The birth of a child should be one of life’s most joyful moments. Unfortunately, when medical negligence leads to a birth injury, families face not only emotional trauma but also complex legal questions about their rights. If you’re dealing with this devastating situation in Utah, understanding Utah’s 2-year birth injury statute of limitations is absolutely critical to protecting your family’s future.
Birth injuries affect thousands of families across the United States each year. According to the National Library of Medicine, infant health complications remain a significant concern, with many injuries occurring during the labor and delivery process. In the United States, 6 out of every 1,000 children experience complications during birth. What’s most concerning is that many of these birth injuries are preventable with proper medical care.
Common Types of Birth Injuries in Utah
Before diving into legal deadlines, it’s important to understand what constitutes a birth injury. These injuries occur during labor, delivery, or immediately after birth and can range from minor to life-altering. Common birth injuries include:
Brachial Plexus Injuries (Erb’s Palsy): Damage to the network of nerves controlling the arm and hand, often caused by excessive pulling during delivery or shoulder dystocia mismanagement.
Cerebral Palsy: A group of disorders affecting movement and posture, frequently resulting from oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) during birth. The CDC notes that cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability in childhood.
Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE): Brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the baby’s brain.
Fractures: Broken bones, particularly the clavicle or collarbone, often from difficult deliveries or improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors.
Facial Nerve Injuries: Damage to facial nerves from pressure during delivery, sometimes causing temporary or permanent facial paralysis.
Intracranial Hemorrhage: Bleeding in the brain, which can occur when delivery instruments are misused.
Caput Succedaneum and Cephalohematoma: Swelling and bruising on the baby’s scalp, sometimes indicating more serious underlying injuries.
Not every difficult birth results in medical malpractice. However, when healthcare providers fail to follow accepted standards of care—such as not monitoring fetal distress, delaying necessary C-sections, or misusing delivery instruments—they can be held legally responsible for resulting injuries.
What Is Utah’s Statute of Limitations for Birth Injury Cases?
Under Utah law, families have a limited window to file a medical malpractice lawsuit related to a birth injury. According to Utah Code § 78B-3-404, you must file your claim within two years of discovering the injury—or when you reasonably should have discovered it through diligent attention to your child’s development.
Here’s where it gets more complicated: Utah also imposes a four-year statute of repose. This means that regardless of when you discover the injury, you cannot file a lawsuit more than four years after the date the alleged negligence occurred. For birth injuries, this typically means four years from your child’s date of birth.
Let’s say your child was born in January 2023, but developmental delays related to oxygen deprivation during delivery weren’t apparent until late 2026. While you discovered the injury in 2026, the four-year statute of repose would prevent you from filing a lawsuit after January 2027—even though you only recently learned about the problem.
The CDC reports that cerebral palsy affects approximately 1 in 345 children in the United States, making it the most common motor disability in childhood. Many of these cases stem from preventable birth injuries caused by medical negligence during labor and delivery.
Why Does Utah Have Such a Strict Deadline?
You might wonder why the law places such tight restrictions on families seeking justice for their injured children. Statutes of limitations exist to protect the integrity of evidence and ensure that cases are filed while memories are fresh and medical records are readily available. However, this can feel particularly harsh in birth injury cases, where some conditions like cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy may not become fully apparent for months or even years.
That’s precisely why working with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer is essential. A qualified birth injury lawyer understands how to navigate these strict timelines and can help preserve your right to compensation.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?
Missing the statute of limitations deadline has severe consequences. Once the two-year discovery period or four-year statute of repose expires, you permanently forfeit your right to seek compensation through the civil court system. No exceptions. No second chances. The courthouse doors close, and you lose the ability to hold negligent medical providers accountable—no matter how clear the malpractice or how devastating the injury.
This is why immediate action is critical. Don’t wait to consult with a medical malpractice lawyer Utah families trust. The sooner you begin investigating your case, the better your chances of meeting all legal deadlines and building a strong claim.
Are There Any Exceptions to the Two-Year Rule?
