Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Have Been Recovered for Injured Babies and Children
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This guide is for Maryland parents and families whose children have suffered birth injuries. It covers your legal options, how to secure compensation, and what to expect from the legal process. If you are searching for answers after a difficult birth, you are not alone. Understanding your rights and the resources available is crucial for your child’s future.
You did everything right. Now you may be searching for a medical malpractice birth injury lawyer in Maryland to help your family. You went to the prenatal appointments. You took the vitamins. You searched for the “best OB-GYN near me” and trusted the medical team at the hospital. Yet, you left the delivery room with more questions than answers.
Now, you are navigating a world of NICU visits, therapy appointments, and mounting medical bills. Birth injuries can have a profound and long-lasting impact on families, affecting both emotional and financial well-being, and can affect a child’s physical abilities, cognitive development, and overall quality of life. You suspect something went wrong during labor or delivery, but the hospital isn’t giving you straight answers.
Birth injuries are physical or neurological injuries that happen to a baby during labor, delivery, or shortly after birth. Birth injuries are different from birth defects, which are a result of structural abnormalities that develop in the womb.
A birth injury lawyer is experienced in representing families in Maryland whose children suffered preventable harm due to medical negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. Medical Malpractice Birth Injury Lawyers can help families navigate Maryland’s specific medical malpractice laws and statutes of limitations, ensuring you understand your rights and the steps needed to pursue justice and compensation.
At The Child and Birth Injury Firm, we don’t just accept the hospital’s version of events. We double-check them. We dig into the fetal monitoring strips and the nursing notes that often tell a different story than the one you were told. Birth injuries can occur due to natural factors beyond anyone’s control, such as difficult or prolonged labor or abnormal positioning of the baby during birth. If your child suffered a preventable injury in a Maryland hospital, our team is here to help you find the truth and secure the resources your child needs for life.
A Maryland birth injury lawyer is experienced in representing families whose children suffered preventable harm due to medical negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. Birth injury attorneys help families navigate the legal process and secure the resources needed for ongoing care.
Medical negligence can happen in any delivery room, from large university research hospitals to smaller community medical centers in Maryland. However, navigating the legal aftermath requires a team that understands not just the medicine but the court systems nationwide and defense tactics unique to birth injury litigation. At The Child and Birth Injury Firm, we have deep experience in handling birth injury cases. Our firm provides comprehensive legal resources for families across the state, regardless of whether the injury occurred at a major urban trauma center or a community hospital in:
A question we may hear is, “What is this case worth?” It is a fair question, but be skeptical of any lawyer who gives you a number over the phone without reviewing your records. Every birth injury case is unique because every child’s life care plan is unique.
In Maryland, settlements and verdicts are generally structured into two categories: Economic Damages and Non-Economic Damages.
This covers the actual cost of care. Families affected by birth injuries may face overwhelming medical expenses, therapy costs, and the need for ongoing medical care and support for their child. For a child with severe Cerebral Palsy (CP) or Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE), this often includes:
Note: There is no cap on these damages in Maryland. They often make up the bulk of multimillion-dollar settlements.
Maryland law recognizes the profound “pain and suffering” a birth injury causes a family. However, the state places a limit on non-economic damages—compensation for emotional distress and loss of quality of life. For injuries occurring in 2026, this cap is set at $920,000. This limit increases by $15,000 each year on January 1st. It is important to note that this cap does not apply to economic damages; there is no limit on the compensation you can recover for your child’s lifelong medical care, specialized therapy, and lost future earnings.
Current Non-Economic Caps for Medical Malpractice (Maryland Courts & Judicial Proceedings § 3-2A-09):
Our team focuses on maximizing the Economic Damages. We work with life care planners to calculate exactly what your child will need from birth through old age, ensuring the settlement lasts a lifetime.
Birth injury verdicts and birth injury lawsuits are legal avenues to secure maximum compensation to cover medical expenses, therapy costs, and ongoing care. A birth injury lawyer can help families navigate the legal process and seek the financial resources needed to cover the child’s medical treatments and ongoing care.
Now that you know what types of compensation may be available, let’s explore the legal requirements and deadlines for filing a birth injury claim in Maryland.
Maryland’s medical malpractice deadlines are strict—and if you miss the filing window, the court may dismiss your case, no matter how serious the negligence or how devastating the injury. The primary statute that controls these timelines is Maryland Courts & Judicial Proceedings § 5-109, which sets firm limits on when claims against health care providers must be filed.
