Was Your Child’s Cerebral Palsy Caused by a Birth Injury? Understanding Your Rights in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

August 13, 2025

Cerebral palsy encompasses a group of disorders that affect movement, muscle tone, and posture. For some families, this diagnosis is the start of a journey filled with medical appointments, therapies, and immense love. For others, however, it is also the beginning of a search for answers, especially when the delivery was difficult or traumatic.

In some instances, cerebral palsy is the direct result of a preventable injury that occurred during labor or delivery. While a challenging birth does not automatically signal a medical error, certain complications—like oxygen deprivation or trauma from delivery tools—sometimes lead to irreversible brain damage that results in a cerebral palsy diagnosis.

For a confidential conversation about your experience, call us at (215) 569-0900.

What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy (CP) primarily affects body movement, muscle control, coordination, and posture. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 1 in 345 children in the United States is identified with CP, making it the most common motor disability of childhood. The effects can range from mild, affecting only one limb, to severe, requiring lifelong care.

The Different Types of CP

Cerebral palsy is generally classified based on the type of movement disorder involved.

Spastic Cerebral Palsy: This is the most common type, affecting about 80% of people with CP. It is characterized by stiff, tight muscles, which can make movement awkward and difficult.
Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy: This type involves problems controlling the movement of hands, arms, feet, and legs. Movements may be uncontrollable and can be slow and writhing or rapid and jerky.
Ataxic Cerebral Palsy: Characterized by problems with balance and coordination, this is the least common type. A person with ataxic CP might walk with an unsteady gait and have difficulty with quick movements or tasks that require fine motor control, like writing.
Mixed Cerebral Palsy: Some individuals have symptoms that are a combination of the different types. The most common mixed form is spastic-dyskinetic CP.

The Root Cause

Cerebral palsy is caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain. While many factors and events can lead to CP, this article focuses on one specific and devastating cause: brain damage that occurs as a direct result of trauma or oxygen deprivation during the birthing process.

How Can a Difficult Birth Lead to Cerebral Palsy?

While most births proceed without incident, some involve complications that, if not managed properly, can have permanent consequences. Research suggests that up to 10% of cerebral palsy cases are linked to the events of birth.

The Role of Oxygen

Birth Asphyxia

This medical term describes a lack of oxygen to the brain occurring before, during, or just after birth. Brain cells are incredibly sensitive to oxygen deprivation; without it, they begin to die within minutes. This cell death causes permanent damage to the areas of the brain that control motor function, which might result in cerebral palsy.

Why it Happens

Birth asphyxia can be caused by several complications. Issues with the umbilical cord, such as it becoming compressed or wrapped around the baby’s neck, can cut off the oxygen supply. Problems with the placenta, like placental abruption (where it separates from the uterine wall), can also lead to a sudden loss of oxygen. In other cases, a prolonged and difficult labor can put immense stress on the baby, leading to a gradual depletion of oxygen.

Physical Trauma During Delivery

Sometimes, the injury is not from a lack of oxygen but from direct physical trauma to the baby’s head during delivery. This could happen in a few ways:

Improper Use of Birthing Tools: Instruments like forceps or a vacuum extractor are designed to assist with a difficult delivery. When used correctly by a skilled practitioner, they are life-saving. However, if used with excessive force or improper technique, they risk causing skull fractures, bleeding in the brain (intracranial hemorrhage), and direct trauma to delicate brain tissue.
Failure to Perform a Timely C-Section: When a baby shows clear signs of distress, a timely Cesarean section can be the safest way to deliver. A delay in making this decision—or a delay in carrying it out—can prolong oxygen deprivation or lead to physical injury as the baby struggles in the birth canal.

Failure to Respond to Fetal Distress

What Fetal Heart Monitors Show

During labor, most hospitals use electronic fetal monitoring to track the baby’s heart rate. These monitor strips provide a minute-by-minute record of how the baby is tolerating the stress of contractions. An experienced doctor or nurse can read these strips to identify signs of distress, such as a dangerously low or high heart rate, or patterns that suggest the baby is not getting enough oxygen.

What Constitutes Negligence

Recognizing these warning signs is only the first step. The medical team must then act on them appropriately. A failure to recognize clear signs of fetal distress, or a failure to take decisive action in response, is a common and serious deviation from the accepted standard of care, which demonstrates negligence (more on this in the next section).