Utah law does provide one narrow exception: if a foreign object (such as a surgical instrument or sponge) was left in the mother’s body during delivery, you have one year from the date of discovery—or when you should have discovered the object—to file a lawsuit. This exception recognizes that retained foreign objects may not be immediately apparent and can cause serious complications that don’t emerge right away.
Beyond this specific circumstance, Utah courts generally enforce the statute of limitations strictly. Unlike some states that pause (or “toll”) the deadline for minors until they reach adulthood, Utah’s law doesn’t offer this protection in most birth injury cases. This makes prompt action even more crucial for Utah families.
How Do You Know If You Have a Valid Birth Injury Case?
Not every difficult birth or poor outcome constitutes medical malpractice. To have a valid claim, your birth injury lawyer will need to prove three essential elements:
Standard of Care: What level of care should a reasonably competent healthcare provider have provided under the circumstances? This establishes the benchmark against which your doctor’s actions will be measured.
Breach of Duty: Did your doctor, nurse, or hospital staff fail to meet that standard of care? Common examples include failing to monitor fetal distress, misusing delivery tools like forceps or vacuum extractors, failing to order a necessary C-section, or mismanaging shoulder dystocia.
Causation and Damages: Did this breach directly cause your child’s injuries? You must prove that the negligence—not an unavoidable complication—led to harm like brain damage, nerve injuries, broken bones, or other serious conditions.
What Types of Compensation Can You Recover?
When medical malpractice causes a birth injury, both the child and the parents may be entitled to significant compensation. Damages typically fall into two categories:
Economic Damages include all past and future medical expenses related to the birth injury—surgeries, therapies, medications, assistive devices, and specialized care. For children with severe, lifelong conditions like cerebral palsy, these costs can reach into the millions of dollars over their lifetime. Economic damages also cover lost earning capacity if the injury prevents the child from maintaining employment as an adult.
Non-Economic Damages compensate for pain, suffering, and emotional anguish experienced by both the child and parents. However, Utah caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases at $450,000 (as adjusted for inflation). While this limit may seem restrictive, a skilled medical malpractice lawyer can still pursue substantial compensation through economic damages, which have no cap.
Why Choose AVS Law Group for Your Birth Injury Case?
When your child’s future hangs in the balance, you need more than just any attorney—you need a firm with proven expertise in complex medical malpractice litigation. AVS Law Group brings that expertise to every case.
Our team at Allred, Vogt & Stuart has secured multiple multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts in medical malpractice cases, including a recent $6.5 million settlement for a patient who suffered permanent paralysis due to medical negligence. While each case is unique, this track record demonstrates our ability to take on hospitals, insurance companies, and their legal teams.
Here’s what sets AVS Law Group apart:
Trial-Tested Attorneys: We’re not a settlement mill. Our lawyers have secured numerous jury verdicts and aren’t afraid to take your case to trial if that’s what justice requires. At Allred Vogt & Stuart, each attorney has obtained successful jury verdicts, giving us the courtroom credibility that insurance companies respect.
Medical Malpractice Expertise: Birth injury cases require a deep understanding of obstetrics, neonatal care, and complex medical terminology. We work with top medical experts who can review your case and provide authoritative testimony about whether the standard of care was met.
Resources to Win: Medical malpractice litigation is expensive and time-consuming. We have the financial resources to hire the best experts, conduct thorough investigations, and see your case through to the end—without you paying anything upfront. We work on a contingency basis, meaning we only get paid if we win your case.
Litigation Experience: We’ve taken thousands of cases to litigation. Unlike firms that quickly settle to avoid court, AVS Law Group views and values your personal injury case based on its litigation value, not simply what an insurance carrier offers before filing a lawsuit. This approach consistently results in better outcomes for our clients.
Compassionate Representation: We understand that no amount of money can undo your child’s injury. Our approach combines aggressive legal advocacy with genuine empathy for what your family is experiencing. We help injured people recover—that’s our mission.
