Birth Asphyxia Attorney in Roswell

We Secured a $20 Million Settlement for a Family Whose Child Suffered a Preventable Birth Injury

Perinatal asphyxia, also called birth asphyxia, happens when a baby receives insufficient oxygen before, during, or shortly after delivery. The consequences can be devastating: hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a type of brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, or death. Not every case involves negligence, but many do. When a preventable medical error deprives a newborn of oxygen, the family deserves answers and fair compensation.

Our firm has handled exactly this type of case. James Wood Law secured a $20 million settlement for a family whose child suffered a permanent birth injury after labor and delivery providers failed to perform a timely Caesarean section. That case, and others like it, shape how we approach every perinatal asphyxia claim we take on in Roswell and across New Mexico.

What Causes Perinatal Asphyxia?

Most birth asphyxia cases trace back to a failure to follow the accepted standard of care during labor and delivery. That standard is also the legal threshold for a malpractice claim: a provider owed a duty to the mother and infant, departed from what a competent provider would have done, and that departure caused harm.

Common contributing factors include:

• Unmanaged maternal health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or infections that elevate the risk of oxygen deprivation
• Failure to recognize fetal distress during fetal heart rate monitoring, including missing warning patterns on the monitoring strip
• Delayed emergency Caesarean section when fetal distress signals demand one
• Umbilical cord prolapse or compression that cuts off oxygen flow to the baby
• Improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors during a difficult delivery
• Prolonged or obstructed labor that should have prompted earlier intervention

Our Experience With Birth Injury Cases

James Wood, who leads our firm, is Board Certified as a Trial Lawyer through the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has tried more than 30 cases to a jury and settled more than 250 cases. That courtroom record matters in birth injury negotiations because insurance carriers know we’re prepared to go to trial if a fair resolution isn’t offered.

We represent clients throughout New Mexico, including families in the Roswell area. Our office is in Albuquerque, but we handle cases across the state and are fully equipped to investigate and pursue a claim arising from a birth at a Roswell hospital.

New Mexico Damage Caps & Your Recovery

New Mexico’s Medical Malpractice Act limits certain categories of damages, but the structure is more nuanced than a single number. Caps differ depending on whether the claim is against an individual health care provider, an independent outpatient facility, or a hospital. For injuries occurring in 2026, the cap on damages against a hospital rises to $6,000,000 per occurrence on its current annual schedule. Individual provider caps are separate amounts.

Critically, the caps don’t apply to past and future medical or rehabilitative care costs. Punitive damages can also be addressed separately under New Mexico law. For a child with lifelong needs from HIE or cerebral palsy, uncapped medical and rehabilitative expenses can still represent a significant portion of the total recovery. We investigate every perinatal asphyxia case to identify all potentially liable parties because naming both a hospital and an individual physician can affect which caps apply and can open a path toward exceeding a single cap.

Filing Deadlines for a Roswell Birth Asphyxia Claim

New Mexico law generally requires a medical malpractice claim to be filed within three years of the date the malpractice occurred under NMSA 41-5-13. For injured minors, the law extends that deadline, allowing additional time after the child reaches adulthood to file. Even with an extended window, waiting has real costs: medical records become harder to retrieve, witnesses’ memories fade, and fetal monitoring strips can be lost.

New Mexico also requires claims against qualifying independent providers to go through the state’s Medical Review Commission before a lawsuit can be filed in court, unless both sides agree to waive that step. Claims against hospitals and outpatient health care facilities can be filed directly in court without that review. Understanding how that process affects your timeline is part of what we do from the first consultation.