Great Falls Birth Injury Lawyer

Practice areaBirth Injury

Great Falls & Montana Birth Injury Lawyers: Birth Trauma, Delivery Injuries, HIE, Cerebral Palsy and Erb’s Palsy

Boland Aarab PLLP.

Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab

If your baby was hurt during pregnancy, labor or delivery because a doctor, nurse or hospital missed warning signs or waited too long to act, you may have a birth injury claim in Montana. For a child injured before age 4, the 2-year deadline generally does not start until the child’s eighth birthday — but evidence is best gathered now.

Key Takeaways
Birth injury claims are medical malpractice claims. They usually must go to the Montana Medical Legal Panel before a lawsuit can be filed (§ 27-6-701, MCA).
For a child injured before age 4, the 2-year malpractice deadline generally begins at the child’s eighth birthday, or at the child’s death if that comes first (§ 27-2-205(2), MCA).
Common preventable birth injuries include HIE (brain injury from lack of oxygen), some forms of cerebral palsy, and Erb’s palsy (a nerve injury to the shoulder and arm).
The key evidence — fetal heart monitoring strips, nursing notes and the hospital’s electronic audit trail — is in the hospital’s hands.

On this page: What is a birth injury · HIE · Cerebral palsy · Erb’s palsy · Other injuries · Deadlines · Medical Legal Panel · Proving the case · Damages · Why Boland Aarab · FAQ

Worried that your child’s injury could have been prevented? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

What is a birth injury?

A birth injury is harm to a baby (or mother) that happens around the time of labor and delivery. Some birth injuries cannot be prevented. Others happen because the medical team did not follow accepted standards of care. Those are the cases we handle.

Birth injury cases often involve failures such as:

Not responding to fetal distress shown on the heart-rate monitor.
Delaying a needed C-section.
Mismanaging a difficult delivery, including shoulder dystocia (when the baby’s shoulder gets stuck) or the misuse of forceps or a vacuum extractor.
Missing or mismanaging maternal conditions, such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, placental problems or infection.
Mishandling Pitocin or other labor-inducing drugs.
Failing to resuscitate or treat the newborn promptly, including failing to start newborn cooling therapy when it is called for.
Missing newborn jaundice, low blood sugar or infection in the first days of life.

What is HIE, and when is it preventable?

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a brain injury caused when a baby’s brain does not get enough oxygen and blood flow, often during labor and delivery.

HIE can result from problems with the umbilical cord or placenta, uterine rupture, prolonged or difficult labor, or excessive contractions. Many of those problems show up on the fetal heart-rate tracing before the injury becomes permanent. When the tracing shows distress and the medical team does not act — by changing position, stopping Pitocin, calling the physician or moving to a prompt delivery — the delay can be the difference between a healthy baby and a lifelong injury.

After birth, some babies with HIE are candidates for therapeutic hypothermia (cooling therapy), which must be started within the first hours of life to help. Whether the baby was properly evaluated and, if needed, transferred for cooling is often an important question in these cases.

HIE can lead to cerebral palsy, seizures, developmental delays, and problems with vision, hearing, feeding and learning.

Can cerebral palsy be caused by medical negligence?

Yes, in some cases. Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders affecting movement, muscle tone and posture, caused by damage to the developing brain. Not every case of CP is caused by medical error. Some causes arise early in pregnancy and could not have been prevented.

But CP can also result from oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery, untreated infection, untreated newborn jaundice, or trauma during delivery. When the records show that a timely response would likely have prevented the brain injury, the family may have a claim. Answering that question takes a careful review by qualified physicians in obstetrics, neonatology, pediatric neurology and neuroradiology.

A child with CP may need a lifetime of therapy, equipment, home modifications, medical care and support. A birth injury case is built to pay for that care.

What is Erb’s palsy?

Erb’s palsy is weakness or paralysis of the arm caused by stretching or tearing of the brachial plexus, the network of nerves running from the neck to the shoulder and arm.

It often happens during a delivery complicated by shoulder dystocia, when excessive pulling or twisting on the baby’s head and neck stretches the nerves. The medical team is expected to recognize risk factors, such as a large baby or maternal diabetes, and to use accepted techniques to free the shoulder without excessive force. Some children recover fully. Others need surgery and therapy and have permanent weakness or limited motion.

What other birth injuries do we handle?

Brain bleeds and skull fractures from forceps or vacuum delivery
Kernicterus, brain damage from untreated newborn jaundice
Neonatal infections such as group B strep that were not tested for or treated
Neonatal hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) that was not monitored
Injuries to the mother, including hemorrhage, uterine rupture and complications of a delayed or mismanaged C-section
Stillbirth and infant death caused by negligence, through wrongful death and survival claims

How long do you have to file a birth injury claim in Montana?

For a child injured before age 4, the 2-year malpractice deadline generally does not begin until the child’s eighth birthday, or the child’s death if that comes first (§ 27-2-205(2), MCA).

What families need to know:

The general rule is short. Most Montana malpractice claims must be filed within 2 years of the injury or its discovery, and never more than 5 years after the injury (§ 27-2-205(1), MCA).
Young children get extra time. The special rule for children under 4 recognizes that many birth injuries, such as developmental delays, only become clear as the child grows. The time is also paused while the child is not living with a parent or guardian.
If a baby dies, the clock generally starts at the date of death, not the eighth birthday.
Concealment pauses the clock. If a provider failed to disclose an error it knew about, the deadline is tolled during that time.
Parents’ own claims may be different. Claims for the mother’s injuries, and possibly the parents’ own losses, may not get the same extension. Have a lawyer review every claim’s deadline.
The Medical Legal Panel pauses the deadline once the panel receives the application (§ 27-6-702, MCA).
Federal facilities follow different rules. Care at a federally run clinic, such as an Indian Health Service facility, falls under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which generally requires a written agency claim within 2 years (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b)).

