Legal Battles in Birth Injury Cases: A Comprehensive Overview

Think of birth as the opening scene of a long-awaited movie, full of emotion, promise, and dreams for the future. Unfortunately, when something goes wrong during delivery, that joy can quickly turn into fear, grief, and uncertainty.

For families dealing with birth injuries, the emotional and financial toll is always tough. Whether it is a missed diagnosis, delayed response, or improper use of delivery tools, infant injuries can change everything in an instant.

When this happens, parents must embark on the legal pathway, a journey toward hope and justice. This blog will guide you through the various aspects of legal concerns of birth injury cases in Canada, how to get started, and answers to common questions.

What makes birth injuries so complex?

Birth injuries refer to the harm sustained by a newborn during labour or delivery due to complications or medical errors.

A data-based Canadian study revealed that birth-related injuries occurred in 9.6 per 1,000 live births. This data was gathered from a review of over 1.3 million births across Canada between 2013 and 2019.

However, these injuries differ from birth defects, which develop before birth and are usually caused by genetic or environmental factors.

While birth injuries are mostly caused by preventable circumstances during delivery, birth defects are generally unavoidable unless linked to external factors like medication exposure.

Common Causes of Birth Injuries

Birth injuries in newborns often arise from medical negligence or complications during delivery. Some common causes include the following:

• Improper use of medical tools: Misuse of forceps or vacuum extractors can lead to infant injuries like fractures, nerve damage, or bruising.
• Oxygen deprivation (birth asphyxia): Lack of oxygen during delivery can cause infant injuries, such as severe damage. This can lead to life-changing conditions like cerebral palsy.
• Delayed C-section: Failure to perform a timely cesarean section during birth labour complications can result in hypoxia or physical trauma.
• Excessive force during delivery: Pulling or twisting the baby’s body too forcefully results in brachial plexus infant injuries, such as Erb’s palsy.
• Shoulder dystocia: When the baby’s shoulders get stuck behind the pelvic bone, it increases the risk of birth injuries in newborns, such as nerve damage and fractures.

The errors leading to birth injuries in newborns may not seem significant at the moment, but they can change a child’s life forever.

Examples of Birth Injuries

Some birth injuries examples include the following:

• Cerebral palsy: A neurological disorder caused by brain damage from oxygen deprivation or trauma during delivery. Cerebral palsy symptoms include impaired muscle control, coordination issues, and developmental challenges.
• Brachial plexus injuries: This type of injury causes damage to the nerves controlling movement to the arms and hands due to excessive force during delivery.
• Fractures: Broken bones, particularly in the collarbone, are common in a difficult delivery that involves shoulder dystocia.

These infant injuries may not be obvious at birth, but signs like poor muscle tone or delayed development can appear over time.

Lifelong Impact on Children and Families

These birth injuries examples can have profound physical, emotional, and financial effects:

• Physical impact: Children may experience mobility challenges, chronic health issues like cerebral palsy symptoms, or dependence on lifelong therapy and medical care.
• Emotional impact: Both children and parents may struggle with feelings of frustration, sadness, guilt, or helplessness due to limitations caused by infant injuries.
• Financial burden: Families face ongoing expenses for specialized treatments, adaptive equipment, and caregiving support.

The Legal Process: How Birth Injury Cases Work in Ontario

When families are faced with birth injuries, the legal process may feel like a difficult and never-ending journey to seek justice and compensation. To help you understand better, here is a breakdown of the process in Ontario:

Filing a Claim

A birth injury lawsuit begins with gathering medical records and expert opinions to establish negligence.

Under Ontario’s Limitation Act, families generally have two years from the date the injury was discovered. For minors, this deadline is paused until the child turns 18 unless a court appoints a litigation guardian earlier.

The claim must outline how healthcare providers breached their duty of care (for example, failing to monitor fetal distress or mishandling delivery tools), and directly caused injuries like cerebral palsy or brachial plexus damage.

Discovery Phase

This stage involves exchanging evidence, including medical records, therapy reports, and employment documents.

Both parties may conduct examinations for discovery, where lawyers question witnesses under oath to assess case strength. 

In many birth injuries examples, expert witnesses, such as obstetricians, are essential to confirm whether healthcare workers deviated from accepted standards of care.

Mediation and Settlement

Before going to trial, both parties try to resolve the case through mediation. Mediation is a negotiation process facilitated by a neutral third party.

This step can lead to settlements that cover the cost of care, therapy, and emotional suffering.

Infant injuries cases often settle at this stage, especially when strong evidence of negligence is presented.

Trial Process

If mediation fails, the case proceeds to trial. Trials can last for weeks or months, with testimonies from medical experts, parents, and caregivers. 

The plaintiff (your lawyer) must prove that negligence caused the injury. Ontario law requires a plaintiff to prove three things:

1. A duty of care was owed (a doctor-patient relationship existed).
2. That duty was breached (for instance, there was a delayed C-section).
3. The breach caused the injury (for example, brain damage from untreated hypoglycemia).

This is known as the burden of proof. In cases like cerebral palsy, proving that medication actions directly caused the injury is key to a successful outcome. While the process can be long, families affected by birth injuries deserve answers, and, of course, justice.

Compassionate Advocacy When It Matters Most

From deciphering medical records to working with expert witnesses, birth injury cases require deep knowledge of both health care and law. Add in tough legal procedures, and it becomes clear why families need skilled support.

Sommers Roth & Elmaleh stands out as one of Ontario’s leaders in birth injuries law. With decades of experience focused almost entirely on medical malpractice, our team doesn’t shy away from difficult cases, especially those involving infant injuries that other firms might refuse.

Our approach is thorough, strategic, and compassionate. We leave no detail unchecked in investigations, and we will fiercely advocate for each family.

For families facing uncertainty, Sommers Roth & Elmaleh offer more than legal help; we also provide hope and trusted guidance when it matters most.

To show that our commitment goes beyond just words, here are some of the challenging birth injuries cases we have successfully fought:

• $15.6 million for cerebral palsy: A young girl was awarded this substantial amount after suffering cerebral palsy due to the improper use of forceps during delivery.
• $15 million for botched heart surgery: A family won $15 million after their child suffered permanent damage from a botched heart surgery.
• $6.8 million for failure to advise on delivery risks: A family recovered $6.8 million when a mother was not advised of the risks associated with a vaginal birth after a previous C-section. This resulted in a brain-injured infant.
• Over $4 million from an improper vacuum extraction: A family settled for over $4 million after an improper vacuum extraction and forceps application left their baby a lifelong dependent.

These cases represent a dedicated fight that secured justice and life-changing compensation for the families we represent.

What can you expect?

Past results of cases and financial recoveries by our compassionate team of birth injuries lawyers are not necessarily indicative of future results.

Nevertheless, if you have a strong case that shows medical negligence, here are some of the compensations you may be entitled to:

• Medical expenses: Past and future costs for medical care, surgeries, and ongoing treatments.
• Special therapy: Expenses for physical therapy and specialized learning programs.
• Pain and suffering: Damages for emotional and physical distress endured by the child and family.
• Loss of income and caregiving costs: Compensation for parents who must reduce work hours or become full-time caregivers.

If you or your loved one has experienced a case of birth injury, there is a chance it was due to medical negligence.

It’s time to seek justice and compensation. Call Sommers Roth & Elmaleh today at 1-844-940-2386, or contact us online to speak to our expert lawyer and build a strong birth injury case.