Missoula, MontanaMissoula Birth Injury
Missoula Birth Injury Lawyers: Labor and Delivery Errors, HIE, Cerebral Palsy and NICU Claims in Western Montana
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If your baby was injured during labor, delivery or the first days of life in Missoula, the questions are what the care team saw, when, and what they did about it. Birth injury claims are medical malpractice claims. They usually go to the Montana Medical Legal Panel first, and for young children the deadline is longer than for adults. The key records are in the hospital’s hands, so it is wise to request them early.
Key Takeaways
- Birth injury claims usually must go to the Montana Medical Legal Panel before a lawsuit (§ 27-6-701, MCA).
- For a child injured before age 4, the 2-year deadline generally begins at the child’s eighth birthday, or at death if earlier (§ 27-2-205(2), MCA).
- Fetal heart monitoring strips, nursing notes and the electronic audit trail are the heart of most cases.
Worried that your child’s birth injury was preventable? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
How has birth care in Missoula changed?
Missoula’s labor and delivery landscape changed in 2025. On October 10, 2025, Providence St. Patrick Hospital closed its Family Maternity Center, citing declining births and workforce shortages. Community Medical Center, which had delivered about 1,300 babies the year before, took on St. Patrick’s patients, hiring 20 new obstetrics staff and adding operating-room staff. Western Montana Clinic’s OB-GYN physicians began practicing on CMC’s campus on October 13, 2025 (Montana Free Press, Oct. 9, 2025).
For families, that means most hospital births in Missoula now happen at CMC, on Fort Missoula Road. It also means that for births in the months after the transition, questions about staffing levels, nurse-to-patient ratios, on-call coverage and new team members can be part of understanding what happened. A transition is not negligence by itself. But if a unit was stretched and a warning sign was missed, those facts matter.
The NICU. CMC’s neonatal intensive care unit opened in 1976 and has 32 rooms, the largest in Montana. In 2026, CMC announced it was the first hospital in the country to receive a “Level III with Surgery” designation through the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Neonatal Excellence Program (CMC). Critically ill newborns are flown to Missoula from across western Montana and Idaho. For a baby born elsewhere and transferred, the case can involve the delivering hospital, the transport team and the NICU, and the records from each.
Babies born in outlying hospitals. Deliveries also happen at hospitals in the Bitterroot, the Flathead and the Mission Valley. When a baby needs a higher level of care, the timing of the decision to transfer, and whether the baby was stabilized properly for the trip, are frequent issues.
What happens after a birth injury in Missoula?
- Request the complete records from the hospital, including the mother’s and baby’s charts, the fetal monitoring strips in their original electronic form, and the audit trail showing when entries were made. Ask for NICU and transport records if your baby was moved.
- Keep a timeline while your memory is fresh: when you arrived, what you were told, when the monitor alarms sounded, who came into the room.
- Expert review. We have qualified obstetric, neonatal, nursing and pediatric neurology experts review the care. Conditions like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), some forms of cerebral palsy, and Erb’s palsy can result from preventable errors, but not always, and an honest review comes first.
- The Medical Legal Panel, then, if needed, a lawsuit in the Fourth Judicial District Court at the Missoula County Courthouse, 200 West Broadway (Missoula County District Court). A case involving a federally operated or federally funded provider goes to the Missoula Division of the U.S. District Court at 201 East Broadway (U.S. District Court, Missoula).
- Plan for the child’s future. Birth injury damages are built on a life-care plan: therapy, equipment, schooling support, home changes and care that may be needed for a lifetime.
Montana law that applies
- Panel first: § 27-6-701, MCA.
- Children’s deadline: § 27-2-205(2), MCA. Parents’ own claims, such as for medical expenses they paid, may run on a shorter clock. Do not wait for the child’s eighth birthday.
- Damages cap: noneconomic damages are limited in malpractice cases (§ 25-9-411, MCA). The cost of care is not capped.
For more on birth injury types and proof, see our Montana birth injury lawyer page.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Missoula case?
We are based in Great Falls and handle birth injury cases statewide. These cases depend on the records, national-level experts and careful life-care planning, not on local connections, and an independent firm can review a local hospital’s care without hesitation. Our attorneys travel to Missoula for panel hearings, depositions and trial, and we meet with families at home or by video so you are not pulled away from your child’s care.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We try cases. Our firm has tried more than a dozen jury trials, and our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We protect verdicts. The Montana Supreme Court reinstated a $168,500 verdict we won in Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137.
- We are part of the trial bar. Both attorneys belong to AAJ and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association; Caitlin Boland Aarab is an AAJ Governor and serves on the MTLA Board.
- You work with the lawyers. The attorneys who handle your family’s case are the ones you talk to.
We also handle Missoula medical malpractice and Missoula brain injury cases, and other Missoula personal injury claims.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our baby was born at St. Patrick Hospital before the maternity unit closed. Can we still bring a claim? Yes. The closure does not affect claims about care given before October 2025. The hospital’s records from that time still exist and can be requested.
Our baby was flown to the NICU in Missoula from another hospital. Who could be responsible? Possibly the delivering hospital, the transport team or the NICU, depending on when the harm occurred. We review each set of records.
How long do we have to file a birth injury claim in Montana? For a child injured before age 4, the child’s 2-year deadline generally starts at the eighth birthday. Parents’ own claims can be shorter, so get advice early.
Is every case of cerebral palsy or HIE malpractice? No. Some cases have causes no one could prevent. An expert review of the monitoring strips and the timeline is how we find out.
Where would a Missoula birth injury case be heard? After the Medical Legal Panel, usually in the Fourth Judicial District Court at the Missoula County Courthouse, 200 West Broadway.
Talk to a Missoula Birth Injury Lawyer
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
