Long Island
Birth Injury Lawyer

Understanding Birth Injuries

What Is a Birth Injury?

A birth injury is physical harm sustained by a newborn during labor, delivery, or the immediate postpartum period as a result of medical negligence. These injuries differ from birth defects, which are congenital conditions unrelated to provider error. Birth injuries occur when obstetricians, nurses, anesthesiologists, or hospital staff fail to meet the accepted standard of care — whether by misreading fetal heart monitors, delaying an emergency cesarean section, or improperly using delivery instruments.

The consequences of birth injuries are often catastrophic and permanent. A child who suffers oxygen deprivation during a prolonged or mismanaged delivery may develop cerebral palsy, cognitive disabilities, or seizure disorders that require lifelong medical intervention. Families bear not only the emotional toll but also the financial burden of ongoing therapy, adaptive equipment, and specialized education.

If your child was harmed during delivery on Long Island, the Law Office of Jason Tenenbaum, P.C. can evaluate whether medical negligence played a role. We work with board-certified obstetric experts to review the medical records and determine whether the standard of care was breached. Contact us for a free consultation at (516) 750-0595.

Common Types of Birth Injuries

Birth injuries vary in severity from temporary conditions that resolve within weeks to permanent disabilities that alter the course of a child’s life. The most common types we encounter in Long Island birth injury cases include:

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a group of neurological disorders caused by brain damage that occurs before, during, or shortly after birth. When caused by medical negligence — such as failure to detect and respond to fetal distress, delayed delivery during umbilical cord complications, or improper use of Pitocin — it is actionable under New York’s medical malpractice laws. Children with cerebral palsy may require physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, assistive devices, and full-time care throughout their lives.

Erb’s Palsy & Brachial Plexus Injuries

Erb’s palsy results from damage to the brachial plexus — the network of nerves controlling movement and sensation in the arm. It typically occurs when a provider applies excessive lateral traction to the infant’s head during a difficult delivery, particularly in cases involving shoulder dystocia. While mild cases may improve with physical therapy, severe brachial plexus injuries can cause permanent weakness or paralysis in the affected arm.

Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)

HIE occurs when the infant’s brain is deprived of adequate oxygen and blood flow during labor or delivery. Causes include placental abruption, umbilical cord prolapse, uterine rupture, and prolonged labor without appropriate intervention. HIE can result in intellectual disability, developmental delays, epilepsy, and in severe cases, death. Timely cooling therapy (therapeutic hypothermia) administered within hours of birth can reduce brain damage — but only if the medical team recognizes the need and acts promptly.

Shoulder Dystocia Injuries

Shoulder dystocia occurs when the infant’s shoulder becomes lodged behind the mother’s pubic bone during delivery. It is a recognized obstetric emergency that requires the delivery team to execute specific maneuvers (McRoberts, suprapubic pressure, Woods screw) to free the infant safely. When providers panic, apply excessive force, or fail to follow established protocols, the result can be fractured clavicles, brachial plexus injuries, or oxygen deprivation.

Medical Negligence During Delivery

Birth injury claims require proof that the healthcare provider deviated from the accepted standard of obstetric care and that this deviation directly caused the infant’s injuries. Common forms of negligence in the delivery room include:

• Failure to monitor fetal heart rate patterns and respond to signs of distress
• Delayed decision to perform an emergency cesarean section
• Improper administration or dosing of labor-inducing drugs like Pitocin
• Excessive force during instrumental delivery (forceps or vacuum extraction)
• Failure to diagnose and manage preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, or placenta previa
• Inadequate response to umbilical cord prolapse or nuchal cord
• Failure to plan for and manage a known high-risk delivery

Proving these failures requires detailed analysis of fetal monitoring strips, labor and delivery records, nursing notes, and hospital protocols. Our firm retains board-certified obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists to provide the expert testimony that New York’s certificate of merit requirement (CPLR §3012-a) demands.

New York’s Statute of Limitations for Birth Injuries

This distinction is crucial. Many parents assume they have until their child turns 21 to file any birth injury claim, but that extended timeline applies only to the child’s individual cause of action. The parents’ separate claims can expire years before the child’s. Additionally, if the birth occurred at a public hospital (such as a Nassau University Medical Center facility), a Notice of Claim under General Municipal Law §50-e must be filed within 90 days.

Because these deadlines are unforgiving and the consequences of missing them are permanent, we strongly recommend consulting an attorney as early as possible after a suspected birth injury.

Damages in Birth Injury Cases

Birth injury cases often involve the highest damage awards in medical malpractice litigation because the injuries are permanent and the victim is an infant with an entire lifetime of medical needs ahead. Recoverable damages include:

• Past and future medical expenses — surgeries, hospitalizations, medications, physical/occupational/speech therapy, adaptive equipment (wheelchairs, communication devices), and in-home nursing care
• Lost earning capacity — compensation for the income the child will never be able to earn due to their disability
• Pain and suffering — both the child’s physical pain and emotional distress, calculated over a projected lifespan
• Loss of enjoyment of life — the inability to participate in activities and milestones that able-bodied children experience
• Parents’ claims — medical costs paid by parents, lost wages from caregiving, and parental emotional distress

New York does not cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Life care planners and economists are retained to project the full cost of the child’s lifetime care needs, which in severe cerebral palsy or HIE cases can be substantial.

Why These Cases Require Specialized Experts

Birth injury litigation is among the most complex areas of medical malpractice law. The defense — typically a hospital system backed by well-funded malpractice insurers — will retain its own experts to argue that the injury was caused by a congenital condition, a genetic anomaly, or an unavoidable complication rather than provider error.

To overcome this defense, our firm works with obstetricians, neonatologists, pediatric neurologists, neuroradiologists, and life care planning experts. Fetal heart monitoring strips are analyzed minute by minute. Nursing notes are cross-referenced against hospital protocols. The timing of every clinical decision is scrutinized to determine whether earlier intervention would have prevented the injury.

This level of analysis requires an attorney who understands both the medicine and the law. Jason Tenenbaum has spent 24 years handling complex personal injury cases across Nassau and Suffolk County, with the medical expert network and litigation experience that birth injury cases demand.

Related practice areas: Personal Injury • Medical Malpractice • Settlement Calculator