Birth injury cases often follow different timing rules than standard personal injury claims, especially when the injured patient is a child. Maryland law recognizes that minors need additional protection, so the “clock” for a child’s claim may start later than it would for an adult. But it’s not unlimited. Knowing your exact deadline is critical to protecting your child’s future.
Below is a simplified breakdown of the most common deadlines in Maryland birth injury cases:
| Who is Filing? | What the Claim Covers | General Timing Rule (Simplified) |
|---|---|---|
| The Child | The child’s own injury claim (birth injury/medical malpractice damages) | Often extends into early adulthood — frequently up to around age 21 (fact-specific). |
| The Parents | Out-of-pocket losses (often including medical expenses paid while the child is a minor) | Typically follows Maryland medical malpractice deadlines under CJP § 5-109 — generally the earlier of 3 years from discovery or 5 years from the injury. |
| Wrongful Death | If the infant passes away due to medical negligence | Generally, 3 years from the date of death. |
If a birth injury results in loss of life, families may have the right to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit as a legal remedy to seek justice and compensation.
In many Maryland birth injury cases, the child’s deadline may extend into early adulthood. Courts have recognized that, for a minor, the limitations period for the child’s own malpractice claim generally does not begin running until adulthood—meaning families often have until roughly age 21 to file the child’s claim (depending on the specific facts and when the injury was discovered). The statute text says that if the claimant was under 11, the §5-109 time limits “commence” at age 11 (and for certain reproductive/foreign-object injuries, at age 16).
But the Maryland Supreme Court (then Court of Appeals) held in Piselli v. 75th Street Medical (2002) that, for a minor child’s medical malpractice claim, the limitations and repose periods in §5-109 don’t begin to run until the child turns 18.
Important: “About age 21” is a general rule of thumb—not a guarantee. The real deadline can vary based on the case details.
Parents may also have their own claim for certain damages, such as medical expenses paid on the child’s behalf. These claims typically do not get the same extended timeline as the child’s claim. In many situations, parents must file within the medical malpractice time limits set by § 5-109, which can be much sooner than the child’s deadline.
If a birth injury results in the tragic loss of an infant, Maryland’s wrongful death rules generally require filing within three (3) years of the date of death.
Maryland malpractice law often involves a “discovery rule,” meaning a case may need to be filed within a certain period after the injury was discovered (or reasonably should have been discovered). But Maryland law also includes hard outer limits that can bar claims if too much time passes.
That’s why it’s risky to assume you can “wait and see.” Even when a child may have additional time, parents’ claims and key evidence do not.
Note: Even if the law allows you to file later, waiting is rarely wise. Evidence disappears. Hospitals merge. Staff retires. Memories fade. The best time to investigate a birth injury case is as early as possible, while records and witnesses are still available.
Maryland has an additional legal hurdle in medical malpractice cases. Before a case can proceed, the law generally requires a Certificate of a Qualified Expert—a statement from a properly qualified medical professional indicating that the provider departed from the accepted standard of care and that the departure caused the injury.
Our team handles this process, including identifying and working with appropriately qualified medical experts to support your claim.
Now that you understand the legal deadlines and requirements, let’s look at the types of injuries that may lead to a claim.
We have reviewed thousands of medical records. While every birth is different, the patterns of negligence are often the same. Birth injuries can range in severity from mild to life-altering and can result in serious harm to the newborn. Birth trauma, preventable birth injury, and medical errors are common causes of these injuries.
Types of injuries that birth injury lawyers handle include cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, brachial plexus injuries, brain damage, fractures, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
As experienced birth injury lawyers, we handle personal injury cases involving:
HIE is a life-altering brain injury caused by a profound lack of oxygen or blood flow to the baby during labor and delivery. Because the brain cannot store oxygen, even a few minutes of deprivation can lead to permanent damage, such as Cerebral Palsy.
What We Investigate: We look beyond simple monitor readings to identify where the standard of care was breached. Our investigation focuses on:
The Monitor “Strip” Analysis: Did the medical team ignore recurrent late decelerations? We specifically look for these drops in heart rate when they are paired with a loss of variability—a flat or “quiet” heart rate that proves the baby has exhausted its ability to compensate for the stress of labor.
Failure to Escalate: Did the nurses fail to notify the attending physician when the heart rate pattern required extrauterine resuscitation?
Delayed Intervention: Once a “Category III” tracing (the most dangerous classification) was identified, did the surgical team fail to perform an emergency C-section within the accepted “decision-to-incision” window?
