a Birth Injury Case?
Compiling evidence that demonstrates the harm your child has endured due to a medical provider's negligent care is essential to substantiating the cause of your child's birth injury and building the strongest case possible. If you're considering filing a birth injury claim, the types of evidence you may need will ultimately depend on the specifics of your case.
Be sure to gather up your child's medical records and keep notes on any doctor's appointments, medications, therapy, and records of any communication you have had with your physician and/or the hospital. If you do not know how to gather these records, quickly hiring an expert birth injury attorney like those at Miller Weisbrod Olesky can gather these records on your behalf.
Examples of evidence our intake specialists and birth injury lawyers will gather on your behalf can include:
Medical records of the baby's birth injury and any follow-up care
The mother's medical records during pregnancy, labor, and delivery
Witness interviews from anyone involved in the delivery (obstetricians, nurses, and other medical professionals)
Test results, X-rays, and MRI scans
Expert testimony from medical experts in the same or related field, financial experts, actuaries, and life-care planners
The estimated cost of any future treatment the child will need
Previous complaints filed against the medical professional
Invoices, check stubs, or work schedules showing income you've lost as a result of your infant's injury
The medical professional's employment and disciplinary records
A detailed account of the events that occurred before, during, or after delivery
Physician, nursing, and operative notes
Records detailing the administration of any medication
Photos and videos of the labor, delivery and even your child's injuries
Documentation that describes co-existing conditions or complications
Medical bills for any injury-related costs
Other bills and receipts showing any additional costs you've incurred
Hospital orders, policies, and records
Our birth injury attorneys in Houston will consult with one or more expert medical witnesses who can demonstrate how a doctor, hospital, or other healthcare providers actions or failure to act led to your child's birth injury. Expert testimony is typically required to establish the standard of care a reasonable medical professional in the same specialty would have provided in a similar or the same situation.
We will also consult with physicians and life care planners as well as economists who can provide an opinion regarding your child's long-term medical needs and diminished ability to earn income in the future due to the injury. In pursuing compensation, strong evidence is crucial to prove liability and demonstrate the extent of the harm caused by the medical provider's negligence.
Legal Compensation in a Birth Injury Claim
The compensation you could receive if your child has suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence can help you cover expenses associated with your child's injury, including the cost of lifelong care. The settlement amount you may be awarded in a birth injury claim will depend on several factors, including the level of medical negligence that took place.
Damages in birth injury cases are generally divided into two categories: economic and non-economic losses.
Economic Damages Include
These damages typically include any direct financial losses you or your child have suffered as a result of the birth injury.
Medical bills and life care expenses (including the cost of any future medical care)
Lost future earning capacity (if the child's birth injury impacts the child's ability to work in the future)
The cost of special education and tutors
Home and vehicle modification costs (such as ramps or accessible bathrooms)
The cost of surgery or other specialized treatment
The cost of diagnostic testing
Non-Economic Damages Include
Non-economic damages are meant to compensate birth injury victims for more subjective forms of harm, such as pain and suffering or emotional distress.
Pain and suffering
Diminished quality of life
Disability and Physical Impairment
Disfigurement, and permanent scarring
Mental Anguish
Anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Loss of consortium
Miller Weisbrod Olesky's Dedication to Clients
Punitive or exemplary damages may be awarded when the at-fault party's conduct is grossly negligent, reckless, intentional, or malicious. These damages are designed to punish the negligent healthcare professional for their extreme carelessness or disregard and deter others from making the same mistakes in the future.
Some of the factors that may be considered in determining the amount of compensation you may be awarded include the severity of your child's birth injury, the extent of economic losses you've incurred, and the long-term effects of the injury on your child's quality of life.
How Long Do I Have to File a Birth Injury Lawsuit in Texas?
The statute of limitations for Houston birth injury cases limits the time frame during which an injured victim can initiate a medical malpractice lawsuit against a negligent healthcare provider or hospital.
For all damages other than medical expenses up until age 18, the statute of limitations requires that a lawsuit be filed by the time the child is 14 years old.
To recover, the medical expenses of the child from birth until age 18, the case must be filed earlier—it must be filed within 2 years of the negligent acts (usually at or shortly after birth).
It is important to know if the statute for the medical expenses is missed, a birth injury lawsuit can still be filed in Houston for all non-economic damages and medical expenses and loss of earnings capacity for after age 18. Yes! This can be confusing so contact an experienced birth injury attorney like those at Miller Weisbrod Olesky for a free consultation on you and your child’s rights.
