Boutique attention. Institutional firepower. Brown & Barron has recovered $169 million in verdicts and settlements, and counting, for clients harmed by medical negligence and other institutional failures.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case is different.
You spent months preparing for your child's arrival. What you were not prepared for was the possibility that something during labor or delivery went wrong, and that it did not have to. Now you are caring for a child with an injury while carrying a question no parent wants to carry alone: was this preventable?
Brown & Barron is a boutique Maryland birth injury law firm based in Baltimore, serving families across the state. Our attorneys handle catastrophic birth injury cases from Annapolis to Rockville to the Eastern Shore. We are not a volume practice. Every case gets the attention that a lifelong injury actually requires.
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATIONTalk it through with a Maryland birth injury lawyer. Call Brown & Barron at (410) 547-0202 for a free, confidential case review. No obligation.
What Counts as a Birth Injury Under Maryland Law
A birth injury becomes a legal claim when a provider's negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery causes a preventable injury. Under Maryland's Health Care Malpractice Claims Act, the question is not whether the outcome was heartbreaking. The question is whether the care fell below the accepted standard.
A Birth Injury Is Not the Same as a Birth Defect
A birth defect develops from genetics or events outside anyone's control. A birth injury happens during the birth process, often when warning signs are missed or a response comes too late. Only preventable harm from substandard care supports a malpractice claim, which is why the distinction matters so much.
When a Birth Injury May Be Malpractice
Malpractice may exist when monitoring failures, delayed cesarean decisions, mismanaged complications, or improper use of delivery tools cause a preventable injury. An unavoidable complication is not malpractice. A missed or ignored warning sign that called for a response may be.
Why the Records Hold the Answer
Fetal monitoring strips, nursing notes, and delivery records usually show what the providers knew and when they knew it. Families rarely see those records in the moment. Reviewing them against the standard of care is how a genuine claim separates from an unavoidable outcome.
Types of Maryland Birth Injury Cases We Handle
Brown & Barron focuses on catastrophic birth injuries, where an error during delivery altered the course of a child's life. The table below summarizes conditions these cases often involve and the kinds of failures that may underlie them.
| Condition | What It May Involve | Failures That May Support a Claim |
|---|---|---|
| Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) | Brain injury associated with oxygen deprivation around birth | Delayed delivery, missed fetal distress, monitoring failures |
| Cerebral palsy | A movement and posture condition sometimes linked to birth events | Unrecognized oxygen deprivation, delayed cesarean |
| Brachial plexus injury | Nerve injury affecting an arm, sometimes tied to delivery complications | Improper delivery technique, mismanaged shoulder complications |
| Brain hemorrhage | Bleeding in or around a newborn's brain | Excessive force, misused delivery instruments, delayed response |
Not every one of these conditions traces to negligence. Some do. The only way to know is to have the pregnancy and delivery records reviewed by a qualified health care provider who compares the care given against what the standard required.
Proving a Maryland Birth Injury Was Preventable
A birth injury claim in Maryland turns on causation: showing that a provider's departure from the standard of care produced the injury, rather than an unavoidable event. This is detailed work, and it follows a clear path.
Records Review Comes First
Every case starts with the complete pregnancy, labor, and delivery records, including fetal monitoring data and hospital protocols. Read together, these documents usually reveal whether warning signs appeared and how the medical team responded.
The Certificate of Qualified Expert
Most Maryland claims must first be filed with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office. Unless an exception applies, the claimant must submit a Certificate of Qualified Expert and supporting report from a qualified health care provider within 90 days after filing, under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2A-04. Lining up the right reviewer early is often what keeps a case moving.
Causation Is the Hard Part
Defendants often argue the injury was genetic or unavoidable. Answering that argument takes the right medical reviewers, a clear timeline, and a careful account of what the standard of care required. It also takes reviewers in the correct specialties, often obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, and neurology, who connect a specific failure to a specific harm.
Building that record is where these cases are won or lost, and it is why birth injury cases take the time and preparation they do.
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATIONDeadlines in a Maryland Birth Injury Case
Timing is the most important early decision in a birth injury case, and the rules are more complex than in an ordinary claim. Do not assume there is plenty of time.
The general medical malpractice deadline under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-109 is the earlier of five years from when the injury was committed or three years from discovery. For an injured child, Maryland law provides special tolling rules that may extend the child's own filing deadline, and those rules interact with a statute of repose.
The picture grows more complicated because parents may hold a separate claim, for their own losses such as medical expenses, with its own earlier deadline.
Because a child's deadline and a parent's deadline are different, and because the tolling rules are technical, these timelines warrant review by an attorney as early as possible. Waiting risks losing rights that are then lost for good.
Wondering whether your child's injury was preventable? Call Brown & Barron at (410) 547-0202. The records tell us more than any phone call, and the review costs nothing.
What a Maryland Birth Injury Claim May Recover
A birth injury claim is different from most malpractice cases because the harm lasts a lifetime, and the largest category of recovery, economic damages, is not capped in Maryland. That distinction often matters more than any other.
