If your child suffered a spinal cord injury during birth in New York, you may have the right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit on their behalf. New York law generally gives families until the child's 10th birthday to file a claim, and any money recovered for a child must be approved by a judge to make sure it is fair. Spinal cord injuries at birth are rare, but they are serious. They can happen when too much force, twisting, or pulling is used on a baby's neck during a difficult delivery, or when a baby is delivered feet-first without a C-section. Research shows that most babies who suffer this type of injury do not recover, and many with injuries to the upper neck require a breathing machine for life. Porter Law Group helps New York families whose children were hurt by preventable mistakes made during labor and delivery.
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Spinal cord birth injuries are among the most under-diagnosed and most catastrophic obstetric injuries — frequently misclassified as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, brachial plexopathy, or neonatal neuromuscular disease in the first hours and days of life. Winning these cases requires lawyers who can identify the misdiagnosis, marshal MRI evidence, document the breech delivery or instrument-assisted delivery decision-making, and prove the connection between the obstetric decisions and the catastrophic outcome. Porter Law Group has recovered more than $500 million for seriously injured clients since 2009, including multiple pediatric recoveries exceeding $8 million for children with permanent delivery-related disabilities.
Led by Harvard-educated attorney Michael S. Porter, a former U.S. Army JAG Corps Captain with over 20 years of trial experience, the firm retains maternal-fetal medicine specialists, pediatric neurologists, pediatric neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, and life care planners to document the mechanism of injury and the cost of a lifetime of ventilator support, attendant care, mobility equipment, and rehabilitation. Seven of eight partner-level attorneys are recognized by Super Lawyers, a distinction earned by fewer than 5% of New York attorneys.
"Spinal cord birth injuries are misdiagnosed cases. The baby is hypotonic, weak, and not moving — the clinical team assumes HIE and sends the baby for cooling, when the actual injury is at the cervical spine and a different intervention is needed. The diagnosis is the case. We work with neuroradiologists who can identify cord injury on MRI, and with obstetric experts who can reconstruct the delivery — what was the presentation, what traction was applied, and was a cesarean offered when it should have been."
— Michael S. Porter, J.D., Porter Law Group
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A spinal cord birth injury is mechanical damage to the spinal cord — partial or complete — sustained during labor or delivery. According to a 2020 peer-reviewed review in Frontiers in Pediatrics, the injury is rare, with an estimated incidence of approximately 1 case per 8,000 to 1 case per 29,000 births, but it is also under-diagnosed because the early symptoms overlap with more common neonatal conditions.
The injury level varies systematically by fetal presentation at the time of delivery:
| Fetal Presentation | Most Common Injury Level | Typical Mechanism | Approximate Population |
| Vertex (head-first) | Upper and middle cervical spine (C1–C4) | Excessive traction or rotation during difficult delivery | Most deliveries |
| Breech (feet/buttocks first) | Lower cervical / upper thoracic spine | Hyperextension during breech extraction | ~3–4% of term deliveries per ACOG |
| Face presentation | Cervical spine | Hyperextension of fetal neck | Rare |
| Transverse / oblique lie | Variable; cervical most common | Difficult extraction during cesarean or attempted vaginal delivery | <1% of term deliveries |
Severity ranges from incomplete cord injury with partial recovery to complete cord transection with permanent quadriplegia or high paraplegia. The phrenic nerve, which controls the diaphragm, originates from cervical levels C3 through C5 — with the major contribution from C4. Injuries at C3 and above generally require lifelong ventilator support; injuries at C4 are highly variable and may require part-time ventilation or diaphragmatic pacing; injuries at C5 and below typically preserve spontaneous breathing. Per the 2007 multicenter case series by Vialle et al. (n=9), six of the nine infants had cervical-spine involvement; three of those infants with upper cervical injuries died before age six, and the six surviving infants experienced no neurological improvement — making this one of the most catastrophic birth injuries in pediatric medicine.
Spinal cord birth injury is caused by mechanical forces that exceed the tolerance of the developing neonatal spine. Per peer-reviewed obstetric literature, neonates are particularly vulnerable because their spinal ligaments are lax, their muscles are weak, and the bony vertebrae are incompletely mineralized — meaning the cord can be stretched and damaged even when there is no fracture or visible bony injury on radiograph.
The recognized injury mechanisms are:
1. Excessive traction during difficult vertex delivery. Strong forceful longitudinal traction applied while the head is firmly engaged in the pelvis — particularly during prolonged labor, cephalopelvic disproportion, or a transverse arrest — can stretch the upper cervical cord beyond its tolerance.
2. Hyperextension during breech extraction. Per ACOG Committee Opinion No. 745 (2018), the planned mode of delivery for a term singleton breech fetus should be cesarean delivery in most circumstances, because vaginal breech delivery carries elevated risk of fetal head entrapment and spinal cord injury. Hyperextension of the fetal head during breech extraction — especially with footling breech or when the head is entrapped — is the classic mechanism for lower cervical / upper thoracic cord injury.
