When a birth injury is malpractice
Labor and delivery generate constant information — fetal heart tracings, the mother's vitals, the progress of labor — and the standard of care is about responding to it. A birth-injury case usually turns on decisions in a narrow window:
- Delayed response to fetal distress — warning signs on the monitor that were missed, misread, or watched too long without action.
- A C-section ordered too late — when the tracing, the labor pattern, or the mother's condition called for one sooner.
- Oxygen deprivation — hypoxic-ischemic injury that can lead to seizures, cerebral palsy, and lifelong impairment.
- Shoulder dystocia handled improperly — excessive traction that injures the brachial plexus (Erb's palsy).
- Misused forceps or vacuum — head trauma and bleeding from instrument-assisted delivery.
- Newborn conditions left untreated — severe jaundice, low blood sugar, or infection that careful monitoring would have caught.
Not every birth injury is malpractice; some occur despite careful medicine. The question is what the records show — and the records almost always exist, because delivery is among the most documented events in a hospital.
The signs families notice
Some birth injuries are apparent in the delivery room — an emergency NICU transfer, seizures in the first days, cooling therapy for oxygen deprivation, an arm that does not move. Others surface slowly: missed developmental milestones, a diagnosis of cerebral palsy at age two or three.
If you have ever been told "we'll have to wait and see" about your child's development after a difficult delivery, it is reasonable to want the delivery records reviewed. Asking the question costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Illinois time rules are built for children — mostly
The child's claim: eight years. A malpractice action for a patient who was a minor may be brought up to eight years after the act or omission, though never past the person's 22nd birthday (735 ILCS 5/13-212(b)). That matters enormously in birth cases, where the full picture of a child's injury can take years to emerge.
But the family's own claims run sooner. The mother's claim for her own injuries, and the parents' claims for the medical expenses they bear, are governed by shorter deadlines — generally the standard two-year malpractice rules. And the certificate-of-merit screening (735 ILCS 5/2-622) applies to birth cases like any other malpractice claim, which takes time to complete.
So while the law protects the child's claim for years, the practical advice is the opposite of "wait": records are freshest, witnesses findable, and every family claim preserved when the review starts early.
What a birth-injury claim can cover
A serious birth injury is measured in decades, and the claim has to be too. Depending on the facts, compensation may include:
- A life care plan — therapy, medical equipment, medication, attendant care, and the treatment the child will need over a lifetime;
- Home modification and adaptive technology;
- Educational support and, later, lost earning capacity;
- The medical expenses the family has already carried;
- The child's pain, disability, and diminished quality of life.
Illinois places no statutory cap on these damages — the courts have struck caps down — so the recovery is limited by proof, not by a ceiling. Building that proof takes medical, economic, and life-care-planning experts, and it is work that starts early.
How Paul approaches birth-injury cases
These cases are document cases: the fetal monitor strips, the labor chart, the nursing notes, the NICU records. Paul M. Marriett obtains the complete record, has it reviewed by consulting specialists in obstetrics and neonatology as Illinois requires, and gives the family a plain answer about what happened — including when the answer is that the care was reasonable.
And because a birth-injury case is ultimately about a child's future, any resolution is structured with that future in mind. Court approval protects a minor's settlement, and Paul walks the family through every step of it. You work with the same attorney from the first conversation through the end — no hand-offs.
What a case costs
Cases like this are handled on a contingency-fee basis: no hourly bills, and the attorney fee comes out of any recovery. Clients may be responsible for litigation costs and expenses regardless of outcome — Paul M. Marriett explains exactly how that works, in writing, before you sign anything.
Frequently asked questions
Is cerebral palsy always caused by malpractice?
No — and an honest lawyer will say so. Cerebral palsy has many causes, and some cases occur despite careful medicine. But when it follows oxygen deprivation during a delivery where warning signs went unheeded, the delivery records can show it. A records review answers the question.
How long does my child have to bring a claim?
In Illinois, a minor's malpractice claim may be brought up to eight years after the act, but never past their 22nd birthday (735 ILCS 5/13-212(b)). The parents' own claims — including for medical expenses — generally run on shorter deadlines, so an early review protects everything at once.
What records matter in a birth-injury case?
The fetal heart monitor strips, labor and delivery chart, nursing notes, operative report if a C-section was performed, and the newborn's NICU records. Hospitals must produce them on request, and obtaining the complete set is one of the first things Paul does.
We were told it was "just one of those things." Should we still ask?
It costs nothing to have the delivery reviewed, and Illinois requires a qualified specialist's written opinion before any case is filed (735 ILCS 5/2-622) — so the answer you get is grounded in the records, not suspicion. If the care was reasonable, you'll be told exactly that.
What can a birth-injury claim recover?
The lifetime cost of the injury: future medical care and therapy, equipment, home modification, educational support, lost earning capacity, the family's expenses, and the child's own losses. Illinois has no statutory cap on these damages.
How much does it cost to hire Paul for a birth-injury case?
These cases are handled on a contingency-fee basis: no hourly bills, and the attorney fee comes out of any recovery. They carry significant expert costs, and clients may be responsible for litigation costs regardless of outcome — Paul explains exactly how that works, in writing, before you sign. A minor's settlement also requires court approval, which protects the child.