Cooling Therapy Window: If the baby was born with signs of HIE, was therapeutic hypothermia (cooling therapy) initiated within the critical 6-hour window to minimize permanent brain damage?
Resource: Learn more about HIE and cooling therapy.
CP is a movement disorder often caused by brain damage at birth.
The Data: According to the CDC, about 1 in 345 children has been identified with CP.
What we investigate: Was the CP caused by genetics, or was it caused by a preventable infection (like chorioamnionitis) or oxygen deprivation that the medical team missed?
Resource: Read about Cerebral Palsy claims.
Erb’s Palsy, also known as brachial plexus palsy, is a birth injury that affects the nerves in the baby’s upper arm and typically occurs during a difficult delivery. Brachial plexus injuries are nerve injuries that occur during birth, affecting the nerves in the shoulder and arm, often resulting from stretching, tearing, or compression of the brachial plexus nerves. This occurs when the baby’s shoulder gets stuck behind the mother’s pelvic bone (Shoulder Dystocia), and the doctor pulls too hard. Occupational therapy is often required to help children regain mobility and function after a brachial plexus injury.
Understanding the types of injuries is only part of the picture. Next, let’s examine what causes these injuries in Maryland hospitals.
Birth injuries in Maryland hospitals can have life-altering consequences for both children and their families. While not all birth injuries are preventable, many are the direct result of medical malpractice, medical negligence, or avoidable mistakes made by healthcare professionals during labor and delivery. Understanding the root causes of these injuries is the first step toward seeking justice and the financial compensation your family deserves.
Medical professionals—including doctors, nurses, and delivery staff—are required to provide a standard of care that protects both mother and baby. When this standard is not met, serious injuries can occur. Some of the most common causes of Maryland birth injuries include:
Knowing where your child was born and treated is also important. Let’s review the major Maryland hospitals and NICUs.
Maryland has several high-volume birthing centers. Just because a hospital is “best ranked” or popular doesn’t mean mistakes don’t happen. In fact, high-volume centers can sometimes suffer from understaffing or communication breakdowns during shift changes.
Here are the most common hospitals for delivery in Maryland:
Holy Cross Hospital (Silver Spring): Delivers more babies than any other hospital in Maryland. They handle high-risk pregnancies.
Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore): Renowned, but even top-tier teaching hospitals can experience errors such as with residents.
Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) (Towson): A frequent choice for families in Baltimore County.
Anne Arundel Medical Center (Annapolis): Serves a massive portion of the state capital region.
Shady Grove Medical Center (Rockville): A hub for Montgomery County births.
University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) (Baltimore): An academic medical center handling complex cases.
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center (Baltimore): Another high-volume delivery center for the Baltimore area.
If your baby was injured, they may have been transferred to a specialized NICU. Here’s what you need to know about Maryland’s top NICUs.
If your baby suffered a birth injury, they were likely admitted to or transferred to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). However, not all NICUs are equipped to handle every emergency.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strictly classifies neonatal care into four distinct categories based on a facility’s ability to manage gestational age, birth weight, and medical complexity. You can view the official AAP Levels of Neonatal Care Policy here.
Understanding these distinctions is important to determining if your child received the appropriate standard of care:
Why This Matters: If your child suffered a severe injury (such as HIE) and was not stabilized or transferred to a Level III or Level IV facility immediately, the delay in receiving advanced care may constitute medical negligence.
Not every hospital in Maryland is equipped to save a critically ill infant. While many local hospitals have “maternity wards,” there is a massive difference between a standard nursery and a Level IV Regional NICU.
In Maryland, the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) officially designates hospitals based on the strict standards set by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). If your child was born with a severe condition (such as HIE, heart defects, or extreme prematurity) at a lower-level facility and was not transferred immediately, that delay may constitute negligence.
These are the highest-rated facilities in the state, capable of complex on-site surgery for congenital defects.
These facilities can handle very low birth weight infants and provide sustained life support (ventilation), but may need to transfer infants requiring complex surgery to a Level IV.
If your high-risk pregnancy was managed at a Level I or Level II community hospital when risk factors indicated you needed a Level III or IV facility, or if the transport team was called too late, the medical team may have failed in their duty of care.
Birth Injury Medical malpractice cases are sometimes filed in the Circuit Court of the county where the injury occurred (usually where the hospital is located) or where the business is headquartered.
