Birth Injury Lawyer in McKinney, TX
McKinney Birth Injury
Lawyer
A birth injury is among the most painful discoveries a family can face. You trusted the medical team with the most important moment of your child's life, and something went wrong. If your child was harmed by a preventable medical error during labor, delivery, or the immediate period after birth, your family may have the right to pursue compensation that covers the full cost of your child's care, treatment, and long-term needs. The Darwich Law Firm handles birth injury cases for families across McKinney and North Texas who need a legal team prepared for the complexity these claims require. Every case review is free, and there is no fee unless we recover for your family.
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A Note on This Review
Birth injury cases are among the most legally and medically complex personal injury matters. They require qualified medical expert testimony, detailed review of delivery records and fetal monitoring data, and careful attention to Texas filing requirements. If your child was injured during delivery and you believe medical negligence may have played a role, the most important first step is a confidential review of the medical records with an attorney. That review costs nothing and carries no obligation.
Birth Injury Versus Birth Defect: An Important Distinction
A birth injury is not the same as a birth defect. A birth defect is a condition that develops during pregnancy, often with genetic or environmental causes that have no connection to the medical care provided during delivery. A birth injury is harm that occurs because of what happened during labor, delivery, or the newborn period, including medical decisions, actions, or failures to act that fell below the accepted standard of care. That distinction matters because it determines whether the harm your child suffered was preventable and whether the medical team responsible for your delivery can be held accountable for it.
Common Birth Injuries We Handle
Birth injuries vary significantly in their nature and severity. The conditions we most frequently see in these cases include:
Brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation during labor or delivery, often linked to delayed emergency intervention when fetal distress was present.
A group of neurological conditions affecting movement and motor skills, which can result from brain damage before, during, or shortly after birth.
Nerve damage to the arm and shoulder caused by excessive force or improper traction during delivery, particularly in shoulder dystocia cases.
Injuries resulting from instrument-assisted deliveries using forceps or a vacuum extractor applied with improper force or positioning.
Damage caused by improper handling or excessive traction during a difficult delivery.
Harm caused by a maternal infection that was transmitted to the infant because it was not diagnosed or treated in time.
These conditions range in severity from injuries that resolve with treatment to conditions requiring lifelong care and support. For injuries that permanently change a child's life, our catastrophic injury page goes into more depth on how those claims are structured and what damages they can include. In the most devastating cases, when a birth injury results in the loss of a child, surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim that deserves to be fully evaluated.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Birth Injury?
Liability in a birth injury case can extend beyond the delivering physician to the entire team involved in your care.
- The obstetrician or OB/GYN who made the wrong decision during a difficult delivery or failed to respond appropriately to warning signs.
- The hospital or birthing center whose staffing, protocols, or equipment fell below the standard of care required for labor and delivery.
- Nursing staff who failed to properly monitor fetal heart rate tracings or recognize and escalate signs of fetal distress.
- An anesthesiologist whose decisions during labor affected the progression of delivery or the infant's condition.
- A midwife who delayed a necessary transfer to a higher level of care.
The investigation in a birth injury case has to account for every link in the chain of medical decision-making that led to the harm, not only the physician who was present at the moment of delivery.
How Medical Negligence Causes Birth Injuries
Medical negligence in birth injury cases takes several specific forms. Failure to recognize and respond to signs of fetal distress on a fetal monitor strip. Delay in ordering or performing a necessary cesarean section when one was clinically indicated. Improper use of forceps or a vacuum extractor. Excessive traction on the infant's head or shoulders during a difficult delivery. Failure to diagnose and treat a maternal infection. Mismanagement of a prolonged or complicated labor. Medication errors before, during, or after delivery. Each of these errors has a pattern, a standard of care it violated, and a causal connection to the injury that the case needs to establish through qualified expert testimony.
The Texas Expert Report Requirement and Why Timing Matters
Texas law requires that before a birth injury lawsuit can proceed, the claimant must serve each defendant with an expert report prepared by a qualified medical professional. This report must address the applicable standard of care, how it was breached, and how that breach caused the injury, and it must be served within 120 days of filing the lawsuit under the Texas Medical Liability Act. This requirement makes early attorney involvement in birth injury cases not just advisable but essential. Building the expert foundation for a birth injury claim takes time, and starting late puts the entire claim at risk. Birth injury cases are also handled as a subspecialty of medical malpractice, and the two pages cross-reference each other for clients whose situation involves both delivery and post-delivery care.