What Should You Do Right Now?
If you suspect your child suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence, time is literally of the essence. Here are your immediate next steps:
- Document Everything: Keep all medical records, bills, and notes about your child’s symptoms and diagnosis. Take photos and videos showing your child’s condition and any challenges they face.
- Don’t Discuss Your Case: Avoid posting on social media about the birth or your child’s condition. Don’t sign any documents from the hospital or insurance companies without legal review.
- Contact a Birth Injury Lawyer Immediately: Even if you’re not sure whether you have a case, consultation with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer Utah families rely on is critical. At AVS Law Group, we offer free consultations to review your situation and explain your options. Call us at (801) 876-7771.
- Don’t Wait for a Diagnosis: Some parents delay seeking legal advice because their child hasn’t received a formal diagnosis. Don’t make this mistake. An experienced birth injury lawyer can help identify warning signs and get your case moving while the evidence is fresh.
Understanding Medical Malpractice Beyond Birth Injuries
Birth injuries represent just one type of medical malpractice. The same two-year statute of limitations applies to surgical errors and failure to diagnose cases, misdiagnosis, medication errors, and anesthesia mistakes. If you’ve suffered harm due to any form of medical negligence in Utah, the clock is ticking on your right to pursue justice.
Medical malpractice law exists to hold healthcare providers accountable when their negligence causes preventable harm. When that harm affects a newborn baby—the most vulnerable patient—the stakes couldn’t be higher.
The Real Cost of Waiting
Consider this scenario: A family notices their six-month-old isn’t meeting developmental milestones. They mention it to the pediatrician, who suggests “waiting to see.” Months pass. The delays become more pronounced. By the time cerebral palsy is diagnosed at age two, and the family realizes it stemmed from oxygen deprivation during birth, they’re already approaching the statute of limitations deadline.
If they wait another six months to consult an attorney, investigate the case, and gather medical records, they could run out of time. The medical malpractice lawyer needs months to review thousands of pages of medical records, consult with expert witnesses, and build a compelling case. Starting this process early isn’t just advisable—it’s essential.
How AVS Law Group Approaches Birth Injury Cases
When you contact AVS Law Group, we immediately begin protecting your rights. Our process includes:
Comprehensive Case Review: We examine all medical records from prenatal care through delivery and postpartum treatment, looking for deviations from accepted standards of care.
Expert Medical Analysis: We work with board-certified obstetricians, neonatologists, and other specialists who can identify whether negligence occurred and how it caused your child’s injuries.
Damages Calculation: We collaborate with economists, life care planners, and medical professionals to accurately project your child’s lifetime needs and calculate appropriate compensation.
Aggressive Negotiation: Most medical malpractice cases settle before trial. We negotiate forcefully to secure maximum compensation without unnecessary delay.
Trial Preparation: If settlement negotiations fail, we’re fully prepared to present your case to a jury. Our trial experience means we negotiate from a position of strength, which typically leads to better settlement offers.
Your Child’s Future Starts with Action Today
Utah’s two-year statute of limitations on birth injury cases isn’t just a technicality—it’s a deadline that can determine whether your family receives the compensation needed to care for your child throughout their life. Medical bills, therapy costs, specialized education, and assistive devices add up quickly. Without legal action, you’re left bearing these enormous costs alone.
You didn’t cause your child’s injury. You shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s negligence. But protecting your rights requires immediate action.
Contact AVS Law Group today for a free, confidential consultation. We’ll review your case, explain your legal options, and help you understand whether you have grounds for a medical malpractice claim. Don’t let time run out on your family’s chance for justice and compensation.
Remember: In Utah, you typically have just two years from discovering the injury to file your claim, with an absolute deadline of four years from the date of birth. Every day counts.
Call AVS Law Group now at (801) 876-7771 or visit our website to schedule your free consultation. Your child’s future depends on the decisions you make today.
Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Birth injury cases are complex and fact-specific. For guidance on your specific situation, please contact AVS Law Group for a free consultation. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
