Find a birth injury lawyer in Houston: get the records, know the time limits and understand the rules

We are sorry your family is facing this. Start with records: a provider must act within 30 days of your request. Texas needs written notice at least 60 days before suit and an expert report 120 days after each defendant answers. Children under 12 generally have until their 14th birthday.

Last checked November 9, 2026 · Official sources (43)

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Map of the Houston area showing the Texas Medical Center, where Texas Children's, Memorial Hermann and Ben Taub hospitals are located
Texas needs 60 days' written notice before a medical suit. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Which Houston hospitals handle high-risk births, and where are the records?

HospitalWhat it says about its careRecords and contact
Texas Children's Pavilion for WomenState-designated level IV maternal care. Its NICU is level IV. It counted 6,537 deliveries in fiscal year 2023.Mothers can arrive by its Maternal Transport Service from partner hospitals.
Children's Memorial HermannLevel IV maternal facility, the highest level the state designates.Its Release of Information Department handles records requests.
Harris Health Ben TaubLevel I trauma center.Clear, complete requests are sent within 15 business days.

Since 2017, a Maternal Transport Service has carried high-risk mothers to Texas Children's Pavilion for Women from partner hospitals. A baby can also be moved to a NICU after birth. Each stop keeps its own chart. Ask for all of them.

How do you get your birth and NICU records in Houston?

  1. Write to each Houston hospital's records office, such as Memorial Hermann's Release of Information Department. Ask for the mother's labor chart, the delivery notes, the fetal monitor strips and the baby's NICU chart.
  2. A provider must act within 30 days. Harris Health says 15 business days for clear and complete requests.
  3. Do not wait. A Houston hospital may dispose of records after 10 years, and children's records are kept until the 20th birthday or 10 years.
  4. Keep a copy of every request and every answer.

How long does a Houston family have to bring a birth injury claim?

RuleWhat it means
Deadline for a child under 12Until the 14th birthday.
Outer limit10 years.
Older cutoffA prior Texas cutoff was held unconstitutional as applied to a minor's own claim.
Notice before suitWritten notice at least 60 days before suit. A medical release must go with it.
Extra timeProper notice pauses the deadline for 75 days.
Expert reportDue 120 days after each defendant answers.

These rules are strict. A missed expert report means dismissal with no refiling. Talk to a lawyer well before the dates, not near them.

Does Texas limit what a family can recover for a birth injury?

Yes, for some kinds of loss, and Houston families fall under the same caps. Noneconomic damages are capped at $250,000 per claimant against all doctors combined, and $500,000 against all institutions combined. In a death case the base limit on all damages is $500,000, adjusted by the consumer price index.

If a child receives money, a Texas court can order how it is invested.

What if the birth was at a public hospital or a federal clinic?

Harris Health is the public safety-net system for Harris County. Texas allows government care claims only in limited situations. Notice is due within six months unless the government had actual notice, and damages against a local government are capped at $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence.

Some clinics are federally funded and treated as federal employees. Legacy Community Health says it is a federally qualified health center. Federal law requires an administrative claim first within two years. HRSA keeps a searchable clinic list.

What do doctors say causes birth injuries?

Causes vary, and not every bad outcome means an error. Some cerebral palsy follows injury around birth, but 85% to 90% relates to events before or during birth. Labor risk factors do not mean a child will have it, and most children born in those conditions do not.

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is brain injury from reduced oxygen or blood flow, and outcomes range from no long-term effects to severe disability. Brachial plexus injury is a nerve injury that can happen at birth.

For care in an obstetrical unit, Texas requires proof of willful and wanton negligence in emergency care. Complaints about a doctor go to the Texas Medical Board, which cannot investigate a hospital.

Questions

Does the 60-day notice stop the clock?

Proper notice to a Houston doctor or hospital pauses the deadline for 75 days.

Can I send the medical board a complaint without my name?

No. Texas law bars anonymous complaints to the medical board.

Does every birth injury come from a mistake?

No. Risk factors do not mean a child will have cerebral palsy, and most cases relate to events before or during birth.

How long does a hospital keep a child's records?

Until the 20th birthday or 10 years, under the Texas rule for children's records.

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Sources (43)

