The Fresno Bee reports that the family of a newborn has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, alleging that the hospital's doctor and care team caused injuries to the baby during a July 2021 induced delivery. According to the complaint, filed last month and reported by the paper on August 27, 2026, the mother was 40 weeks and two days pregnant when she experienced roughly 90 minutes of continual contractions that allegedly cut off the fetus's oxygen supply before staff intervened. The suit says doctors ultimately performed a vacuum-assisted delivery rather than an emergency cesarean section, even though delivery notes indicated the baby was still high in the birth canal, and that the baby was born with the umbilical cord wrapped twice around its neck. The child, now about two and a half years old, is the sole plaintiff; according to the family's legal representatives, the mother's own claims were not included because of timing issues. The lawsuit requests a jury trial along with damages for medical needs and life care.
Medically, the case centers on how quickly a care team responds when a fetal heart rate shows signs of oxygen deprivation during labor, a complication clinicians call fetal distress. When contractions come too close together, blood flow to the placenta can be reduced, and care teams are trained to watch fetal heart monitors closely and intervene — sometimes with medication to slow contractions, sometimes with an emergency cesarean — if the pattern does not improve. A vacuum-assisted delivery can speed up a birth, but using one before a baby has descended far enough in the birth canal carries an added risk of injury, including bleeding on the surface of the brain. Separately, heavy bleeding after childbirth, known as postpartum hemorrhage, is a leading cause of maternal complications, and identifying its source — lacerations, retained tissue or the uterus itself — is generally a critical step before turning to more invasive treatment such as a hysterectomy. These are general descriptions of how such injuries are understood in obstetric care, not a diagnosis of this specific case.
The lawsuit is now pending, and a spokesperson for Saint Agnes Medical Center has said the hospital is aware of the case and reviewing the allegations, though no court has ruled on the claims. Medical malpractice cases in California typically move through months of discovery, expert review and pretrial motions before a trial date is set, and many are resolved before ever reaching a jury. Families who believe a delivery did not go as it should have can request their own labor and delivery records, and California law gives them a specific window to act — one that, for injuries to a young child, can extend well beyond the deadline that applies to adults. Cases like this one are a reminder that fetal monitoring strips and delivery notes often become central to establishing what happened during labor.
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What Fresno Bee reported
Fresno Bee
Fresno hospital sued after newborn, mother injured during delivery
Read the article →Second source: Yahoo News (Fresno Bee)
What the law says
Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.5
Cal. Civ. Code § 3333.2 (MICRA)
Key facts
- Filed last month (reported August 27, 2026)
- Fresno County Superior Court
- Alleges hospital staff mishandled fetal distress during a 2021 delivery, leading to a brain bleed in the baby and an unnecessary hysterectomy for the mother
- Pending; hospital says it is aware of the case and reviewing the allegations
- Case seeks a jury trial; expect discovery and pretrial motions in the months ahead
If this happened to your family
Every case is different, and nothing on this page is a judgment about the family in this story. If your baby was hurt during labor or delivery in California, a free review of the delivery records tells you whether the law gives you a case — and the deadlines in California are shorter than most parents expect.
California gives a child’s birth-injury case its own deadline. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 340.5, a minor must sue within three years of the wrongful act, but a child who was under six when it happened has until his or her eighth birthday if that is longer. For a baby hurt during labor or delivery, that usually means the eighth birthday. The clock runs from the act itself, not from the day the family learned what went wrong, and it is paused only in narrow cases of fraud or collusion. Parents’ own claims, and claims against a public hospital, can have much shorter deadlines, so it is safer to get advice early.
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Related pages
Cerebral Palsy · Erb’s Palsy / Brachial Plexus Injury · HIE / Oxygen Deprivation at Birth · Statute of Limitations · All birth-injury news
Editorial note: Beverly Law publishes birth-injury legal news as a public service, based on court records, official releases and established news outlets. No family, child or patient is named. To request a correction, write to intakeassistant5@beverlylaw.org.
Important: This page is general information about birth injuries and California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Beverly Law. Every case is different — talk to a lawyer about your own situation. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. No fee unless we win. Last reviewed: 2026-09-18.