Birth Injury Malpractice

Birth injury cases are among the most demanding in medical malpractice. They require a careful reconstruction of labor, delivery, and the first hours of life, paired with sustained expert analysis from obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, neonatology, pediatric neurology, and life-care planning. The Law Offices of Christopher J. Russo, Jr. accepts a small number of these matters each year for families across Maryland's Eastern Shore, the broader State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

Conditions the practice evaluates

• Cerebral palsy arising from preventable intrapartum injury
• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) following missed signs of fetal distress or delayed delivery
• Brachial plexus injuries (including Erb's palsy) associated with shoulder dystocia management
• Neonatal stroke and intracranial hemorrhage
• Untreated maternal infection, preeclampsia, or hemorrhage affecting the newborn

Why these cases require selectivity

A child with a catastrophic birth injury may require a lifetime of medical care, therapy, equipment, and support. The litigation must be prepared with that horizon in view from the very first interview. Records are voluminous. Standards of care turn on minutes, not days. Expert investment is substantial, and defense counsel for hospitals and OB groups is well resourced. The firm accepts only matters it can pursue with the depth the family deserves.

How the case is built

The work begins with the complete obstetric record: prenatal care, the fetal heart monitoring strip, nursing notes, anesthesia records, the delivery summary, and the neonatal admission. Imaging, cord-gas values, and APGAR documentation are correlated with the timing of clinical decisions. Qualified experts then assess whether the standard of care was met and whether earlier intervention would have changed the outcome. Those are the two questions Maryland law requires every birth injury claim to answer.

Maryland-specific considerations

Maryland imposes a Health Care Malpractice Claims Act process, a certificate of qualified expert requirement, and specific limitations periods that, for minors, can differ from adult medical negligence claims. Early evaluation matters, both for preservation of records and for the family's ability to make informed decisions about how to proceed.