Maryland is unique in that it also has a Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (HCADRO). Originally, all malpractice cases had to go through arbitration here. Now, lawyers typically “waive” arbitration to proceed directly to Circuit Court, but the initial filing often still goes through HCADRO.
Common venues for birth injury lawsuits include:
Circuit Court for Baltimore City: One of the busiest jurisdictions for malpractice cases.
Circuit Court for Montgomery County: Handling cases from Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Rockville.
Circuit Court for Prince George’s County: Handling cases from Upper Marlboro, Bowie, and Hyattsville.
Circuit Court for Baltimore County: Located in Towson (distinct from Baltimore City).
In addition to legal help, there are many resources available for Maryland families raising children with birth injuries.
You are not alone. Maryland has a robust network of resources for parents raising children with disabilities.
The Arc Maryland: The largest statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the rights and quality of life for persons with developmental disabilities.
Maryland Department of Health – Children with Special Health Care Needs: Provides information on state-funded programs and medical assistance.
Pathfinders for Autism: A Maryland-based resource center providing training and support for families.
Kennedy Krieger Institute: An internationally recognized institution in Baltimore dedicated to improving the lives of children with disorders of the brain, spinal cord, and musculoskeletal system.
For some families, the most difficult reality is the loss of a child. Here’s what you need to know about wrongful death claims in Maryland.
This is the hardest topic to discuss, but for some families, it is their reality. If an infant passes away due to negligence, Maryland law allows for a Wrongful Death Claim.
It is important to understand that Maryland law regarding “unborn” children is specific.
These claims seek compensation for the parents’ emotional pain and suffering (Solatium) and the loss of the child’s society and companionship. Our team approaches these cases with the utmost delicacy and aggression to ensure the hospital is held accountable.
If you have questions about the process, our FAQ section below addresses the most common concerns Maryland families have.
Nothing upfront. Our team works on a contingency fee basis. We cover all the costs of medical records, expert witnesses, and filing fees. We only get paid a percentage of the settlement if we win. If we don’t win, you owe us nothing.
Yes. You consented to medical treatment, not medical negligence. A consent form does not give a doctor permission to be careless or deviate from the standard of care. Medical providers and healthcare providers can still be held liable for negligence, even if a consent form was signed.
A birth defect is usually genetic or happens early in pregnancy (like a heart defect). A birth injury happens during the labor and delivery process (like broken bones from pulling or brain damage from lack of oxygen). Malpractice applies to injuries, not usually defects (unless the doctor failed to detect a defect they should have seen).
Definition Recap:
Birth injury cases are complex. They typically take several years to resolve. We have to build a “Life Care Plan,” which may require waiting until the child is old enough to fully understand the scope of their disability.
Not necessarily. Many malpractice cases settle before trial because hospitals prefer to avoid the negative publicity. However, our team prepares every case as if it is going to trial. This pressure is what often forces a fair settlement.
Yes. If your child’s injury prevents them from living independently or working, the settlement can include funds for a “special needs trust” to pay for housing, education, and specialized equipment.
Residents and interns are involved in care at teaching hospitals (like Hopkins or UMMC). If a resident made a mistake because they were unsupervised by an attending physician, the hospital is liable for that lack of supervision.
You have a legal right to them, but hospitals often drag their feet. We handle this for you. We request the complete chart, including the electronic audit trails (which show who looked at the chart and when).
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Catastrophic child and birth injuries can shatter the lives of not just the babies and children, but also their families. Families are left to navigate a complex maze of medical challenges, financial burdens, and emotional turmoil. But, this is where Jeffrey Killino and his team of dedicated lawyers can provide the support and guidance families need most.
For over 2 decades, Jeffrey Killino and his team have secured life-changing results for babies and children facing catastrophic injuries. Our clients gain access to the best medical care, financial security, and peace of mind, knowing their futures are protected.
Jeffrey Killino and his team of child and birth injury lawyers are committed to go beyond securing multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts. We measure our success by our positive impact on our clients’ lives. We’re dedicated to supporting them throughout their journey, even after their case is resolved.
Jeffrey Killino and his team of child and birth injury lawyers are committed to more than just securing multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts. We measure our success by our positive impact on our clients’ lives, helping them access the best medical care, achieve financial security, and find peace of mind. We also actively work to prevent injuries and promote safety for everyone.
You only have one chance to secure your child’s financial future. Do not leave it to chance. The hospitals have teams of lawyers protecting their profits. You need a team protecting your family. We will listen to your story, review your records, and give you an honest assessment of your case.
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