Could Your Child’s Condition Have Been Prevented? Identifying Signs of a Substandard Level of Care

Think back to the time you spent in the hospital. Did something feel wrong? Were your questions answered, or were they brushed aside? Sometimes, a parent’s intuition is the first sign that the care provided was not what it should have been.

Questions to Consider About Your Labor and Delivery:

Were concerns you raised during labor dismissed without a clear or reassuring explanation?
Was there a long or unexplained delay in the medical team’s response to an emergency, such as a sudden drop in the baby’s heart rate?
Did the delivery room feel chaotic, disorganized, or understaffed?
Were you properly informed of the risks before medical staff used tools like forceps or a vacuum extractor?
Was the baby’s heart rate monitored continuously? If there were alarms, were they addressed promptly or were they ignored?
Was there a discussion about a C-section that was then significantly delayed?

The “Standard of Care” in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

The “standard of care” is the central legal concept in any birth injury case. It refers to the level of skill and care that a reasonably competent healthcare provider in the same specialty and geographic area would have provided under the same or similar circumstances. It is the benchmark against which a doctor’s or hospital’s actions are measured.

The law does not demand perfection from medical professionals. Medicine is not an exact science, and bad outcomes can happen even with the best of care. The legal question is not whether the outcome was perfect, but whether the care your child and you received fell below this accepted medical standard.

Any deviation from this standard that directly causes an injury is the foundation of a medical malpractice claim.

The Legal Path in Pennsylvania and New Jersey: Pursuing a Birth Injury Claim

The First Step: A Thorough Investigation

Before any lawsuit is ever filed, the first and most important step is a comprehensive investigation. At Wapner Newman, this involves gathering and meticulously reviewing all relevant medical records. This includes all prenatal records, the electronic fetal heart monitoring strips, and all of your child’s pediatric and specialist records since birth. We are looking for the full story of what happened.

The “Certificate of Merit” in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has a specific legal requirement in medical malpractice cases known as a Certificate of Merit. This rule requires that before a case can proceed, an appropriate and qualified medical professional must review the facts and provide a written statement. This certificate confirms that there is a reasonable probability that the medical care provided fell below the accepted standard of care and was a cause of the injury. Our firm handles this entire process of finding the right professionals and securing this certificate.

The Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations is a law that sets a strict deadline for filing a lawsuit. Missing this deadline can permanently bar you from seeking compensation. The rules for minors are different from those for adults.

In Pennsylvania: For most personal injury claims, the deadline is two years. However, for injuries to a minor, the law recognizes that the full extent of an injury may not be known for years. Therefore, the clock on the statute of limitations is “tolled,” or paused, until the child turns 18. This means a claim can typically be filed any time before the child’s 20th birthday under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5533.
In New Jersey: The rules are similar. The standard two-year statute of limitations is paused for a minor. A lawsuit can generally be filed on behalf of the child at any point up until two years after their 18th birthday—that is, before their 20th birthday.

While these deadlines may seem far off, it is always better to act sooner rather than later. Over time, evidence is lost, records become harder to obtain, and the memories of key witnesses fade. An earlier investigation allows for a more thorough and robust case to be built.

Proving Causation

It is not enough to show that a medical provider was negligent. We must also draw a direct line from that specific negligent act (or failure to act) to your child’s brain injury. This legal concept is known as causation.

This is accomplished through highly specialized expert medical testimony. We work with leading pediatric neurologists, neonatologists, and other specialists who can review the evidence and explain to a judge and jury precisely how the breach in the standard of care was a substantial factor in causing your child’s cerebral palsy.

What Compensation is Designed to Cover

The goal of a settlement or verdict in these cases is to fund a comprehensive Life Care Plan for your child. This is a detailed, dynamic document prepared by medical and financial planners that outlines all of the anticipated medical and non-medical needs for your child over their entire lifetime.

