Texas Birth Injury Lawyers: Get a Free Case Evaluation

If your child suffered a birth injury in Texas due to medical negligence, you deserve answers—and your family deserves justice. Birth injuries like cerebral palsy, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and brachial plexus injuries can result from preventable medical errors during labor and delivery. When healthcare providers fail to meet the standard of care, families may have legal options to pursue compensation for their child’s injuries. Understanding what happened during your child’s birth is the first step toward getting answers—and getting your family the support you deserve.

Texas birth injury lawyers understand the devastating impact these injuries have on families. A qualified birth injury attorney can review your medical records at no cost, help you determine whether malpractice occurred, and guide you through the legal process. Because Texas law imposes strict deadlines for filing medical malpractice claims, it’s important to explore your legal options sooner rather than later. Contact a Texas birth injury lawyer today for a free, confidential case evaluation.

On this page:

• Birth injuries in Texas
• Common types of preventable birth injuries
• Medical negligence during childbirth
• How birth injury claims work in Texas
• Texas statute of limitations
• Compensation available
• Choosing a Texas birth injury attorney
• Frequently asked questions

Birth Injuries Affecting Texas Families

Birth injuries occur when medical professionals fail to provide appropriate care during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. These injuries range from temporary conditions that resolve with treatment to permanent disabilities requiring lifelong care and support.

Texas families affected by birth injuries often face overwhelming medical expenses, ongoing therapy costs, and the emotional toll of caring for a child with special needs. Many parents struggle to understand what went wrong during delivery and whether their child’s injury could have been prevented.

Not every birth injury results from medical malpractice. Some complications arise despite proper medical care. However, when healthcare providers deviate from accepted standards of care—by failing to monitor fetal distress, delaying necessary interventions, or making critical errors during delivery—they can be held accountable for the harm they cause.

A Texas birth injury attorney can help you understand the difference between unavoidable complications and preventable medical errors. Through careful review of medical records and consultation with medical experts, experienced lawyers can determine whether negligence played a role in your child’s injury.

If you suspect medical negligence contributed to your child’s condition, don’t wait to get answers. Speak with a birth injury lawyer in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, or anywhere in Texas to learn about your legal rights and options.

Common Preventable Birth Injuries in Texas

Medical negligence during childbirth can cause a range of serious injuries that affect children throughout their lives. Understanding these conditions helps families recognize when medical errors may have occurred.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders affecting movement, muscle tone, and posture. It results from brain damage that occurs before, during, or shortly after birth. While not all cerebral palsy cases stem from medical negligence, many result from preventable oxygen deprivation during delivery.

Common causes of preventable cerebral palsy include failure to monitor fetal heart rate patterns, delayed response to signs of fetal distress, improper use of delivery instruments, and delayed emergency cesarean sections. A cerebral palsy lawyer in Texas can evaluate whether healthcare providers failed to recognize warning signs or respond appropriately to complications.

Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy occurs when a newborn’s brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen and blood flow during or near the time of birth. HIE can lead to developmental delays, cognitive impairments, seizures, and cerebral palsy.

Medical professionals should recognize signs of oxygen deprivation—such as abnormal fetal heart rate patterns, meconium-stained amniotic fluid, and umbilical cord complications—and take immediate action. When doctors fail to identify these warning signs or delay necessary interventions, babies can suffer permanent brain damage. An HIE attorney in Texas can help determine whether medical negligence caused your child’s condition.

Erb’s Palsy and Brachial Plexus Injuries

Erb’s palsy and other brachial plexus injuries damage the network of nerves controlling the arm and hand. These injuries typically occur during difficult deliveries when excessive force is applied to the baby’s head and neck, often during shoulder dystocia.

Healthcare providers should anticipate shoulder dystocia in high-risk pregnancies and manage it properly when it occurs. Applying excessive lateral traction or using improper delivery techniques can permanently damage the brachial plexus nerves. Many of these injuries are preventable with appropriate prenatal planning and proper delivery techniques.

Other Serious Birth Injuries

Texas families also face other preventable birth injuries, including:

• Infant brain damage from prolonged oxygen deprivation
• Birth asphyxia caused by delayed interventions
• Kernicterus from untreated newborn jaundice
• Facial paralysis from improper use of forceps
• Bone fractures and skull fractures during delivery

Each of these conditions can result from medical errors that a competent healthcare provider should have prevented.

Medical Negligence During Childbirth

Understanding what constitutes medical malpractice during birth helps families recognize when they may have grounds for legal action. Healthcare providers owe pregnant women and their babies a duty of care—they must provide treatment that meets accepted medical standards.

Common Forms of Delivery Room Negligence

Medical professionals can make numerous errors during pregnancy, labor, and delivery that cause preventable birth injuries:

Failure to Monitor Fetal Distress: Electronic fetal monitoring tracks the baby’s heart rate and alerts medical staff to potential problems. When doctors and nurses fail to properly monitor fetal heart rate patterns or ignore signs of fetal distress, babies can suffer oxygen deprivation leading to brain damage.