If the statute of limitations runs out in your case, you may miss your chance to recover compensation for your child. The discovery rule is one such exception that allows an injured victim to bring a lawsuit against a negligent hospital or medical professional as soon as the injury is discovered or should have been reasonably discovered. It is also essential to keep in mind that the statute of limitations varies by state and the type of claim being filed.
What Can the Team at Miller Weisbrod Olesky Do for You?
As Birth Injury Lawyers practicing in Houston, we fight to get justice for our clients. We believe in holding negligent medical professionals accountable for their negligence. Our process consists of:
Discussing your case with you in detail
Using our extensive resources to investigate your baby's records thoroughly
Providing nurse-attorneys and nursing staff who understand what has happened medically
Consulting with experts who understand how you and your child should have been treated
Seeking compensation for your baby's injuries from the people who caused them
Many birth injury law firms focus only on pursuing their client's legal cases. At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, we know your child needs help today - not just when your birth injury lawsuit is settled. Our team focuses on helping our clients now when they need it most.
We know that children with birth injuries like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and cerebral palsy often require intense therapy, specialized medical treatment, and assistive care. The stress of providing for a birth-injured child's needs can be both emotionally and financially draining.
But just 'knowing' this is not enough. We act on this knowledge by providing exceptional services to birth-injured children and their families.
Registered Nurses and Nurse-Attorneys Are a Vital Part of Our Birth Injury Team...and Yours
Most birth injury law firms will employ one or two nurses to assist the review of cases and medical research. Miller Weisbrod Olesky offers an unmatched number of nurses and nurse-attorneys to support our clients and dedicated birth injury team.
Our nursing team brings a deep level of medical and personal insight to every client's case. Working closely with the rest of the birth injury legal team, they investigate the reasons behind a birth injury and how medical professionals breached their standard of care...But they do much more.
For our clients, our nurses and nurse-attorneys provide valuable support with medical questions and finding healthcare providers.
While Miller Weisbrod Olesky's birth injury attorneys in Houston aggressively prepare each legal case, another department goes into action to help the families of children we represent. We also provide IMMEDIATE help to the families of children we represent while the case is being pursued.
Led by our nurse-attorney, this department acts as a medical case manager for our birth injury clients by:
Regularly monitoring the child's medical treatment status
Helping to facilitate medical treatment and therapy
Arranging transportation and services
Where necessary, we help families locate local medical providers specializing in the care and treatment of children who have suffered a birth injury. With Miller Weisbrod Olesky, you are not 'just a case'. And that's important when you are looking for a lawyer who can help you cope with your child's needs today.
Contact Our Firm Today for a Free Consultation with Experienced Birth Injury Lawyers
If a healthcare provider's negligence causes your baby to suffer a birth injury that results in a lifelong disability or developmental delays, the Houston birth injury attorneys at Miller Weisbrod Olesky can help you hold negligent doctors, hospitals, or other healthcare professionals responsible for their actions.
We will investigate the circumstances surrounding your child's injury, collect evidence, and consult with expert witnesses to build a strong case on your behalf. Although birth injury cases rarely go to trial, we are prepared to fight for your child's rights in court if needed.
We understand that this is a challenging time for your family, which is why we offer free consultations to discuss your case and help you explore your legal options. Our lawyers also work on a contingency fee basis, which means you won't have to pay any legal fees unless/ until we win your case.
We handle birth injury cases against major hospitals around the Houston metroplex, including surrounding cities like Katy, Pearland, Sugar Land, Cypress, and The Woodlands. Contact us at 888-987-0005 or fill out our convenient online form to schedule your free consultation.
What Birth Injury Support Groups Exist in Texas?
After a traumatic birth injury, there are several different types of support groups that may help your child and family cope. Whether your child has cerebral palsy, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), or other birth injuries and disabilities, there are a variety of resources available to ease some of the hardships that come with these conditions.
Parents can also gain a sense of belonging in support groups by connecting with other parents who have gone through similar experiences. Various support groups in Texas include:
Taking advantage of the above resources can be extremely helpful if you have a child or care for a child who has suffered a traumatic birth injury. These resources include specialized treatment programs, support groups for parents, educational materials on managing and coping with birth injuries, and access to medical professionals who specialize in treating such injuries.
When you feel overwhelmed or worried about your child’s future and their daily challenges, joining a community support organization and talking to others about what you may be going through can make you feel less alone.
