Lawsuit Information Center
On this page, our Maryland birth injury lawyers will talk about birth injury medical malpractice lawsuits. We will look at the most common types of medical negligence during labor and delivery that we see in birth injury cases. We will also discuss the amount of compensation plaintiffs can get in these cases by looking at settlement amounts and jury payouts in prior Maryland birth injury cases.
The term birth injury generally means physical injury, brain damage, nerve damage, or other harm to a newborn baby caused by something that occurs before, during, or shortly after labor and delivery. Some birth injuries are unavoidable. That is true. Childbirth is complicated, and even good doctors can face emergencies that no one could have prevented.
But many serious birth injuries are the direct result of mistakes or negligence by doctors, nurses, midwives, and hospitals. In many cases, injuries during birth can leave a child disabled for life. These are not small cases. These are cases about children who may need therapy, medical care, mobility equipment, feeding support, seizure care, home nursing, or around-the-clock assistance for the rest of their lives.
In Maryland, parents are legally entitled to compensation when their child suffers a birth injury caused by medical negligence. This page explains Maryland birth injury malpractice law, the medical issues that often drive these cases, the evidence that matters most, and the value of birth injury lawsuits in Maryland.
Miller & Zois is a national firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, so our birth injury attorneys have particular expertise in Maryland birth injury law and expected settlement compensation. We handle these cases because they matter. A preventable birth injury does not just change a child’s medical chart. It changes the entire life of a family.
If your baby suffered brain damage, cerebral palsy, HIE, Erb’s palsy, or another serious birth injury in Maryland, call our birth injury lawyers at 800-553-8082 or request a free consultation online. Families deserve answers. We can review the medical records and help determine whether your child’s injury was preventable.
Common Birth Injuries in Maryland
Outlined below are some of the birth injuries that we see most frequently in Maryland birth injury malpractice lawsuits. These are injuries often the result of medical negligence or errors during labor and delivery. Sometimes the negligence occurs earlier, during prenatal care, when doctors fail to recognize pregnancy complications before labor even begins.
HIE, or hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, is a very serious and potentially fatal type of infant brain injury caused by major disruptions of blood and oxygen to the baby during labor and delivery.
The phrase sounds technical, but the idea is simple. Hypoxic means not enough oxygen. Ischemic means not enough blood flow. Encephalopathy means brain dysfunction. HIE means the baby’s brain was injured because it did not get enough oxygen and blood flow around the time of birth.
Events such as a compressed umbilical cord, ruptured uterus, placental abruption, excessive contractions, maternal infection, or prolonged fetal distress can cause this type of oxygen deprivation and result in HIE.
HIE is one of the most important injuries in Maryland birth injury litigation because it can lead to seizures, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, feeding problems, vision impairment, cognitive impairment, and death. The key legal question is usually timing. Did the baby show signs of oxygen deprivation before delivery? Did the fetal monitor show distress? Should the doctor have moved sooner to a C-section? Did the newborn team respond properly after birth?
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is one of the most serious outcomes in a birth injury case. Cerebral palsy is not a single disease. It is a group of movement disorders that can affect posture, muscle tone, coordination, balance, speech, feeding, breathing, swallowing, learning, and mobility. The CDC describes cerebral palsy as a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture.
Some children with cerebral palsy walk independently and need limited support. Others need wheelchairs, braces, feeding tubes, seizure medication, orthopedic surgery, communication devices, therapy, special education services, and help with nearly every activity of daily living.
Not every case of cerebral palsy is caused by medical malpractice. This needs to be said clearly. Some cases are caused by genetic conditions, prematurity, infection, stroke, congenital brain abnormalities, or other medical problems that no doctor could have prevented.
But some cerebral palsy cases are caused by preventable oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery. These are the cases Maryland birth injury lawyers investigate most closely. If the baby was showing signs of distress on the fetal monitor, if delivery was delayed, if a C-section should have been performed sooner, or if newborn resuscitation was mishandled after birth, the child’s cerebral palsy may be linked to medical negligence.