Delayed Cesarean Section: When complications arise during labor, emergency C-sections can prevent birth injuries. Delayed C-sections—when doctors wait too long to perform necessary surgical deliveries—are a leading cause of preventable brain injuries in newborns.

Improper Use of Delivery Instruments: Vacuum extraction and forceps delivery require skill and proper technique. Excessive force or improper placement can cause skull fractures, brain bleeding, and nerve damage.

Mismanagement of Complications: Healthcare providers must recognize and properly manage umbilical cord complications, placental abruption, uterine rupture, and shoulder dystocia. Failure to respond appropriately to these emergencies can have catastrophic consequences.

Medication Errors: Administering incorrect medications or dosages during labor, including Pitocin for labor induction, can cause complications that harm both mother and baby.

Failure to Diagnose Maternal Conditions: Undiagnosed or untreated maternal infections, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and other conditions can lead to birth complications and injuries.

A medical malpractice lawyer in Texas can review your medical records to identify instances where healthcare providers departed from the standard of care and caused preventable harm.

How Birth Injury Claims Work in Texas

Texas law allows families to pursue birth injury lawsuits when medical negligence causes harm. Understanding the legal process helps families make informed decisions about their cases.

Elements of a Birth Injury Malpractice Claim

To succeed in a Texas birth injury case, your attorney must prove four elements:

Duty of Care: The healthcare provider had a professional relationship with you and owed you and your baby a duty to provide competent medical care.

Breach of Duty: The provider failed to meet the standard of care—they didn’t act as a reasonably competent healthcare professional would have under similar circumstances.

Causation: The provider’s breach of duty directly caused your child’s injury. This often requires expert testimony linking the negligent act to the specific harm suffered.

Damages: Your child and family suffered actual damages—medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost earning capacity, and other losses—as a result of the injury.

The Role of Expert Witnesses

Texas law requires expert testimony in medical malpractice cases. Your birth injury attorney will work with qualified medical experts who can review your records, explain how the standard of care was violated, and testify that the negligence caused your child’s injuries.

These experts often include obstetricians, neonatologists, neurologists, and other specialists who can speak authoritatively about what should have happened during your child’s birth and how the deviation from proper care caused harm.

The Litigation Process

Birth injury cases typically follow this timeline:

Free Consultation: Your attorney reviews your case, medical records, and relevant facts to determine whether you have a viable claim.

Investigation: The legal team conducts a thorough investigation, gathering medical records, consulting with experts, and building your case.

Expert Report: Under Texas law, you must file an expert report within 120 days of filing your lawsuit, explaining how the healthcare provider breached the standard of care.

Filing the Lawsuit: Your attorney files a complaint in the appropriate Texas court, formally beginning the litigation.

Discovery: Both sides exchange information, take depositions, and gather evidence. This phase often takes several months to over a year.

Settlement Negotiations: Many birth injury cases settle before trial. Your lawyer will negotiate with the defendant’s insurance company to seek fair compensation.

Trial: If settlement negotiations fail, your case proceeds to trial, where a jury determines liability and damages.

Birth injury lawsuits typically take two to four years to resolve, though some settle more quickly and others take longer depending on the complexity of the case.

Texas Statute of Limitations for Birth Injury Cases

The Texas statute of limitations imposes strict deadlines for filing medical malpractice lawsuits. Missing these deadlines can permanently bar your family from pursuing compensation, regardless of the strength of your case.

General Time Limits

Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 74.251, medical malpractice claims must generally be filed within two years from the date the malpractice occurred or from the date the injury was discovered (or reasonably should have been discovered).

For birth injury cases, this typically means two years from your child’s birth date. However, Texas law provides important exceptions for claims involving minors.

Minors’ Exception

Because birth injuries affect children, Texas law includes special provisions that can extend the filing deadline. Under the statute of repose, claims involving healthcare provided to a minor must be filed by the child’s 14th birthday, even if the two-year statute of limitations hasn’t expired.

This means that for birth injuries, families generally have until the child’s 14th birthday to file a lawsuit, giving parents time to fully understand their child’s condition and prognosis before making legal decisions.

Discovery Rule

Texas law recognizes that some birth injuries aren’t immediately apparent. The discovery rule allows the statute of limitations to begin when parents discover—or reasonably should have discovered—the injury and its connection to medical negligence.

For example, cerebral palsy may not be diagnosed until a child is 12 to 24 months old or older. The discovery rule can extend the filing deadline in these situations.

Why Timing Matters

Despite these extensions, it’s crucial to consult with a Texas birth injury attorney as soon as you suspect medical negligence. Early investigation preserves evidence, allows experts to review records while events are fresh, and provides time to build a strong case.

Additionally, certain exceptions and complexities in Texas law mean that the statute of limitations isn’t always straightforward. Only an experienced attorney can determine the specific deadline that applies to your case.

Don’t risk losing your right to compensation by waiting too long. Contact a birth injury lawyer in Texas today to protect your family’s legal rights.

Compensation Available in Texas Birth Injury Cases

Families affected by birth injuries face enormous financial and emotional burdens. Birth injury compensation aims to provide families with the resources needed to care for their children and hold negligent parties accountable.