3. Improper instrument-assisted delivery. Forceps and vacuum extractors used outside the prerequisites of ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 219 (April 2020, Reaffirmed 2022) — particularly mid-forceps rotational deliveries — have been linked in the peer-reviewed literature to spinal cord injury. See our Vacuum & Forceps and Forceps Injury practices.
4. Mismanaged shoulder dystocia. Excessive lateral traction during a shoulder dystocia emergency — particularly when applied to deliver an impacted shoulder — can injure the cervical cord in addition to the brachial plexus.
The most common malpractice mechanisms are:
The clinical presentation of spinal cord injury overlaps almost completely with HIE in the first hours of life: hypotonia, decreased or absent movement, weak or absent reflexes, respiratory depression, and decreased response to stimulation. Per the 2020 peer-reviewed review in Frontiers in Pediatrics, early diagnosis is delayed in many cases because clinicians attribute the symptoms to hypoxic-ischemic injury and initiate therapeutic hypothermia for HIE — when the underlying injury is actually mechanical damage to the cervical cord.
Three findings should raise immediate suspicion of spinal cord injury rather than HIE:
When these features are present and MRI is not promptly obtained, the resulting delay in diagnosis often constitutes a separate basis for malpractice — independent of the obstetric negligence that caused the injury — because timely recognition can guide neuroprotective interventions and prevent secondary cord damage.
New York places no statutory cap on damages in medical malpractice or birth injury cases. Spinal cord birth injury cases are among the largest pediatric malpractice recoveries because the injury imposes lifelong ventilator dependence, attendant care, and mobility-equipment costs.
Future medical and custodial care is the largest category in catastrophic cases. Children with high cervical cord injury often require 24-hour skilled nursing or attendant care, mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy and stoma care, suctioning equipment, power wheelchairs with environmental controls, ceiling-track lift systems, accessible vehicle modifications, and lifelong rehabilitation. Life care plans in catastrophic spinal cord birth injury cases routinely project tens of millions of dollars across the child's life expectancy. Porter Law Group retains life care planners and rehabilitation physicians to document every line item.
Lost future earning capacity. A child with high cervical cord injury typically cannot achieve competitive employment and may recover the full projected lifetime earnings of a comparable uninjured peer.
Pain and suffering damages are not capped in New York. Juries consider the permanence of the injury, the child's life expectancy, and the loss of normal childhood, adolescent, and adult experiences.
Wrongful death. When spinal cord injury results in death — frequently from respiratory failure or pulmonary complications in children with high cervical injury — parents may pursue a wrongful death claim under EPTL §5-4.1 within two years of the death.
Parents' derivative claim. Parents can recover medical expenses they paid on the child's behalf and damages for loss of the child's services — but under their own 2.5-year CPLR §214-a statute, which is not tolled by the child's infancy.
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Porter Law Group's published results include 53 cases at or above $1 million, with multiple pediatric recoveries exceeding $8 million. View all case results →
$8,120,000 Settlement: An infant suffered permanent delivery-related injuries caused by mismanaged labor and delivery — the kind of fact pattern in which mechanical force during difficult delivery can produce catastrophic neurological injury. The recovery funded a life-care plan built with the family's physicians and therapists.
$8,300,000 Settlement: A premature infant suffered profound permanent disabilities, including cerebral palsy, after physicians failed to properly manage the mother's pre-gestational diabetes. The structured settlement provides lifetime care and therapy funding.
$8,250,000 Settlement: An infant sustained permanent physical and cognitive disabilities after delayed response to fetal distress during labor. Proceeds covered lifetime medical and educational needs.
Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Spinal cord birth injury claims are medical malpractice cases, so the deadline is shorter than a general child injury claim and is subject to a hard 10-year cap that ordinary personal injury cases do not face.
| Category of Defendant | Statute of Limitations | Infancy Toll | Effective Deadline | Primary Statute |
| Private hospital / private physician | 2.5 years | Yes — but capped at 10 years from malpractice | Child's 10th birthday in most cases | CPLR §214-a + CPLR §208 |
| Public hospital (NYC Health + Hospitals, SUNY Upstate, SUNY Downstate, Stony Brook, county hospitals) | 1 year and 90 days after Notice of Claim | No — 90-day Notice of Claim NOT tolled by infancy | 90 days from injury to file Notice of Claim | GML §50-e |
| Wrongful death of infant | 2 years from date of death | N/A | 2 years from death | EPTL §5-4.1 |
| Parents' derivative claim | 2.5 years | No — not tolled by child's infancy | 2.5 years from malpractice | CPLR §214-a |
Spinal cord birth injuries pose a particular timing risk because the diagnosis is frequently delayed for weeks or months while clinicians treat the child for presumed HIE. Public-hospital families whose child is eventually re-diagnosed with spinal cord injury at age 4 or 6 months have almost certainly missed the 90-day Notice of Claim window and must seek leave to serve a late notice of claim under GML §50-e(5) — discretionary relief that is never guaranteed.
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Was Your Baby Diagnosed with a Spinal Cord Injury in New York?