This is why parents often come to lawyers with one painful question: Would my child be healthy today if the doctors and nurses had acted sooner?
That question is the heart of almost every cerebral palsy malpractice lawsuit.
Why Cerebral Palsy Cases Often Have the Largest Verdicts and Settlements
Cerebral palsy birth injury cases often produce the largest malpractice verdicts and settlements because the damages are not limited to the first hospital stay. The injury follows the child for life.
A child with severe cerebral palsy may need decades of medical care, therapy, equipment, medications, home nursing, accessible housing, transportation modifications, communication technology, and assistance with bathing, feeding, dressing, toileting, and mobility. There is no cure for cerebral palsy, although early identification and treatment will help improve the lives of children with the condition.
That means the case is not just about what happened in the delivery room. It is about what this child will need at age 5, age 15, age 35, and age 60.
Future care is usually the largest part of a cerebral palsy verdict. A life care planner may calculate the cost of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, feeding therapy, seizure care, orthopedic care, wheelchairs, braces, communication devices, surgeries, medications, home modifications, attendant care, and future residential care. An economist may then calculate the lifetime cost of that care and the child’s lost earning capacity.
Defense lawyers like to call these numbers inflated. But they are not inflated when the child truly needs the care. They are the cost of survival, dignity, mobility, communication, and quality of life.
Erb’s Palsy and Brachial Plexus Injuries
Erb’s palsy is a disability in which the movement of the arm is impaired or lost because certain nerves in the base of the baby’s neck are damaged during childbirth. Damage to these nerves disrupts the brain’s ability to control movement of the arm and hand.
The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that runs from the spinal cord through the shoulder and into the arm. During a difficult vaginal delivery, especially when shoulder dystocia occurs, these nerves can be stretched or torn if too much force is applied to the baby’s head, neck, or shoulder.
Some brachial plexus injuries improve over time. Others require surgery and leave the child with permanent weakness, limited range of motion, arm length differences, shoulder problems, or lifelong disability.
The malpractice question is usually not just whether shoulder dystocia happened. Shoulder dystocia can happen without negligence. The question is whether the doctor responded properly. Did the doctor use accepted maneuvers? Was excessive traction applied? Should a C-section have been planned because of fetal macrosomia, maternal diabetes, prior shoulder dystocia, or other known risk factors?
Bone Fractures and Physical Birth Trauma
Some Maryland birth injury cases involve physical trauma during delivery. This includes clavicle fractures, skull fractures, facial nerve injuries, lacerations, bruising, cephalohematoma, subgaleal hemorrhage, and other trauma.
A broken clavicle is one of the more common bone injuries during childbirth. Many clavicle fractures heal without permanent injury, so they do not always support a malpractice lawsuit. A skull fracture, brain bleed, nerve injury, or serious head trauma is different. Those injuries raise harder questions about whether the delivery was mishandled.
Physical trauma cases often involve forceps, vacuum extraction, shoulder dystocia, excessive traction, or continuing with a difficult vaginal delivery when a C-section would have been safer.
Neonatal Brain Bleeds and Seizures
A baby who suffers trauma or oxygen deprivation during birth may develop seizures, brain bleeding, or other signs of neurologic injury shortly after delivery. Neonatal seizures are always serious. They may be the first visible sign that the baby suffered a major oxygen deprivation injury.
Maryland birth injury lawsuits involving seizures often require careful review of the delivery record, fetal monitoring strips, cord gases, Apgar scores, NICU records, EEG studies, MRI scans, and pediatric neurology records. The defense will often argue that seizures were caused by infection, stroke, prematurity, genetics, or an event unrelated to delivery. The plaintiff’s experts must prove the timing and cause of the injury.
Medical Negligence Causes Birth Injuries
Birth injuries are often the direct result of medical negligence or some type of mistake or oversight by doctors, nurses, midwives, and hospital staff. Most medical mistakes that cause birth injuries occur during the critical labor and delivery stage when the baby is vulnerable to oxygen deprivation. Sometimes, however, birth injuries can be the result of negligent medical care during the prenatal phase.
