Infant Wrongful Death: When Tiny Lives Are Lost

The Unimaginable Tragedy of Losing an Infant

Infant wrongful death occurs when a baby dies due to someone else’s negligence, reckless behavior, or intentional actions. This can happen during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or the first year of life. When it does, parents and surviving family members may have legal recourse to pursue compensation and accountability through a civil wrongful death claim.

There is no word in the English language for a parent who has lost a child. This absence speaks to the profound, unnatural tragedy of such a loss. When that death results from another’s negligence, the pain is compounded by a desperate need for answers and justice.

Key Facts About Infant Wrongful Death Claims:

• Who Can File: In Texas, parents (and in some cases, the estate representative) can file a wrongful death claim for their infant.
• Time Limit: Generally two years from the date of death under Texas law.
• Common Causes: Medical malpractice during childbirth, medication errors, defective products, unsafe sleep environments, and caregiver negligence.
• Recoverable Damages: Medical expenses, funeral costs, loss of companionship, mental anguish, and in cases of gross negligence, punitive damages.
• Applies to Unborn Children: Texas law allows wrongful death claims for viable fetuses.

While many infant deaths result from natural causes, a significant number are preventable—caused by medical errors, defective products, or caregiver negligence. The legal system cannot bring back a lost child, but it can provide a path toward accountability, financial support for grieving families, and potentially prevent future tragedies by holding negligent parties responsible.

I’m Brian Nguyen, Managing Partner at Universal Law Group. Our firm is committed to providing compassionate, effective representation to parents navigating this unimaginable tragedy while fighting for the justice their children deserve.

What Legally Constitutes an Infant Wrongful Death Claim?

An infant wrongful death claim is a legal action taken when an infant’s death is caused by the negligence, recklessness, or intentional act of another person or entity. It’s about establishing that someone had a legal responsibility to protect your child, they failed in that duty, and this failure directly led to your baby’s death.

In Texas, these cases require us to demonstrate clear legal responsibility. This often involves medical malpractice, but can also stem from defective products or caregiver negligence. Understanding the legal requirements is a crucial first step toward seeking justice for your child.

The Four Elements of a Negligence Claim

To build a successful infant wrongful death case based on negligence, we must prove four essential elements:

1. Duty of Care: The defendant had a legal obligation to act with a certain level of care toward your infant. For example, doctors, nurses, and hospitals have a professional duty of care to provide competent medical treatment to their patients.
2. Breach of Duty: The defendant failed to meet that standard of care. In medical cases, this means their actions fell below what a reasonably competent healthcare provider would have done in a similar situation. Understanding What Qualifies as Medical Malpractice in Texas? is key to identifying a breach.
3. Causation: There must be a direct link between the defendant’s breach of duty and the infant’s death. We must show that “but for” the negligent act, the baby would have survived. This often requires testimony from medical experts to connect the negligence to the tragic outcome.
4. Damages: The death resulted in actual, measurable harm to the family. While no amount of money can replace a child, the law recognizes both economic losses (like medical and funeral bills) and non-economic losses (like mental anguish and loss of companionship) as recoverable damages.

All four elements must be proven for a claim to succeed. This is why a thorough investigation by an experienced legal team is so critical.

The Legal Status of an Unborn Child in Texas

Many grieving parents ask if they can file a wrongful death claim if their baby died before birth. In Texas, the answer is yes, under specific circumstances.

Texas law allows parents to file a wrongful death lawsuit if their unborn child was viable at the time of the fatal injury. Viability generally means the fetus could have survived outside the womb, typically considered to be around 24 weeks of gestation. This is a more protective stance than in many other states, which may require a baby to be born alive to qualify for a wrongful death claim.

Texas law acknowledges that the loss of a viable unborn child is a devastating death that deserves legal recognition. If your viable unborn child died due to someone’s negligence, you may have grounds for a claim. These cases require careful analysis of both the medical facts and the specific laws governing fetal death.

Common Causes of Infant Wrongful Death Due to Negligence

Tragically, many infant deaths are not unavoidable. They are the direct consequence of someone’s negligence. Understanding the common causes of these preventable deaths is the first step toward seeking accountability and ensuring other families don’t suffer the same heartbreak.

These circumstances generally fall into several categories: medical errors during pregnancy and birth, mistakes in postnatal care, defective products, and caregiver negligence.

Negligence During Pregnancy, Labor, and Delivery

You place immense trust in medical professionals during pregnancy and childbirth. When they fail to meet the standard of care, the consequences can be fatal. Common examples include:

• Failure to Diagnose Maternal Conditions: Missing or improperly managing conditions like preeclampsia or gestational diabetes can endanger both mother and baby.
• Ignoring Fetal Distress: Misreading fetal heart monitor strips or failing to respond to signs of distress can lead to oxygen deprivation and death.
• Delayed C-Section: When complications arise, a delay in performing a necessary C-section can be fatal. We have seen how Common C-Section Complications in Houston Often Due to Negligence can lead to tragedy.
• Improper Use of Delivery Tools: The careless use of forceps or vacuum extractors can cause skull fractures, brain hemorrhages, and other fatal injuries.
• Birth Asphyxia: A failure to quickly recognize and respond to a baby being deprived of oxygen (birth asphyxia) can cause irreversible brain damage or death.