What a Birth Injury Claim Can Recover
The damages in a birth injury case involving a permanent or severe injury are meant to cover a lifetime of impact. They can include:
- Past and future medical expenses, including therapy, surgeries, specialist visits, assistive devices, and home care costs across the child's life.
- Lost earning capacity that the child will not have the opportunity to develop because of the injury.
- Pain and suffering across the child's lifetime, and in some cases, the parents' emotional distress.
- The cost of home and vehicle modifications needed to accommodate the child's condition.
- Caregiver costs where the injury requires ongoing family or professional support.
The damages calculation in a serious birth injury case requires expert input from life care planners, economists, and medical specialists. It is not a number that can be estimated without that foundation, and it is never a number the insurance carrier or hospital system will offer voluntarily.
The Filing Deadline for Birth Injury Claims in Texas
The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in Texas, including birth injury claims, has specific rules that differ from standard personal injury deadlines. These rules include provisions for minor claimants, and the applicable timeline depends on when the injury occurred, when it was or should have been discovered, and the age of the child at the time of the injury. Because these rules are complex and missing the deadline ends the family's right to pursue the claim regardless of how strong the case may be, we identify the applicable deadline at the very start of every case. Do not try to calculate this independently. Call us.
Our Approach
How The Darwich Law Firm Approaches Birth Injury Cases
We review the medical records.
Including fetal monitoring strips, delivery notes, and all post-delivery records, to identify whether the care provided met the accepted standard.
We work with qualified medical experts.
Who can evaluate the standard of care, the breach, and the causal connection between the error and the injury.
We document the lifetime costs.
Life care planners and economists help us build a damages picture that reflects what the injury will actually cost your family over time.
We handle the legal complexity.
So that you can focus on your child.
Why Us
Why Families Choose The Darwich Law Firm
Direct attorney access.
You speak with an attorney from the first call, not a case intake coordinator who passes your file down the line.
Free, confidential case review.
We review the records and explain where your family stands, with no cost and no obligation.
No fee unless we recover.
Birth injury cases are handled on contingency, with no upfront attorney fee.
Licensed in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Ohio.
Based in McKinney, serving families across Collin County and North Texas.
Birth Injury FAQs
What is the difference between a birth injury and a birth defect?
A birth defect develops during pregnancy, often with genetic or environmental causes that are unrelated to delivery. A birth injury occurs because of what happened during labor, delivery, or the newborn period, including errors or failures by the medical team that fell below the accepted standard of care.
How do I know if my child's injury was caused by medical negligence?
The starting point is a review of the medical records, including fetal monitoring strips, delivery notes, and any post-delivery records. A qualified medical expert then evaluates whether the care provided met the accepted standard. You do not need to know the answer before calling us. That is what the review is for.
What is the deadline to file a birth injury claim in Texas?
Medical malpractice claims in Texas, including birth injury claims, are subject to specific statute of limitations rules that differ from standard personal injury deadlines and include provisions for minor claimants. The timeline depends on when the injury occurred, when it was or should have been discovered, and the child's age. Speak with an attorney as early as possible rather than calculating this independently, because missing the deadline ends the right to pursue the claim.
What can a birth injury claim recover?
A claim can recover past and future medical care, therapy, assistive equipment, home modifications, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and caregiver costs. In severe cases, life care planning experts document the full cost of lifelong care, and the damages reflect the actual long-term impact on your child and family.
How long does a birth injury case take?
Birth injury cases are among the more complex medical malpractice matters because of the expert report requirements and the medical evidence involved. Many resolve through settlement, though some require litigation. The timeline varies. We keep families informed at every stage of the process.
Can we still file a claim if the injury was not diagnosed right away?
Yes, in many cases. The applicable deadline can run from when the injury was or reasonably should have been discovered rather than solely from the date of delivery, and special rules apply for minor claimants. A prompt review with an attorney will identify what deadline applies and how much time remains.
Your Family Deserves Answers.
We Are Here to Help.
If your child was harmed during delivery and you believe medical negligence may have played a role, the most important step is a confidential review with an attorney who can evaluate the records and tell you where your family stands. Request a free case review or call (469) 960-6069. Our frequently asked questions page also covers general guidance on Texas personal injury and medical malpractice timelines.
No fee unless we recover · McKinney, TX · Available 24/7