Medical negligence during childbirth resulting in birth injuries typically falls into one of a few types or categories. These are the most common types of medical malpractice alleged in Maryland birth injury lawsuits.
Fetal Monitoring Negligence
Electronic fetal heart monitoring devices are crucial for the delivery team to detect signs of fetal distress by tracking the baby’s heart rate during labor. The primary function of these devices is to alert the team when the baby is under stress, allowing the doctor to intervene with an emergency C-section and prevent birth injuries.
For this system to work effectively, the team must vigilantly monitor the fetal heart tracings, and the doctor must accurately interpret any potential warnings. Many birth injury cases allege that the delivery team either failed to monitor the fetal heart rate or ignored critical warning indicators.
The fetal monitor is often the heart of the case. It may show late decelerations, recurrent variable decelerations, prolonged decelerations, fetal bradycardia, minimal variability, absent variability, or other signs that the baby was not tolerating labor. ACOG’s fetal heart rate monitoring guidance provides recommendations for evaluation and management of intrapartum fetal heart rate tracings.
The monitor does not deliver the baby. Doctors and nurses do. A warning strip only matters if someone recognizes the warning and acts on it.
Failure to Perform a C-Section
When complications arise during labor, an emergency C-section is often the most effective method for protecting the baby and preventing birth injuries. For this reason, the most common allegation in birth injury malpractice cases is that the doctor was negligent in not performing a timely C-section, whether it was planned or emergency.
The key word is timely. Hospitals often defend these cases by saying, “We did perform a C-section.” But that does not answer the legal question. The question is whether they performed it soon enough.
A C-section that should have happened at 2:00 but does not happen until 4:00 is often the difference between a healthy child and a child with permanent brain damage. In a birth injury lawsuit, experts look at when the need for delivery became clear and how long it took the team to act.
Forceps and Vacuum Errors
Delivery assistance tools, such as vacuum extractors and obstetrical forceps, are instruments that doctors may use to grasp a baby’s head and assist in maneuvering it through the birth canal. These tools are employed only in challenging vaginal deliveries where the baby is stuck or not progressing normally.
Using these instruments requires a high level of technical skill and precision. If not used carefully and correctly, they can cause serious injuries to the baby.
Forceps and vacuum mistakes can cause skull fractures, brain bleeds, scalp trauma, cephalohematoma, subgaleal hemorrhage, facial nerve injuries, eye injuries, brachial plexus injuries, and oxygen deprivation when the instrument attempt delays a safer C-section.
In many cases, the issue is not just how the tool was used. It is whether the tool should have been used at all. If the baby is too high in the birth canal, too large, poorly positioned, or already showing signs of fetal distress, forceps or vacuum extraction may be the wrong move.
Shoulder Dystocia Mismanagement
Shoulder dystocia occurs when the baby’s head delivers but the shoulders become stuck behind the mother’s pelvic bone. This is an emergency. The baby cannot stay stuck indefinitely. But the answer is not simply to pull harder.
Doctors are trained to use accepted shoulder dystocia maneuvers, such as McRoberts positioning, suprapubic pressure, delivery of the posterior arm, and rotational maneuvers. Excessive downward traction on the baby’s head and neck can injure the brachial plexus nerves and cause Erb’s palsy.
Maryland shoulder dystocia cases often turn on risk factors and technique. Was the baby large? Did the mother have gestational diabetes? Was there a prior shoulder dystocia? Was the delivery note accurate? Was there excessive traction? The medical record may say “gentle traction.” The child’s injury may tell a different story.
Failure to Manage Prenatal Risk Factors
Some birth injury cases begin long before labor. Prenatal care matters. Doctors must recognize and respond to maternal and fetal risk factors such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, fetal growth restriction, macrosomia, oligohydramnios, infection, placental abnormalities, decreased fetal movement, and prior obstetric complications.
