Birth Injury Calculator for an Erb's Palsy Lawsuit or HIE Lawsuit, from your losses, your share of fault and your state's rules.

The claim can be against an obstetrician, a family doctor who delivered the baby, a midwife, a nurse, an anesthesiologist, or the hospital whose staff gave the care. Each state's law sets what has to be shown and how, and the questions a claim turns on are what the providers knew during the pregnancy and the labor, what a careful provider would have done with that information, and whether doing it would have prevented the injury.

An injury at birth is not by itself proof of malpractice. A baby can be injured by a delivery handled with care, and a condition can come from something no one caused. What the records show about the labor, and what the providers did, is what a claim turns on.

The calculator prices the claim the way it prices any malpractice claim: the costs of the injury, a figure for pain and suffering, your state's malpractice cap where we publish one, and then fees, costs and liens. It does not price the child's lifetime of care for you; enter what you know, and treat the figure as a floor for a conversation with a lawyer.

A claim about Erb's palsy looks at the delivery itself. The records to read are the notes on the baby's expected size, the mother's labor, whether the baby's shoulder became stuck behind the mother's pelvic bone after the head was delivered, and what the provider did then, in the order it was done.

It also looks at what the injury means. An arm can recover with therapy or need surgery; the claim is built on the child's own course, so keep every record of therapy, every specialist visit, and every note on how the arm is doing.

A claim about HIE looks at the monitoring and the timing. The records to read are the fetal heart tracing, the nurses' notes on it, the times the staff called the doctor and the doctor arrived, the decision to deliver and how long delivery took, and what was done for the baby after birth, including whether cooling therapy was considered.

HIE can lead to lasting conditions, including cerebral palsy, and the full picture of a child's needs can take years to emerge. That is one reason the clock matters so much: a claim's period can run out before the child's needs are clear, so talk to a lawyer about the period early rather than waiting to see how the child develops.

Florida's: “There is established the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Plan for the purpose of providing compensation, irrespective of fault, for birth-related neurological injuries.” (Fla. Stat. § 766.303(1)) It covers a birth-related neurological injury, defined as “injury to the brain or spinal cord of a live infant weighing at least 2,500 grams for a single gestation or, in the case of a multiple gestation, a live infant weighing at least 2,000 grams at birth caused by oxygen deprivation or mechanical injury occurring in the course of labor, delivery, or resuscitation in the immediate postdelivery period in a hospital, which renders the infant permanently and substantially mentally and physically impaired. This definition shall apply to live births only and does not include disability or death caused by genetic or congenital abnormality.” (Fla. Stat. § 766.302(4))

Where the plan applies, it is the remedy: “The rights and remedies granted by this plan on account of a birth-related neurological injury shall exclude all other rights and remedies of such infant, her or his personal representative, family members, dependents, and next of kin, at common law or otherwise, against any person or entity directly involved with the labor, delivery, or immediate postdelivery resuscitation during which such injury occurs, arising out of or related to a medical negligence claim with respect to such injury;” (Fla. Stat. § 766.303(2)) Except that “a civil action may not be foreclosed where there is clear and convincing evidence of bad faith or malicious purpose or willful and wanton disregard of human rights, safety, or property,” (Fla. Stat. § 766.303(2)) And a participating hospital or physician “shall provide notice to the obstetrical patients as to the limited no-fault alternative for birth-related neurological injuries.” (Fla. Stat. § 766.316)

The plan's own deadline: “Any claim for compensation under ss. 766.301 - 766.316 that is filed more than 5 years after the birth of an infant alleged to have a birth-related neurological injury shall be barred.” (Fla. Stat. § 766.313)

Virginia's: “There is hereby established the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program.” (Va. Code § 38.2-5002(A)) It covers a birth-related neurological injury, defined as “injury to the brain or spinal cord of an infant caused by the deprivation of oxygen or mechanical injury occurring in the course of labor, delivery or resuscitation necessitated by a deprivation of oxygen or mechanical injury that occurred in the course of labor or delivery, in a hospital which renders the infant permanently motorically disabled and (i) developmentally disabled or (ii) for infants sufficiently developed to be cognitively evaluated, cognitively disabled. In order to constitute a "birth-related neurological injury" within the meaning of this chapter, such disability shall cause the infant to be permanently in need of assistance in all activities of daily living.” (Va. Code § 38.2-5001)

Where the program applies, it is the remedy: “the rights and remedies herein granted to an infant on account of a birth-related neurological injury shall exclude all other rights and remedies of such infant or his personal representative, parents, dependents or next of kin, at common law or otherwise arising out of or related to a medical malpractice claim with respect to such injury to the infant” (Va. Code § 38.2-5002(B)) Except that “a civil action shall not be foreclosed against a physician or a hospital where there is clear and convincing evidence that such physician or hospital intentionally or willfully caused or intended to cause a birth-related neurological injury” (Va. Code § 38.2-5002(C))

The program's own deadline: “Any claim under this chapter that is filed more than ten years after the birth of an infant alleged to have a birth-related neurological injury is barred.” (Va. Code § 38.2-5013)

Which providers take part in either program, what it pays, and whether it reaches a given injury were not read for this page, and no other state was searched for such a program. If your child was born in Florida or Virginia, ask a lawyer there whether the program applies before relying on the malpractice period the panel shows.

Counting from the date of birth is how the calculator works. A state's law can give a child's claim its own clock, pausing or extending the period while the child is a minor, and can start a claim later, for example when the injury was discovered, or set an outer limit counted from the care itself. This page applies none of them, so it never counts a later deadline for you.

The parents' own claim, for example for the costs of the child's care, and the child's claim can run on different clocks. Ask a lawyer which applies to each, early, and plan around the earliest.

If the baby died, a wrongful-death claim brought for the family runs on its own period, which the panel shows for your state in the words the wrongful-death calculator on this site uses.

The rule's right of access: “an individual has a right of access to inspect and obtain a copy of protected health information about the individual in a designated record set” (45 C.F.R. § 164.524(a)(1)). Ask for the mother's records and the baby's.

How fast: “the covered entity must act on a request for access no later than 30 days after receipt of the request” (45 C.F.R. § 164.524(b)(2)(i)).

Ask the hospital in writing for the prenatal record, the complete labor and delivery record, the fetal heart tracing itself and not only a summary of it, the nursing notes, the anesthesia record, the newborn and neonatal intensive care records, and any imaging of the baby's brain. Keep a copy of each request and the date you sent it.

Write down what you remember of the labor while it is fresh: when you arrived, what you were told, when the staff became worried, who came into the room and when, and what was said about the baby after birth.

Keep every bill, every statement of benefits, and every record of the child's care since birth: specialists, therapy, equipment, medications, and the time either parent has had to take off work. They are what the calculator's economic damages are built from, and what an expert will build the future care figure from.

The questions on this page are answered by your state's law and your child's facts: which clock applies to the child's claim and to the parents', whether a step is required before filing, whether a cap applies, whether a state program reaches the injury, and what care the child will need. A lawyer who handles birth injury claims in your state can answer them. Bring your written record, the records you have requested, and the periods the panel shows.