  1. 45 CFR 164.524, checked 2026-11-09. “no later than 30 days after receipt of the request”
  2. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.051, checked 2026-11-09. “at least 60 days before the filing of a suit”
  3. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.351, checked 2026-11-09. “not later than the 120th day after the date each defendant's original answer is filed”
  4. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.251, checked 2026-11-09. “minors under the age of 12 years shall have until their 14th birthday in which to file”
  5. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.051, checked 2026-11-09. “shall toll the applicable statute of limitations to and including a period of 75 days following the giving of the notice”
  6. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.351, checked 2026-11-09. “with prejudice to the refiling of the claim”
  7. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.251, checked 2026-11-09. “all claims must be brought within 10 years or they are time barred”
  8. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 101.101, checked 2026-11-09. “not later than six months after the day that the incident giving rise to the claim occurred”
  9. CDC, checked 2026-11-09. “CP related to events before or during birth is called congenital CP and describes the majority of cases (85%–90%).”
  10. CDC, checked 2026-11-09. “having a risk factor does not mean that a child will have CP”
  11. Texas Children's, news release, Feb. 23, 2022, checked 2026-11-09. “Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women has been designated a level IV maternal care facility for the second time”
  12. Texas Children's, news release, Feb. 23, 2022, checked 2026-11-09. “The NICU at Texas Children’s Hospital is the nation’s largest and was the first in the state to be designated as a level IV NICU in spring of 2017.”
  13. Texas Children's, By the Numbers, FY23, checked 2026-11-09. “6,537 Deliveries at the Pavilion for Women”
  14. Texas Children's, news release, Feb. 23, 2022, checked 2026-11-09. “Since 2017, Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women has partnered with the hospital’s Kangaroo Crew to create the Maternal Transport Service”
  15. Memorial Hermann, Labor and Delivery, checked 2026-11-09. “Level IV Maternal Facility, which denotes the highest level of care as designated by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)”
  16. Memorial Hermann, Request Medical Records, checked 2026-11-08. “The Memorial Hermann Release of Information Department processes requests for protected health information.”
  17. Texas DSHS, Texas Trauma Facilities, checked 2026-11-08. “HARRIS HEALTH BEN TAUB HOSPITAL 4/1/2028 Q HOUSTON 77030”
  18. Harris Health, Medical Records, checked 2026-11-08. “helps us send your records within 15 business days”
  19. 45 CFR 164.524, checked 2026-11-09. “no later than 30 days after receipt of the request”
  20. Texas Health & Safety Code 241.103, checked 2026-11-09. “on or after the 10th anniversary of the date on which the patient who is the subject of the record was last treated in the hospital”
  21. Texas Health & Safety Code 241.103, checked 2026-11-09. “on or after the date of the patient's 20th birthday or on or after the 10th anniversary of the date on which the patient was last treated”
  22. Texas 14th Court of Appeals, describing Weiner v. Wasson, checked 2026-11-09. “unconstitutional as applied to a minor”
  23. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.052, checked 2026-11-09. “Notice of a health care claim under Section 74.051 must be accompanied by a medical authorization in the form specified by this section.”
  24. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.301, checked 2026-11-09. “shall be limited to an amount not to exceed $250,000 for each claimant, regardless of the number of defendant physicians”
  25. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.301, checked 2026-11-09. “shall be limited to an amount not to exceed $500,000 for each claimant”
  26. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.303, checked 2026-11-09. “the limit of civil liability for all damages, including exemplary damages, shall be limited to an amount not to exceed $500,000 for each claimant”
  27. Texas Property Code 142.001, checked 2026-11-09. “the court, on application and hearing, may provide by decree for the investment of funds accruing to the minor”
  28. Harris Health, About Us, checked 2026-11-09. “Established in 1966, Harris Health is the public healthcare safety-net provider serving the residents of Harris County, Texas.”
  29. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 101.021, checked 2026-11-09. “personal injury and death so caused by a condition or use of tangible personal or real property”
  30. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 101.023, checked 2026-11-09. “$100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each single occurrence for bodily injury or death”
  31. Legacy Community Health, About Us, checked 2026-11-09. “as an FQHC we also offer a sliding fee scale”
  32. HRSA, FTCA FAQ, checked 2026-11-09. “a claimant may not file suit before presenting an administrative claim”
  33. 28 U.S.C. 2401(b), checked 2026-11-09. “presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such claim accrues”
  34. HRSA FTCA Search Tool, checked 2026-11-09. “searches a listing of recipients of Health Center Program grant funding that have been deemed as PHS employees”
  35. NINDS, checked 2026-11-09. “In others, the damage is a result of injury to the brain before, during, or after birth.”
  36. NINDS, checked 2026-11-09. “won’t develop CP”
  37. NINDS, checked 2026-11-09. “an umbrella term for a brain injury that happens before, during, or shortly after birth when oxygen or blood flow to the brain is reduced or stopped”
  38. NINDS, checked 2026-11-09. “While some children who experience HIE at birth may not have any long-term consequences, others can experience mild to severe disabilities or even death.”
  39. NINDS, checked 2026-11-09. “Some brachial plexus injuries can happen to babies during birth.”
  40. Texas Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 74.153, checked 2026-11-09. “in an obstetrical unit”
  41. Medicare.gov, checked 2026-11-09. “Contact your State medical board.”
  42. Texas Medical Board, Complaint About Licensee, checked 2026-11-09. “TMB does not have the authority to investigate a facility, including a hospital or emergency department.”
  43. Texas Medical Board, Complaint About Licensee, checked 2026-11-09. “State law prohibits anonymous complaints.”

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