A mother with preeclampsia may have placental problems that reduce the baby’s oxygen reserve. A mother with gestational diabetes may have a larger baby and a higher risk of shoulder dystocia. A baby with fetal growth restriction may already be under stress before labor begins.
The legal question is often simple: did the doctors see the risk and act like it mattered?
Negligent Newborn Resuscitation
Some babies are born in distress and need immediate help. The team must assess whether the baby is breathing, crying, moving, maintaining a good heart rate, and improving oxygen levels. If the baby is not breathing well or has a low heart rate, the team must intervene quickly.
The 2025 American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics neonatal resuscitation guidelines emphasize care of newborn infants during the transition from the uterine environment to birth and include guidance on ventilation, oxygen, heart rate assessment, and postresuscitation care. AHA and AAP neonatal resuscitation guidelines.
A baby can survive labor and still be injured after birth if resuscitation is mishandled. Poor ventilation, delayed intubation, failure to recognize seizures, failure to treat acidosis, or delay in transferring the baby to a higher-level NICU can turn a survivable event into a catastrophic injury.
Maryland Birth Injury Malpractice Laws
When a baby suffers a birth injury in Maryland as a result of negligent medical care during labor and delivery, both the parents and the child may have the right to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit and seek financial compensation. This section provides an overview of the Maryland medical malpractice laws that matter most in birth injury cases.
Maryland Health Care Malpractice Claims Office
Maryland medical malpractice cases are not filed the same way ordinary injury lawsuits are filed. A person having a claim against a health care provider for damage due to a medical injury generally must first file the claim with the Director of the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office. Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Section 3 2A 04.
Most Maryland malpractice plaintiffs then waive arbitration and move the case into circuit court. But the first filing still matters. The statute of limitations statute specifically says that filing a claim with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office is deemed the filing of an action. Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Section 5 109.
Certificate of Qualified Expert
Maryland also requires a certificate of qualified expert in most medical malpractice cases. Unless the sole issue is lack of informed consent, the plaintiff must file a certificate from a qualified expert attesting that the defendant departed from the standards of care and that the departure was a proximate cause of the injury. The statute generally requires the certificate within 90 days from the date of the complaint. Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Section 3 2A 04.
In plain English, you need expert support early. A Maryland birth injury lawsuit cannot be built on suspicion alone. The medical records must be reviewed by qualified doctors or nurses who can explain what the standard of care required, how the providers violated it, and how that violation caused the injury.
This is one reason birth injury cases are expensive and hard-fought. The family is not just saying, “Something went wrong.” The family must prove what should have happened, what actually happened, and how the difference changed the child’s life.
Maryland Birth Injury Statute of Limitations
Anyone considering a birth injury malpractice lawsuit in Maryland needs to be mindful of the applicable statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is a law that sets a deadline for how long plaintiffs have to file a claim.
Maryland’s health care provider statute of limitations says that an action for damages arising out of professional services by a health care provider must be filed within the earlier of five years of the time the injury was committed or three years from the date the injury was discovered. Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Section 5 109.
Birth injury cases involving children are more complicated. The statute text contains special rules for minors, but Maryland’s highest court held in Piselli v. 75th Street Medical that, for a minor child’s medical malpractice claim, the time limitations in Section 5 109 do not begin running until the child turns 18. That is why lawyers often say a child injured at birth in Maryland generally has until age 21 to file the child’s claim.
That does not mean families should wait. The parents’ claims may have a much shorter deadline. Wrongful death claims have their own deadline. Evidence also gets harder to find with every year that passes. Fetal monitor strips can be lost. Nurses move. Doctors forget. Electronic records get archived. Waiting almost never helps.
Maryland Cap on Damages in Birth Injury Cases
Maryland law imposes a cap on the amount of noneconomic damages that can be awarded in a birth injury malpractice lawsuit. Noneconomic damages are usually referred to as pain and suffering damages.