Economic Damages

Economic damages compensate families for measurable financial losses:

Medical Expenses: Past and future medical costs, including hospitalizations, surgeries, medications, medical equipment, and doctor visits. Birth injuries often require lifelong medical care, making future medical expenses a significant component of damages.

Therapy and Rehabilitation: Physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and other rehabilitative services that many birth-injured children need throughout their lives.

Special Education and Support Services: Costs for special education programs, tutoring, behavioral therapy, and educational support.

Home and Vehicle Modifications: Expenses for making homes wheelchair-accessible, installing specialized equipment, and modifying vehicles to accommodate mobility devices.

Lost Earning Capacity: Compensation for the child’s diminished ability to earn income as an adult due to their injuries.

Parental Lost Wages: Income parents lose when caring for their injured child, including time off work for medical appointments and caregiving responsibilities.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages compensate for intangible losses:

Pain and Suffering: Physical pain and discomfort the child experiences due to their injuries.

Mental Anguish: Emotional and psychological suffering experienced by both the injured child and their parents.

Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Compensation for the child’s reduced ability to enjoy activities and experiences due to their disabilities.

Disfigurement and Disability: Recognition of permanent physical impairments and their impact on the child’s life.

Texas Damage Caps

Texas law imposes caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Currently, non-economic damages are limited to $250,000 per healthcare provider, with a maximum of $500,000 total for healthcare institutions and providers combined.

However, these caps don’t apply to economic damages, which can be substantial in birth injury cases involving lifelong care needs. An experienced Texas birth injury attorney will carefully calculate all economic damages to ensure your family receives appropriate compensation.

Settlement vs. Trial

Many birth injury cases settle before trial. Birth injury settlements offer certainty and avoid the unpredictability of jury verdicts, though they may result in lower compensation than successful trial verdicts.

Your attorney will advise you on whether a settlement offer fairly compensates your family or whether proceeding to trial is in your best interests.

Choosing a Texas Birth Injury Attorney

Selecting the right legal representation significantly impacts the outcome of your case. Not all personal injury lawyers have the specialized knowledge and resources needed to handle complex birth injury claims.

What to Look for in a Birth Injury Lawyer

Experience with Birth Injury Cases: Look for attorneys who regularly handle birth injury and medical malpractice cases. These cases require specific medical knowledge and legal expertise that general personal injury lawyers may not possess.

Track Record of Success: Review the attorney’s history of settlements and verdicts in birth injury cases. While past results don’t guarantee future outcomes, they demonstrate the lawyer’s ability to achieve favorable results.

Resources to Handle Complex Litigation: Birth injury cases require substantial financial resources to hire medical experts, obtain records, and sustain lengthy litigation. Choose a firm with the resources to fully investigate and prosecute your claim.

Compassionate Communication: Your attorney should treat your family with compassion and respect, keeping you informed throughout the legal process and responding to your questions and concerns.

Contingency Fee Structure: Reputable birth injury lawyers work on contingency, meaning you pay no upfront fees and the attorney only receives payment if you win your case. This arrangement makes legal representation accessible to all families, regardless of their financial situation.

Questions to Ask During Consultations

When meeting with potential attorneys, ask:

• How many birth injury cases have you handled?
• What were the outcomes of those cases?
• Who will handle my case day-to-day?
• How do you communicate with clients?
• What is your fee structure?
• How long do you expect my case to take?
• What is the likely range of outcomes?

Why Local Texas Experience Matters

Texas has specific medical malpractice laws, procedural rules, and damage caps that differ from other states. A birth injury attorney in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, or elsewhere in Texas will understand state-specific laws and have relationships with local medical experts who can support your case.

Local attorneys also understand Texas court procedures, judges’ preferences, and the jury pool in your community—all factors that can influence case strategy and outcomes.

If your child’s birth injury resulted from medical negligence, you have the right to seek answers and accountability. Contact an experienced Texas birth injury lawyer today for a free case evaluation.

Finding Hope and Justice After a Birth Injury

Learning that your child suffered a preventable birth injury is devastating. No amount of compensation can undo the harm your child experienced or erase the challenges your family faces. However, pursuing a birth injury claim can provide the financial resources your child needs for the best possible care and hold negligent healthcare providers accountable.

Texas birth injury lawyers are committed to helping families seek justice. Through compassionate representation and determined advocacy, experienced attorneys work to secure the compensation families need to provide their children with medical care, therapy, equipment, and support.

You don’t have to navigate this difficult journey alone. Free consultations with qualified birth injury attorneys provide answers about your legal options without any financial obligation. Taking this first step helps you understand what happened during your child’s birth and whether you have grounds to pursue a claim.

Remember that time limits apply to birth injury cases in Texas. While the law provides extensions for minors, preserving evidence and building a strong case requires early action. Don’t wait to explore your legal rights.

Your child deserves the best possible future. If medical negligence caused your child’s birth injury, legal action can help provide the resources needed to give your child the care, support, and opportunities they deserve. Contact a Texas birth injury attorney today to learn more about your family’s legal options and take the first step toward answers and justice.

Frequently Asked Questions About Texas Birth Injury Lawyers