Compensation may cover:

Medical Treatment: This includes all future surgeries, doctor’s appointments, hospital stays, medications, and any other medical interventions.
Therapies: Consistent physical, occupational, and speech therapy is often necessary to help maximize a child’s abilities and independence.
Assistive Devices: This category covers everything from wheelchairs and leg braces to sophisticated communication devices and other necessary medical equipment.
Home and Vehicle Modifications: This can include building ramps, installing accessible bathrooms, and purchasing a specially equipped van to accommodate your child’s needs.
In-Home Care: If your child requires skilled nursing care or assistance with daily activities, these costs can be included.
Lost Earning Capacity: This compensates for the income your child might have been able to earn as an adult if not for their injury.
Pain and Suffering: This acknowledges the significant non-economic impact of the injury on your child’s life, including the physical pain and emotional distress they experience.

This financial security ensures that your child’s access to necessary care is not dependent on the whims of insurance company approvals or the uncertainties of government program funding.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cerebral Palsy and Birth Injury Claims

How much does it cost to hire a lawyer for a birth injury case?

At Wapner Newman, we handle all birth injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay no upfront costs or fees. We only receive a fee if and when we win your case and secure a financial recovery for you and your child. All initial consultations are completely free and confidential.

The hospital said my child’s cerebral palsy was genetic. How can you prove otherwise?

This is a very common defense raised by hospitals and their insurance companies. We engage independent, highly-credentialed medical specialists to conduct a thorough review of every detail of the birth. By analyzing medical imaging (like MRIs), the fetal heart monitor strips, placental pathology reports, and the complete timeline of events, these professionals know how to distinguish between an injury caused by oxygen deprivation or trauma and a pre-existing congenital or genetic condition.

What if I signed consent forms at the hospital? Does that prevent me from filing a claim?

No. Signing a consent form does not give a doctor or hospital a license to provide negligent care. When you sign a consent form, you are acknowledging the known and disclosed risks of a particular procedure. You are not consenting to medical errors or care that falls below the accepted medical standard. A preventable injury caused by a mistake is not a known risk you agree to accept.

How long will a birth injury lawsuit take?

These cases are extremely complex and require a significant amount of time to resolve properly. The process involves an extensive investigation, gathering thousands of pages of records, hiring multiple medical experts, and navigating numerous legal filings and procedures. You do not want to rush the process and end up with less money than you or your child needs to live the best possible life.

Will we have to go to court?

The vast majority of birth injury cases are ultimately resolved through a settlement before a trial becomes necessary. However, our philosophy at Wapner Newman is to prepare every single case as if it is going to trial. This meticulous preparation puts us in the strongest possible negotiating position and shows the defense that we are ready and willing to go to court to fight for the compensation your child needs.

What is the Mcare Fund in Pennsylvania and how does it affect my case?

The Mcare Fund (Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Fund) is a special state fund in Pennsylvania that acts as a secondary layer of insurance coverage for doctors and hospitals. In a large medical malpractice case, a doctor’s primary insurance policy pays the first portion of an award, and the Mcare Fund helps pay amounts above that. For you, it doesn’t change how we pursue the case, but it is part of the system in place to ensure that sufficient funds are available to compensate families in the event of a successful claim.

What is the difference between a birth injury and a birth defect?

A birth defect is typically a genetic or congenital condition that develops while the baby is in the womb, such as a heart defect or spina bifida. A birth injury, however, is damage that occurs due to trauma or stress during the labor and delivery process. Cerebral palsy can result from a birth injury, such as a lack of oxygen, even in a baby who was developing normally throughout the pregnancy.

What kind of evidence is most important in a birth injury case?

Key evidence often includes the electronic fetal heart monitoring strips, which show how the baby tolerated labor. We also rely on the mother’s medical records, the baby’s delivery and newborn records, placental pathology reports, and imaging like MRIs or CT scans of the child’s brain. Testimony from medical experts who can interpret this evidence for a judge and jury is also critical.

The hospital staff seemed busy and overwhelmed. Does that excuse a mistake?

No. While hospitals can be chaotic environments, being understaffed or disorganized does not excuse a failure to meet the required standard of care. A hospital has a duty to ensure it has enough qualified staff on hand to safely manage its patients, including mothers and babies in the labor and delivery unit.

Securing Your Child’s Future Begins Today

The path to securing those resources is not one you have to walk alone. Let our family at Wapner Newman help yours. We have the resources, the compassion, and the resolve to guide you through this process.

Call us today for a free, confidential discussion about your legal options at (215) 569-0900.