Maryland’s medical malpractice cap applies only to noneconomic damages. It does not cap economic damages such as past medical bills, future medical care, therapy costs, home nursing, lost earning capacity, and life care expenses. That distinction matters enormously in birth injury cases because economic damages are typically very high.
For a medical malpractice injury claim arising in 2026, the Maryland noneconomic damages cap is $920,000. For a wrongful death action with two or more claimants or beneficiaries, the cap is 125 percent of that amount, or $1,150,000. The statute increases the base cap by $15,000 each year. Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Section 3 2A 09.
This is why Maryland birth injury verdicts can look strange in the news. A jury may award $10 million for pain and suffering, but the judge must reduce that part of the award to the statutory cap. But if the jury awards $20 million for future medical care, that economic damage award is not reduced by the pain and suffering cap.
Evidence That Matters in Maryland Birth Injury Cases
The most important evidence in a Maryland birth injury case is usually in the medical records. But not every record matters equally.
The fetal monitoring strips are often the heart of the case because they show what the baby was doing before birth. The delivery note matters, but it is often written after the fact by the same people whose conduct is being questioned. The strips are closer to real time. They may show whether the baby was compensating, struggling, or crashing.
Other key records include prenatal records, ultrasound reports, nonstress tests, biophysical profiles, labor and delivery records, nursing notes, operative notes, cord blood gases, Apgar scores, neonatal resuscitation records, NICU records, EEGs, brain MRI reports, placental pathology, pediatric neurology records, therapy records, and developmental evaluations.
Families should not assume the hospital’s explanation is the final word. In serious birth injury cases, independent experts need to review the complete chart.
Chart: Evidence That Drives a Maryland Birth Injury Case
| Evidence | Impact on Birth Injury Lawsuits | What It Can Prove |
|---|---|---|
| Fetal Monitoring Strips | They show the baby’s heart rate response to contractions and labor stress. | Fetal distress, timing of oxygen problems, delayed response. |
| Cord Blood Gases | They help show whether the baby had acidosis at birth. | Oxygen deprivation, severity of compromise, timing questions. |
| Apgar Scores | They show how the baby was doing immediately after birth. | Depression at birth, need for resuscitation, early distress. |
| NICU Records | They document respiratory support, seizures, cooling therapy, and neurologic status. | Severity of injury, treatment course, neonatal complications. |
| Brain MRI and EEG | Imaging and seizure testing can show the type and timing of brain injury. | HIE, stroke, seizure activity, pattern of brain damage. |
| Life Care Plan | It projects the care, therapy, equipment, and support the child will need. | Future medical costs, home care, therapy, equipment, lifetime needs. |
Settlement Value of Maryland Birth Injury Cases
Birth injury malpractice lawsuits in Maryland are often high-value cases. The two key factors that drive settlement value are the severity and permanency of the child’s birth injuries, and the nature of the medical negligence and how difficult it will be to prove at trial.
A child who fully recovers from a short NICU stay may not have a high-value claim, even if the care was imperfect. But a child with HIE, severe cerebral palsy, profound developmental delays, seizures, feeding problems, mobility limitations, or permanent brain damage may require care for life. That is where the value of these cases comes from.
A Maryland birth injury case may include compensation for past medical bills, future medical care, therapy, surgeries, medications, home nursing, attendant care, mobility equipment, communication devices, special education needs, accessible housing, transportation modifications, lost future earning capacity, and pain and suffering.
The largest Maryland birth injury verdicts usually involve catastrophic brain injury. That is not because juries are trying to punish hospitals with big numbers. It is because the cost of lifetime care is enormous.
In a severe cerebral palsy case, future care alone can reach tens of millions of dollars. A child may need physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, feeding therapy, neurologic care, orthopedic care, seizure management, wheelchairs, braces, communication technology, home modifications, and daily assistance for decades.
Hospitals do not want juries to see too clearly. A preventable birth injury does not end when the baby leaves the NICU. For many families, that is when the fight begins.
What Makes a Strong Maryland Birth Injury Lawsuit?
The strongest birth injury lawsuits usually have three things: clear liability, clear causation, and catastrophic damages.
