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How do birth injuries resulting from infections affect children during their infancy?

by Lindsay Lawrence | Feb 6, 2026 | Medical Malpractice

When most people hear the term birth injury, they picture complications during delivery -forceful extractions, broken bones, or orthopedic injuries that impair a child’s arms, legs, or spine. But some of the most severe and life-altering birth injuries do not occur during the mechanics of labor at all.

Instead, many devastating birth injuries arise from infections that go untreated or are improperly managed before, during, or immediately after birth. These infections can deprive a newborn’s brain and vital organs of oxygen, trigger overwhelming inflammatory responses, or lead to sepsis and meningitis. The result is often permanent neurological damage, cognitive impairment, hearing loss, or developmental disability—injuries that may not be visible, but are profoundly disabling.

These harms are frequently preventable. When proper screening, monitoring, and timely neonatal care are not provided, children can suffer irreversible injuries that have nothing to do with bones or muscles, and everything to do with failures in infection recognition and treatment.

What Types Of Infections Occur Frequently?

There are several maternal and neonatal infections that frequently occur and are known to cause serious birth injuries. Among the most common and clinically significant are Group B Streptococcus (GBS), Listeria monocytogenes (Listeriosis), and Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Neonatal Sepsis and Chorioamnionitis. Each of these infections can be transmitted to an infant before, during, or shortly after birth and can result in severe, lifelong harm if not properly identified and treated.

What Injuries Occur From These Infections?

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) can cause early-onset neonatal sepsis, pneumonia, meningitis, and brain injury with long-term neurological impairment. These injuries occur because the infection overwhelms the newborn’s underdeveloped immune system, triggering a systemic inflammatory response that can damage the brain and other vital organs. Without timely intervention, the resulting harm may be permanent.
Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common viral infection transmitted from mother to fetus. CMV infection in utero can disrupt normal organogenesis and neurological development, leading to permanent injuries such as sensorineural hearing loss, vision impairment, seizures, and cognitive or developmental delays. Many of these injuries may not be immediately apparent at birth but manifest months or years later.
Listeriosis is a foodborne infection that poses unique risks during pregnancy. A mother may contract Listeria through contaminated food, and the infection can cross the placenta to the developing fetus. Listeriosis is associated with miscarriage, preterm birth, stillbirth, and severe neonatal infection. In infants who survive, the infection alone can lead to sepsis and, in severe cases, fatal outcomes. The danger of Listeriosis lies not only in maternal exposure, but in the profound and often catastrophic consequences for the child.
Neonatal Sepsis is an infection that can be contracted during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and after birth as well. The infection can be detrimental in newborns, especially premature infants, who have lower protective antibodies, weaker complement systems to destroy pathogens, and overall weaker immune systems. Once the newborn’s body is infected it releases large amounts of inflammatory chemicals that cause inflammation, damage to blood vessels and can drop their blood pressure. The infection can also impair oxygen delivery to vital organs causing respiratory failure, and injuries to the kidneys and brain. In severe cases there can be multi-organ failure and a high risk of mortality for the infant. The resulting birth injuries are hearing and vision loss, cerebral palsy and developmental delays.
Chorioamnionitis is a bacterial infection that can ascend upward into the uterus and comes from GBS, E. coli, mycoplasma, and anaerobic bacteria. These organisms breach the protective barriers and reach the amniotic sac, which lead to infections in the chorion, amnion, and amniotic fluid. This infection can trigger Fetal Inflammatory Response Syndrome (FIRS) which is critical because the inflammatory response is not just infection, but one that causes brain injuries that can result in cerebral palsy, cognitive impairment, and motor delays. Chorioamnionitis is a preventable risk factor that can lead to sepsis, stillbirths, and other detrimental outcomes during pregnancy.

How Do I Know If I Have A Medical Malpractice Claim?

To succeed in a claim for medical malpractice a patient must prove that the healthcare provider or the healthcare institution breached the adequate standard of care, and as a result of that breach they were the direct and proximate cause of the patient’s harm.

The role of the healthcare provider during delivery is simple. They have a duty to use strict hygiene practices, sterilization, control the environment to the best of their ability, promptly diagnose and treat maternal infections, and perform proper neonatal care. Taking these steps are vital to preventing the infant from contracting infections such as GBS, CMV, and Listeriosis.

If the healthcare provider’s actions before, during, or after delivery, fall below the standard set out to prevent these infections, it may give rise to a patient’s claim for medical malpractice. These actions are always determined by what a reasonably competent provider under the circumstances would have decided.

To reduce risks of fetal injuries caused by infections and inflammation – the National Institute of Health provides a great mnemonic to assist in promoting safe pregnancy behaviors.