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1. Request the complete labor-and-delivery and neonatal records. Under New York Public Health Law §18, you are entitled to your and your child's complete medical records within a reasonable time of a written request. The critical documents are the full labor-and-delivery note (especially documenting fetal presentation, any rotation maneuvers, and instrument use), the neonatal exam, NICU records, and all imaging — particularly MRI of the cervical spine.
2. Demand spinal MRI if it has not been performed. A baby with persistent hypotonia, weakness, or respiratory depression after a difficult delivery should have MRI of the cervical and thoracic spine. If the medical team has only obtained brain MRI and is treating the baby for HIE, consider asking specifically about spinal cord imaging. Plain radiographs and ultrasound have limited sensitivity for cord injury.
3. Document the delivery details. Was the fetal presentation breech, vertex, transverse, or face? Was external cephalic version offered? Was vaginal breech delivery attempted? Were forceps or vacuum used? Were mid-forceps rotations performed? Each of these decisions has a specific standard of care that an obstetric expert can evaluate.
4. Document developmental and rehabilitation progress. Keep a dated log of every neurology, rehabilitation medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, and pediatric pulmonology visit. The trajectory of motor and respiratory function is core evidence of injury severity and prognosis.
5. Act immediately if your child was born at a public hospital. Births at NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, SUNY Upstate, SUNY Downstate, Stony Brook, or any county-run facility require a Notice of Claim within 90 days under GML §50-e. Missing this deadline can bar the claim entirely.
6. Contact a New York spinal cord birth injury attorney. Porter Law Group offers free consultations on a contingency-fee basis and handles every stage of the case, from record collection through expert review, litigation, infant compromise approval, and trial.
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Porter Law Group represents families in spinal cord birth injury and related birth injury malpractice cases throughout New York State, with a statewide practice reaching every county and jurisdiction. Our Syracuse headquarters serves Central and Upstate New York, while attorneys travel regularly to downstate courthouses for cases in the five boroughs, Westchester, and Long Island.
Serving Clients statewide, including Spinal Cord Birth Injury Attorney in Syracuse, New York City, Manhattan, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Yonkers, White Plains, Utica, Binghamton, Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk Counties), Saratoga Springs, Ithaca.
Wherever your child was injured in New York, call (833) PORTER-9 for a free consultation with an experienced birth injury attorney.
A spinal cord birth injury happens when too much force is applied to a baby's neck or spine during labor and delivery. This can occur when a doctor pulls too hard during a difficult delivery, uses forceps or a vacuum incorrectly, or delivers a breech baby (feet-first) vaginally instead of by C-section. Newborns are especially vulnerable because their spines are not yet fully developed, meaning the spinal cord can be stretched and damaged even without a visible broken bone.
Yes, and it happens often. The early signs of a spinal cord birth injury, such as a floppy body, weak reflexes, poor movement, and breathing difficulty, look almost identical to a condition called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which is a brain injury caused by oxygen loss. Because HIE is far more common, many babies with spinal cord injuries are treated for the wrong condition for weeks or even months before the correct diagnosis is made through an MRI of the spine.
In most cases, yes. Medical guidelines from ACOG recommend that babies in a breech position (feet or bottom first) be delivered by C-section because vaginal breech delivery carries a higher risk of spinal cord injury and other serious complications. Doctors are also expected to identify a breech position before labor and offer a procedure to turn the baby head-first. If your doctor failed to do either, that may be considered medical negligence.
The outlook depends on where the injury is located on the spine. Babies with injuries to the upper neck often cannot breathe on their own and require a ventilator for the rest of their lives. Those with injuries lower on the spine may breathe independently but still face paralysis and lifelong care needs. Based on published case studies, most babies who suffer this type of injury show no improvement over time, which is why these cases often result in some of the largest medical malpractice settlements in New York.
In New York, most spinal cord birth injury lawsuits must be filed before the child's 10th birthday. However, if your child was born at a public hospital, such as an NYC Health + Hospitals facility or a SUNY-affiliated hospital, the deadline is much shorter. You may have only 90 days from the date of injury to file a formal notice of claim. Missing that window can permanently bar your case, so it is important to speak with an attorney as soon as possible.
Michael S. Porter is the founder and managing partner of Porter Law Group, representing New York families in spinal cord birth injury, birth injury, medical malpractice, and catastrophic injury cases. A graduate of Harvard University (B.A., 1994) and Syracuse University College of Law (J.D., 1997), Porter served four years as a Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. Selected to Super Lawyers for 14 consecutive years (2012–2025), he holds a 10.0 Superb rating on Avvo and a Distinguished rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
Bar Admissions: New York State Bar | U.S. District Court, Northern and Western Districts of New York
Memberships: New York State Bar Association, Onondaga County Bar Association, New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
If your newborn suffered a spinal cord injury in New York due to medical negligence, critical deadlines may run faster than you expect: public-hospital cases require a Notice of Claim within 90 days, parents' derivative claims are not tolled by the child's infancy, and the 10-year cap under CPLR §208 closes most birth injury windows before a child's 10th birthday.
Contact Porter Law Group today at (833) PORTER-9 for a free, no-obligation consultation. We operate on a contingency-fee basis, so you pay nothing unless you win.
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