Clear liability means the records show that doctors, nurses, or hospital staff missed warning signs or acted unreasonably. Clear causation means medical experts can connect the mistake to the injury. Catastrophic damages means the child’s injury is serious enough to justify the cost and risk of medical malpractice litigation.
A strong case might involve a baby with nonreassuring fetal monitoring for hours before delivery, a delayed C-section, low Apgar scores, abnormal cord gases, neonatal seizures, cooling therapy, an MRI showing HIE, and later cerebral palsy. Another strong case might involve a large baby, known shoulder dystocia risk factors, excessive traction, and permanent brachial plexus injury.
A weaker case might involve a tragic outcome with no evidence that earlier delivery or different care would have changed anything. That is hard for families to hear. But it is better to tell the truth early than sell false hope.
Common Defenses in Maryland Birth Injury Cases
Hospitals and doctors rarely admit fault in birth injury cases. They usually argue that the injury was unavoidable, genetic, congenital, caused by prematurity, caused by infection, caused by placental disease, caused by maternal conduct, or caused by something that happened before labor.
In cerebral palsy cases, the defense may argue that the child’s brain injury did not occur during labor. In brachial plexus cases, the defense may argue that the injury happened from natural forces of labor rather than excessive traction. In forceps or vacuum cases, the defense may argue that the instrument was necessary and properly used.
Some of these defenses are legitimate. Some are just litigation fog. The answer is in the records, the timing, the imaging, and the expert testimony.
Maryland Birth Injury Malpractice Verdicts and Settlements
Below is a summary of verdicts and reported settlements in Maryland birth injury malpractice cases. Settlement amounts in Maryland birth injury lawsuits are harder to find because they are often confidential. Hospitals and doctors often insist on confidentiality because one thing they are buying in settlement is protection from public scrutiny.
Verdicts and settlements are not calculators. A $30 million verdict in one case does not mean another case is worth $30 million. Value depends on liability, causation, injury severity, venue, future care needs, insurance, collectability, and whether the defense has a credible alternative explanation.
The recent Maryland updates are mostly appellate developments involving prior verdicts rather than new public trial verdicts. That matters. A birth injury verdict is not always the end of the case. Maryland hospitals appeal major verdicts aggressively.
| Result / Year | Case Details & Significance |
|---|---|
|
Over $13 Million
Appellate Ruling | 2026
|
Brain Damage and Brain Bleed from Induced Labor Complications (Lewis v. Upper Chesapeake Medical Center): A Harford County jury awarded over $13 million in 2022 to a mother and her son in a birth injury case involving alleged negligence during labor at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. The mother presented to have labor induced due to elevated blood pressure. Labor lasted more than 17 hours and showed abnormalities on the fetal heart monitor. After a difficult delivery, the child was born with brain damage, and later testing showed a brain bleed.
In 2026, the Appellate Court of Maryland issued an unreported opinion reversing rulings of the circuit court in the appeal and remanding the case. The appellate issue involved trial fairness and the handling of an agreement involving a codefendant doctor, not a new medical finding that the child was uninjured. Because of the appellate ruling, this verdict should not be presented as a final collected judgment without that caveat. . |
|
$34,770,292.89
Appellate Ruling | 2025
|
Brain Damage from Special Care Unit Oxygen Deficiency (Bigg v. MedStar Harbor Hospital): In Biggs v. MedStar Harbor Hospital, a Baltimore City jury awarded $34,770,292.89 in 2021. The case involved a baby in MedStar Harbor Hospital’s special care unit who appeared healthy but then turned blue and required intubation due to lack of oxygen. The child suffered brain damage and may require a wheelchair, feeding tube, and assistance with all daily living activities. The lawsuit alleged that the healthcare providers at Harbor Hospital were too slow to respond to the oxygen deficiency, leading to brain damage.
