Personal Injury Advocate
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Was your baby hurt during pregnancy, labor, or delivery?

Finding out your child was hurt during birth is one of the hardest things a parent can face.

Is your baby in an emergency right now?

  • Call for immediate medical help if your baby shows signs of distress: trouble breathing, unusual color, or unresponsiveness.
  • Follow the medical team's emergency instructions right away.
  • Ask that your baby be seen by a specialist if anything still seems wrong.
  • Get copies of the emergency records as soon as you can.
  • This page is for after your baby is safe and stable.

This page covers birth injury claim deadlines and what to do right now. We are the injured person's advocate, and in this case, your child's advocate too. We connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours, so your family gets the full support your child's recovery deserves. Always free. Talk to an advocate. We usually reply within minutes, at most one business day.

A birth injury is harm that happens to a baby during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, from something like oxygen deprivation, a delayed C-section, or a mismanaged delivery. This is a form of medical harm with its own rules, especially around lifetime care and deadlines.

Why birth injury cases need a longer view

Lifetime care costs are the center of most birth injury cases. A child with a serious birth injury may need therapy, mobility equipment, home modifications, and specialized schooling for decades. Document these needs as they emerge, not just at the start.

Filing deadlines often work differently for children. In many states, the clock that limits how long you have to file can pause or start later when the injured person is a minor, though the exact rule always depends on the state. Deadlines vary by state, so check your state's rule on our state pages instead of assuming a number.

Cause can be hard to pin down. A birth injury may trace back to a single delayed decision or a broader pattern of care problems. Our medical harm guide explains why these cases usually need a medical expert to establish what went wrong. Talk to an advocate to help start that process.

Protect your case

  1. Get your child connected with the specialists their injury needs: neurology, physical therapy, or a developmental pediatrician, as appropriate.
  2. Talk to an advocate at WeHelpInjured. It is free.
  3. Request your complete prenatal, labor, and delivery records in writing. You have a right to them.
  4. Write down a timeline of the pregnancy, labor, and delivery as you remember it, including anything that felt rushed, delayed, or unexplained.
  5. Keep every medical bill, therapy note, and evaluation in one place.
  6. Warning: don't wait! The filing deadline is a trap, and it does not always follow the adult rule. Some states pause the clock for a minor, some do not, so people wait, and waiting kills cases. The longer you wait, the fuzzier memories get and records get harder to obtain. Talk to an advocate immediately. And important: medical claims can have different, often shorter deadlines. Do not assume the standard rule covers a hospital or doctor case. Find your state on our state pages.

Never do these

What real birth injury cases have paid

These are publicly reported results. They are examples only, and we are not a law firm. No one can promise or predict what any case is worth, and many cases resolve for far less.

A lifetime of care for a child costs real money, and the system can account for it when a case is handled well.

What we can help with

We help you understand what records support your child's claim, learn about state benefits your family may qualify for, and connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours. All of it is free to you. We never take money from injured people.

Talk to an advocate. Your child deserves every resource to thrive.

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