Even with extra time, waiting has costs. Memories fade, nurses change jobs, and the family carries the expense of care in the meantime. It is wise to start the investigation soon after you have concerns.

Does a birth injury claim go through the Montana Medical Legal Panel?

Yes, in most cases. Claims against physicians and licensed health care facilities, including hospitals, must be submitted to the Montana Medical Legal Panel before a lawsuit can be filed (§§ 27-6-103, 27-6-301, 27-6-701, MCA).

The application describes what happened, when, and who was involved, and authorizes the panel to review the medical records (§ 27-6-302, MCA).
The panel decides whether there is substantial evidence of malpractice and a reasonable medical probability that it caused the injury (§ 27-6-602, MCA).
The decision is not binding, and it cannot be used as evidence in the later lawsuit (§§ 27-6-606, 27-6-704, MCA).
The proceedings are confidential (§ 27-6-703, MCA).

For more on the panel, see our medical malpractice page.

How do we investigate a birth injury?

Gather the complete records — the mother’s prenatal and labor records, the baby’s newborn and NICU records, and the fetal heart-monitoring strips in full.
Request the audit trail. Electronic health records log who entered each note and when. Late entries and changed notes can matter.
Review with qualified physicians. Montana requires that the standard of care be proven through a licensed provider who routinely treats the condition and practices in the same or a substantially similar specialty (§ 26-2-601, MCA). In a birth case, that often means obstetricians, labor and delivery nurses, neonatologists and pediatric neurologists.
Study the imaging and the placenta. Brain MRI timing patterns and placental pathology can help show when and how the injury happened.
Build the life-care plan. We work with physicians, therapists and economists to calculate what your child will need over a lifetime.

What can a family recover?

A birth injury claim can recover the full cost of your child’s future care, as well as other losses:

Medical care, therapy, equipment and home or vehicle modifications, now and for life
Lost earning capacity for a child who may not be able to work
Pain, suffering and loss of the established course of life
In a death case, wrongful death and survival damages (§§ 27-1-513, 27-1-501, MCA)

Montana caps noneconomic damages (such as pain and suffering) in malpractice cases. The limit is $350,000 for claims first filed with the panel in 2026, rising to $400,000 in 2027 and $500,000 by 2029 (§ 25-9-411, MCA). Medical expenses and lost earning capacity are not capped. In a birth injury case, those economic losses are often the largest part of the claim, which is why the life-care plan matters so much.

Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

The Boland Aarab Way

We know a birth injury changes a family’s life. Our job is to find out what happened, answer your questions honestly, and build a case that can carry your child’s care for decades.

We build cases for trial and appeal. When a Phillips County jury’s verdict for an injured driver was thrown out, we took it to the Montana Supreme Court and had the $168,500 verdict reinstated (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137). Our appellate record reaches back to 1977.
We try cases. The firm has tried more than a dozen jury trials in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties, and our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
We know federal court. Our attorneys have handled more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years, and Samir Aarab has argued twice before the Ninth Circuit.
We are active in the trial bar. Both attorneys are members of the American Association for Justice and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association. Caitlin is an AAJ Governor and serves on the MTLA Board; Sam is also a Public Justice member.
You work directly with us. The attorneys who meet your family are the attorneys who handle the case.

See our results.

Where do we handle birth injury cases?

From our Great Falls office at 18 6th Street North, Suite 200, we represent families across Montana, including Great Falls, Billings, Missoula, Helena, Bozeman, Butte and Kalispell.

Birth injury cases across Montana

We are based in Great Falls and handle birth injury cases statewide. Local information for each city:

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to file a birth injury lawsuit in Montana? For a child injured before age 4, the 2-year malpractice period generally starts at the child’s eighth birthday, or at death if that is earlier (§ 27-2-205(2), MCA). Other claims, such as the mother’s, can have shorter deadlines, so get advice early.

How do I know if my baby’s injury was caused by medical negligence? You often cannot tell from the outside. A lawyer working with qualified physicians reviews the labor records, monitoring strips and newborn care to see whether the team missed warning signs or delayed action.

Is cerebral palsy always caused by a birth injury? No. Some cerebral palsy has causes that could not have been prevented. Other cases result from oxygen deprivation, infection or trauma around birth that proper care could have avoided.

What is HIE? Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow, often during labor. It can lead to cerebral palsy, seizures and developmental delays.

Can Erb’s palsy be caused by a doctor’s mistake? Yes. It often results from excessive pulling on the baby’s head and neck during a difficult delivery, particularly with shoulder dystocia.

Do birth injury cases go through the Montana Medical Legal Panel? Usually, yes. Claims against physicians and hospitals must be reviewed by the panel before a lawsuit. The panel’s decision is not binding.

Is there a cap on birth injury damages in Montana? Montana caps noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, in malpractice cases ($350,000 for claims first filed with the panel in 2026). The cost of your child’s lifetime medical care and lost earning capacity is not capped.

What does a consultation cost? Nothing. The first consultation is free and confidential.

Talk to a Great Falls Birth Injury Lawyer