In 2025, the Appellate Court of Maryland reversed the nearly $35 million verdict and remanded the case for a new trial. The appellate court held that the trial court had limited evidence the hospital wanted to use in its causation defense. This is an important update because it shows how fiercely hospitals fight causation in cerebral palsy cases. |
|
Appellate Ruling
Causation Review | 2025
|
Premature Labor Monitoring and Evaluation Failure: In 2025, the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled that a lower court should have heard expert testimony in a Montgomery County newborn injury case involving allegations that health care providers failed to properly evaluate and monitor a mother who presented at 24 weeks with abdominal and back pain. The parents alleged that better care could have allowed the pregnancy to be extended and a complete course of betamethasone to be administered, reducing the newborn’s injuries.
This was not a verdict. It was an appellate ruling about expert testimony and causation. But it belongs on a Maryland birth injury page because it shows how important expert testimony is in these cases. Without expert testimony, the case dies before the jury ever hears it. |
|
Nearly $34 Million
Verdict | 2023
|
Permanent Brain Damage from Premature Delivery (Anderson v. University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center): A pregnant woman went to the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson due to lower abdominal cramping and Braxton Hicks contractions. The attending doctor ordered an emergency C-section. The plaintiffs alleged that symptoms of cervical insufficiency were mistaken for premature labor and fetal distress, and that the child suffered permanent brain damage from being delivered too early.
Following a two-week trial, the jury found negligence and lack of informed consent. The verdict included future medical costs, lost earning capacity, past medical expenses, and noneconomic damages. The noneconomic damages were expected to be reduced under Maryland’s statutory cap. This case is a little different because it is not the usual delayed C-section story. The claim was that the baby was delivered too early because the clinical picture was misread. Birth injury negligence can run in both directions. Sometimes the malpractice is waiting too long. Sometimes it is acting too fast without the right medical basis. |
|
$13,200,000
Verdict | 2022
|
Brain Damage and Brain Bleed from Induced Labor Negligence (Lewis v. Upper Chesapeake Medical Center): A mother presented to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center to have labor induced due to elevated blood pressure. Her labor lasted over 17 hours and showed abnormalities on the fetal heart monitor. After a difficult birth, the child was born with brain damage. Later testing showed the child had a brain bleed.
A Harford County jury awarded more than $13 million to the mother and her son, including $10.5 million for future medical care and expenses, $2 million for pain and suffering, and additional damages for loss of earning capacity. As noted above, this verdict later became the subject of a 2026 appellate ruling. |
|
$34,770,000
Verdict | 2021
|
Brain Damage from Special Care Unit Delayed Resuscitation (Bigg v. MedStar Harbor Hospital): A baby was at MedStar Harbor Hospital’s special care unit in Baltimore. He appeared healthy, but within an hour he turned blue and required intubation due to lack of oxygen. As a result of brain damage, he may require a wheelchair, receive nutrition through a feeding tube, and require assistance with all daily living activities.
His family hired a Maryland birth injury lawyer who filed a birth injury lawsuit alleging that healthcare providers at Harbor Hospital were too slow to respond to the baby’s oxygen deficiency, which led to his brain damage. As noted above, the Appellate Court of Maryland later reversed the verdict and remanded the case for a new trial. |
|
$229,000,000
Overturned | 2019
|
Catastrophic Brain Injury from Preeclampsia Mismanagement (Byrom v. Johns Hopkins Bayview): A Baltimore City jury awarded a record birth injury verdict against Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in a case involving severe preeclampsia, delivery decision making, and catastrophic brain injury to a newborn. The jury awarded approximately $229 million, including future medical expenses, past medical expenses, lost earning capacity, and noneconomic damages.