Errors in Postnatal and Neonatal Care

The first 28 days of life are critical. Negligence during this neonatal period can be just as deadly.

• Resuscitation Mistakes: If a newborn isn’t breathing properly, any hesitation or improper technique by the medical team can be fatal.
• Medication Errors: Newborns are extremely vulnerable to the wrong medication or a medication overdose. A simple decimal point error can have tragic consequences, as in one case that resulted in an $8.25 million settlement for a baby who died from an overly concentrated solution.
• Hospital-Acquired Infections: When staff fail to follow hygiene protocols, newborns can develop life-threatening infections like sepsis.
• Failure to Treat Newborn Conditions: Untreated jaundice can lead to brain damage (kernicterus), and undetected hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can cause seizures and death. The March of Dimes provides valuable information on neonatal death and the risks newborns face.

Other Preventable Tragedies

Not all infant wrongful deaths occur in hospitals. Negligence can happen in many settings.

• Defective Products: Manufacturers of cribs, car seats, and other baby products have a duty to ensure they are safe. Unsafe cribs that lead to entrapment or faulty car seats that fail in a crash can be grounds for a lawsuit.
• Daycare and Caregiver Negligence: Lack of supervision can lead to drowning, falls, or suffocation in unsafe sleep environments. Placing a baby to sleep on their stomach or with soft bedding goes against safe sleep guidelines and can be considered negligence.
• Third-Party Recklessness: A distracted or drunk driver can cause a fatal car accident in Texas that takes an infant’s life. In these cases, the at-fault driver can be held accountable.

Each of these scenarios represents a failure that led to a preventable death. The law provides a path to hold the responsible parties accountable.

Navigating the Legal Process After a Tragic Loss

When negligence has stolen your child’s life, understanding your legal options is an important part of seeking answers and accountability. The legal system can’t restore what you’ve lost, but it can provide a way to ensure those responsible are held accountable and that other families might be spared a similar tragedy.

At Universal Law Group, we walk this difficult path with grieving parents, providing the legal guidance needed to honor your child’s life and make meaning from a senseless loss.

Civil Lawsuit vs. Criminal Charges

It’s important to understand the difference between a civil infant wrongful death lawsuit and criminal charges. They operate on separate tracks with different goals.

A civil lawsuit is filed by your family to seek compensation for your losses. A criminal case is filed by the government to punish the offender. A civil case can succeed even if no criminal charges are ever filed. For more on the criminal process, see The Ultimate Guide to Texas Criminal Law.

Here is a comparison of the two:

Feature	Civil Wrongful Death Lawsuit	Criminal Homicide Charges
Purpose	Compensation for the family’s losses	Punishment for the offender
Who Files	The victim’s family or estate	The state (prosecutor)
Burden of Proof	Preponderance of the evidence (>50% likely)	Beyond a reasonable doubt
Outcome	Monetary damages for the family	Jail time, fines, probation

The Statute of Limitations for an Infant Wrongful Death Claim in Texas

In Texas, you generally have two years from the date of your infant’s death to file a lawsuit. This deadline is known as the statute of limitations, and missing it can permanently bar you from seeking justice.

This window can be much shorter in certain situations. If the negligent party was a government entity, like a county hospital, the Texas Tort Claims Act requires you to file a formal notice of your claim within six months. Some municipal claims have even shorter deadlines.

In rare cases, the findy rule can extend the deadline. This applies if the negligence was not immediately apparent. For example, if you later finded through an independent investigation that medical negligence was the true cause of death, the two-year clock might start from the date of that findy. However, this rule is complex and does not apply in every case. It is crucial to contact an attorney as soon as possible to protect your rights.

The Crucial Role of a Wrongful Death Attorney

Handling an infant wrongful death case alone while grieving is an impossible burden. An experienced attorney acts as your advocate, guide, and voice throughout the entire process. At Universal Law Group, we handle every aspect of your case so you can focus on your family.

Our role includes:

• Investigation: We immediately gather evidence, review reports, interview witnesses, and build a complete picture of what happened.
• Medical Record Analysis: We carefully review all medical records—often thousands of pages—to identify deviations from the standard of care. Our guide on What to Bring to a Personal Injury Consultation can help you prepare.
• Hiring Expert Witnesses: We work with top-tier medical experts whose testimony is essential to prove medical negligence and causation in court.
• Calculating Damages: We calculate the full extent of your losses, including both economic costs and the profound non-economic damages like mental anguish and loss of companionship.
• Negotiating with Insurance Companies: We manage all communications with insurers, protecting you from tactics designed to minimize your claim and fighting for a fair settlement.
• Litigation and Trial: If a fair settlement cannot be reached, we are prepared to take your case to trial and present a compelling case to a jury.

Our experience as former prosecutors gives us unique insight into building strong cases. We are here to shoulder the legal burden for you.