Economic damages cover the concrete lifetime costs a catastrophic birth injury creates:
- Ongoing medical care, surgeries, and therapies
- In-home nursing and skilled caregiving
- Assistive equipment, home modifications, and adaptive technology
- Special education and future loss of earning capacity
Maryland caps non-economic damages (pain, suffering, loss of life's pleasures) under § 3-2A-09, but places no cap on economic damages. In a child's case, a thorough life-care plan built with the right medical and economic reviewers is where a meaningful result is often found, because it captures the true cost of a lifetime of care.
A life-care plan projects what the years ahead actually require: the therapies, the equipment that must be replaced as a child grows, the caregiving hours, and the earning capacity a severe injury may take away. Presenting that full picture, rather than a single moment of harm, is what allows a claim to account for a lifetime rather than an incident.
What It Costs to Work With a Maryland Birth Injury Attorney
There is no fee to speak with Brown & Barron, and no fee to hire us. We handle Maryland birth injury cases on contingency, so our fee comes out of the recovery at the end. If there is no recovery, you owe us nothing.
These cases require serious investment. A Maryland birth injury case typically requires:
- Retrieval and review of complete pregnancy and delivery records
- Qualified health care provider reviewers and Certificate of Qualified Expert preparation
- Life-care planning and economic reviewers to project lifetime costs
- Filing fees, deposition costs, and trial preparation
The specific treatment of these costs is set out in the written representation agreement. Contingency keeps that burden off the family until the case resolves.
Why Choose Brown & Barron
Boutique birth injury work looks different from volume personal injury practice, and that difference matters most when a child's lifetime is on the line.
Attorneys Who Built the Firm Around These Cases
Brown & Barron was founded by Brian Brown and Leah Barron to serve Maryland families harmed by hospitals and medical providers. The firm was structured around the trial and appellate work catastrophic cases demand.
A Focused Maryland Practice
Brown & Barron focuses on medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, birth injury, and catastrophic injury and wrongful death. That focus builds deep familiarity with Maryland's Health Care Malpractice Claims Act and the hospitals across the state where these injuries happen.
Results That Reflect the Preparation
Brown & Barron has recovered more than $169 million for clients since 2017 and holds more than 235 five-star reviews. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Those numbers reflect the depth of preparation these cases receive and the trust families place in the firm.
No Fee Unless We Recover
Every case is handled on contingency. If there is no recovery, you owe us nothing. The decision to move forward is based on the merits of your case, not the size of your bank account.
Maryland Birth Injury Questions Answered by Our Baltimore Attorneys
How do I know if my child's birth injury was caused by malpractice?
There is often no way to know from the outside, because the answer lives in the medical records. A birth injury points toward malpractice when the records show a provider missed or ignored warning signs, delayed a necessary delivery, or mismanaged a known complication.
A qualified health care provider must review the pregnancy and delivery records and compare the care given against the accepted standard. That review is how a preventable injury separates from an unavoidable one.
How long do I have to file a birth injury claim in Maryland?
Maryland's general medical malpractice deadline is the earlier of five years from the injury or three years from discovery, under § 5-109. Special tolling rules may extend the deadline for an injured child, and parents may hold a separate claim with its own earlier deadline.
Because these timelines are technical and interact, they warrant review by an attorney as soon as possible. Do not assume there is plenty of time.
Can I still bring a claim if my child is older now?
Possibly. Because Maryland provides special tolling for injured minors, a claim may remain viable even years after the birth. The rules are complex and interact with a statute of repose, so the only reliable answer is to have the specific dates reviewed by counsel. It costs nothing to ask, and the timeline may be shorter than you expect.
What does a birth injury claim cover for a child in Maryland?
Maryland does not cap economic damages, so a claim may account for the full lifetime cost of care, including medical treatment, therapy, specialized equipment, home modifications, and lost earning capacity. Non-economic damages, for pain and loss of life's pleasures, are capped by statute. A thorough life-care plan documents the true long-term need.
Does Brown & Barron handle birth injury cases across Maryland?
Yes. Brown & Barron represents families statewide, including Annapolis, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Waldorf, Germantown, Bowie, Catonsville, Dundalk, and Arbutus. Baltimore is home. Maryland is our jurisdiction.
Answers, and a Path Forward
You are not looking to assign blame. You are looking to understand what happened and to secure what your child may need for years to come.
Brown & Barron takes birth injury cases because these children often face a lifetime of care, and their families need a firm with the focus and preparation to build the full picture of that need.
Call Brown & Barron at (410) 547-0202, or request a free case review through our contact form. Consultations are confidential and cost nothing. If we take your case, you owe no fee unless we recover for you.
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATIONAttorney Advertising. Brown & Barron, LLC · 7 St. Paul Street, Suite 800, Baltimore, MD 21202 · (410) 547-0202. Responsible attorney: Brian S. Brown, Managing Member. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes; every case turns on its own facts. This page provides general information and is not legal advice.