The trial court reduced the award to approximately $205 million because of Maryland’s noneconomic damages cap. In 2021, Maryland’s intermediate appellate court overturned the judgment, holding that the hospital was entitled to judgment based on the informed consent record. Maryland Daily Record, February 2021. This case belongs on a Maryland birth injury page even though the judgment was overturned. It shows both the enormous lifetime care value of catastrophic brain injury cases and the appellate risk in major medical malpractice verdicts. |
|
$2,000,000
Verdict | 2015
|
Cerebral Palsy from Untreated Pregnancy Complications (M.A. v. St. Joseph Medical Center): The plaintiff alleged that the defendants, a hospital and OB/GYN, were negligent in failing to recognize, diagnose, and treat pregnancy complications to avoid premature birth. As a result of this negligence, the plaintiff claimed that she was delivered prematurely, suffered periventricular leukomalacia, and was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The case went to trial in Baltimore County and the jury awarded $2 million. |
|
$21,000,000
Verdict | 2012
|
Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy from Delayed Emergency C-Section (Norfleet v. Harbor Hospital): This Baltimore birth injury lawsuit alleged that Harbor Hospital and an OB/GYN were negligent in failing to appropriately monitor the child and mother during labor and failing to timely respond to warning signs of fetal distress with an emergency C-section. As a result, the child suffered oxygen deprivation resulting in spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and reduced cognitive and mental abilities. A jury in Baltimore City awarded $21 million in damages, including approximately $20 million in economic damages for future lost earnings and future medical expenses. |
|
$55,000,000
Verdict | 2012
|
HIE Brain Damage and Cerebral Palsy from Ignored Fetal Distress (Martinez v. Johns Hopkins Hospital): An infant suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy brain damage, resulting in cerebral palsy, developmental delays, and multiple physical and mental disabilities during his birth at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The lawsuit alleged that doctors failed to properly recognize obvious signs of fetal distress and did not deliver the baby until two hours after his mother was rushed to the hospital because of complications. A jury in Baltimore City awarded $55 million. |
|
$1,461,506
Verdict | 2010
|
Wrongful Death from Negligent C-Section Procedure (Quinn v. Hudson): The plaintiff went to Anne Arundel Medical Center at 29 weeks and required an emergency C-section delivery due to complications with preeclampsia. During the C-section delivery, the baby suffered injuries, including a liver laceration. The baby eventually died from his injuries. The plaintiff hired a Maryland birth injury attorney who brought a wrongful death malpractice lawsuit alleging that the OB/GYN was negligent in performing the C-section procedure. |
|
$1,812,000
Verdict | 2009
|
Fatal Cranial Fracture from Vacuum Extraction Negligence (Ketterman v. Capital Women’s Care): An infant suffered subgaleal hematoma and cranial fracture and died shortly after birth. The parents brought a birth injury malpractice lawsuit against the OB/GYN practice alleging that the birth injuries were caused by vacuum extraction negligence. The OB/GYN attempted to deliver the baby by vacuum extraction for just over two hours before finally ordering an emergency C-section. The case went to trial in Montgomery County. |
|
$3,991,000
Verdict | 2009
|
Severe Cerebral Palsy from Undiagnosed Placental Abruption (Dineen v. Rader): The plaintiff, who was eight months pregnant, went to Frederick Memorial Hospital with severe abdominal pain and vomiting. Despite signs of fetal distress when the plaintiff arrived at the hospital, it took three and a half hours for doctors to order an emergency C-section. It was later discovered that the plaintiff had suffered a placental abruption, which the doctors never diagnosed. The baby suffered oxygen deprivation and was diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy. A jury in Frederick County awarded $3.9 million. |
Frequently Asked Questions About Maryland Birth Injury Lawsuits
These are the questions our birth injury lawyers frequently get from victims searching for answers.
Contact Our Maryland Birth Injury Lawyers
Miller & Zois is one of Maryland’s leading birth injury malpractice law firms. Please research us to verify that. We believe we are the best birth injury lawyers in Maryland for you. If you want to investigate your potential claim, our legal team will discuss your case with you at no charge so you can learn more about what you are facing.
Call a Maryland birth injury malpractice lawyer at 800-553-8082 today or get a free online consultation.
Hospitals start protecting themselves immediately after a bad birth outcome. Families should not wait years before getting answers. If your child has HIE, cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, brain damage, seizures, or another serious birth injury, we can help you understand what happened and whether your family has a case.