Understanding Compensation and Settlements

No parent should have to place a monetary value on their child’s life. However, in an infant wrongful death claim, financial recovery is the legal remedy available. This compensation serves to hold negligent parties accountable, provide resources to help your family through a devastating time, and encourage changes that may prevent future tragedies.

What Types of Damages Can Be Recovered?

In a Texas infant wrongful death case, we pursue compensation for the full scope of your family’s losses, which are divided into several categories:

• Economic Damages: These are the tangible financial costs resulting from your infant’s death. They include all related medical expenses, as well as funeral and burial costs. They may also include the lost future earnings your child might have contributed to the family over their lifetime.
• Non-Economic Damages: These damages compensate for the profound, intangible losses that have no price tag. This includes mental anguish—the immense emotional pain and suffering your family has endured. It also includes loss of companionship and affection, which acknowledges the loss of the parent-child relationship and a lifetime of shared experiences. These are often the largest component of Pain and Suffering Damages.
• Exemplary (Punitive) Damages: In cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct, Texas law allows for these additional damages. They are not meant to compensate you but to punish the at-fault party and deter similar reckless behavior in the future.

How Infant Wrongful Death Settlements Work

Most infant wrongful death cases are resolved through a settlement rather than a trial. A settlement is a negotiated agreement between your family and the at-fault party’s insurance company.

The process begins after our investigation is complete. We present a demand to the insurer, backed by evidence and expert opinions. If negotiations stall, mediation with a neutral third party can help facilitate an agreement. A settlement gives you control over the outcome and provides a faster resolution than a trial.

Settlement amounts can be substantial. For example, a Chicago hospital agreed to an $8.25M settlement for a baby’s death from a medication overdose. While every case is unique, our experience helps us determine appropriate Wrongful Death Medical Malpractice Settlement Amounts and fight for the full value of your claim. We also ensure you understand any confidentiality clauses before agreeing to a settlement.

Frequently Asked Questions about Infant Wrongful Death Claims

When you’re facing the unimaginable pain of losing an infant, you have countless questions. The legal process can seem overwhelming, so we’ve answered some of the most common questions we hear from families in Houston.

How much does it cost to hire a lawyer for an infant wrongful death case?

At Universal Law Group, we handle infant wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay no upfront costs or hourly fees. Our payment is a percentage of the compensation we recover for you.

If we don’t win your case through a settlement or court award, you owe us nothing for our legal services. We also offer a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your case and help you understand your options without any financial risk.

How long does an infant wrongful death lawsuit take?

There is no simple answer, as the timeline depends on the complexity of the case. Some cases may settle within several months, while others, particularly those that go to trial, can take a year or more.

Factors that influence the timeline include:

• Case Complexity: Medical malpractice cases require extensive record review and expert consultations.
• The Findy Process: Exchanging information and taking depositions is necessary but time-consuming.
• Settlement vs. Trial: Cases that settle resolve much faster than those that proceed to a full trial.
• Court Schedules: The court’s availability can also impact the timeline.

Our priority is to secure the best possible outcome for your family, and we will not rush to an inadequate settlement. We will, however, move your case forward as efficiently as possible.

Can we file a claim if the death was classified as SIDS?

Yes, you may still be able to file a claim. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning it’s used only when all other known causes of death have been ruled out. However, these classifications are not always accurate.

Sometimes, a death labeled as SIDS may have been caused by an underlying, preventable factor that was missed in the initial investigation. This could include:

• An unsafe sleep environment (e.g., suffocation from soft bedding).
• A defective product (e.g., a faulty crib).
• Negligent supervision by a caregiver.
• An underlying medical condition that was misdiagnosed or untreated.

Our firm conducts an independent investigation with medical experts to determine if there was a preventable cause behind the tragedy. Even if the death certificate says SIDS, we encourage you to consult with us to review the circumstances. You deserve answers, and we are here to help you find them.

Finding a Path Forward with Compassionate Legal Guidance

The loss of an infant is a wound that never truly heals. When that loss stems from someone else’s negligence, the anguish is compounded by a need for answers and accountability.

We know that no lawsuit can bring back your child or fill the emptiness left behind. But the legal system can provide a measure of justice. Pursuing an infant wrongful death claim is about holding negligent parties responsible for their actions. It is a way to say that your child’s life mattered and that their death was not acceptable.

These cases also serve a broader purpose. By forcing negligent parties to face consequences, you can create a powerful incentive for them to improve standards of care, potentially preventing another family from experiencing the same heartbreak.

Navigating this process while grieving is an immense burden. At Universal Law Group, our experienced attorneys combine legal expertise with compassionate guidance. We handle the investigation, the medical experts, and the insurance companies on your behalf, allowing you to focus on your family.

We will fight for full compensation for your financial costs and, most importantly, for the profound mental anguish and loss of companionship you will carry forever. We do this on a contingency fee basis, so you face no financial risk.

You do not have to walk this painful journey alone. We are here to provide answers, seek justice, and help you honor your child’s memory by holding the responsible parties accountable.

Contact our Houston medical malpractice and birth injury attorneys today for a free, confidential consultation. Let us stand beside you and fight for the justice your family deserves.