Birth Injuries
Claims lawyer.
Zayouna Law Firm reviews birth injury claims across Ontario, including cases where the injury was identified years after the delivery.
You may have far longer to act than you were told.
Most parents of an injured child assume the window to do anything closed long ago. In Ontario it usually has not. A minor’s two year limitation period does not begin until their eighteenth birthday, so a claim about an injury at delivery can often be started well into adulthood. Families who were told years ago that it was too late were frequently told wrong.
That extra time matters because birth injuries declare themselves slowly. A missed milestone at two, a diagnosis at four, a school assessment at six. By the time anyone uses the words cerebral palsy or brain injury, the delivery is a distant memory, and the records that explain what happened are still sitting in the hospital’s file.
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Where delivery care goes wrong
Labour is monitored precisely because it can deteriorate quickly, and most birth injury claims come down to a window where the monitoring showed a problem and the response came too late. The question is not whether the delivery was difficult. It is whether the signs were there to be acted on, and what the standard of care required at that point.
Oxygen deprivation during labour, known as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, is the mechanism behind many cerebral palsy claims. Others involve shoulder dystocia and the nerve damage that can follow, injuries from forceps or vacuum extraction, untreated maternal infection, or an undiagnosed condition that made a vaginal delivery unsafe. In each case the medical records, and the fetal monitoring strips in particular, are where the answer sits.
WHAT A BIRTH INJURY CLAIM CAN COVER
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Errors that lead to a birth injury claim
These are the failures that come up most often once the records are reviewed by an obstetrical expert. Not every one of them causes lasting harm, and a claim needs both the error and the injury it produced, so the list is a starting point for a records review and not a checklist of claims.
- Fetal heart rate monitoring that showed distress without a timely response
- A caesarean section that should have been ordered sooner, or was not offered at all
- Shoulder dystocia managed with excessive traction, causing brachial plexus nerve damage
- Improper forceps or vacuum use
- Untreated maternal infection, preeclampsia or gestational diabetes
How is a birth injury proved?
It starts with the complete hospital chart: the labour and delivery record, the fetal monitoring strips, nursing notes, and the newborn’s cord blood gases and Apgar scores. An obstetrical expert reads that record against the standard of care, and a paediatric neurologist speaks to what caused the injury. Without both opinions there is no claim to advance.
How long do you have to sue?
For a claim brought on the child’s behalf, the two year period generally starts on their eighteenth birthday, which is why these claims can be started long after the delivery. A parent’s own claim, for their own losses, is treated differently and can expire much earlier. The same two year rule governs other medical malpractice claims. There is also a fifteen year outside limit to be aware of, under the Limitations Act, 2002.
What does it cost to start?
The first review costs nothing. Beyond that, birth injury claims are among the most expensive to run because of the expert opinions they need, which is why a firm will decline a case it cannot support. Ask directly how fees and expert costs are handled before you retain anyone.
Our Birth Injury Claim Experience
Medical malpractice files are led by Anthony Windwar, who obtains the delivery records, has them reviewed, and advises honestly on what they show. This is part of the firm’s wider medical malpractice practice. Book a free consultation.
Results
These files turn on the delivery record. The useful first step is a complete chart and an expert read of it, not a prediction about what the case might be worth.
Relationships
Families in these cases are managing therapy schedules and school assessments alongside a legal claim. The firm works in several languages, with interpreters available.
Recovery
For a child with lifelong needs, recovery means funding the care, therapy and equipment across a lifetime, which is why the future care assessment carries the claim.
Service Areas
Birth Injuries Toronto
Birth injury claims for families in Toronto, including deliveries at hospitals across the city and the wider GTA.
Birth Injuries Burlington
Birth injury claims for Burlington and Halton families, handled from the firm’s Ironstone Drive office.
Birth Injuries Ontario
Claims are taken from families across Ontario, including cases where the delivery happened years ago and the diagnosis came much later.
Contact Zayouna Law Firm Today
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Common Questions About Birth Injuries Law.
Can I sue for a birth injury?
You can, where the care during pregnancy, labour or delivery fell below the accepted standard and that failure caused your child’s injury. Both parts are needed. A difficult delivery, or a child born with a condition that careful care could not have prevented, isn’t a claim on its own. The delivery records are what separate the two.
Can cerebral palsy be caused by a birth injury?
Sometimes. Oxygen deprivation during labour can cause it, but many cases have causes unrelated to delivery care. Expert review is the only way to tell.
How long can you wait after a birth injury to sue?
For the child’s own claim, the two years generally starts at 18. Families told years ago that it was too late are often wrong about that.
How do you prove a birth injury claim?
With the complete delivery record, the fetal monitoring strips, and expert opinions on both the standard of care and what caused the injury.
How much compensation is a birth injury claim worth?
It depends almost entirely on the cost of the child’s future care. No responsible lawyer will put a figure on it before the experts report.
How long does a birth injury lawsuit take?
Years, usually. Expert review, records production and the child’s prognosis all take time, and no timeline can be promised at the outset.
Do we have to go to court?
Most claims resolve without a trial, though these are defended firmly and the file has to be built as though it will be tried.
SPEAK WITH A Medical Malpractice LAWYER TODAY
If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, our personal injury lawyers help individuals and families across Ontario understand their legal options and pursue the compensation they deserve.