Kern County Jury Awards $9.25M in Mother and Newborn Deaths Case

According to The Bakersfield Californian and 23ABC News, a Kern County Superior Court jury returned a verdict on October 21, 2026 in a wrongful death case over the 2019 deaths of a pregnant woman and her baby. Jurors found a former Bakersfield OB-GYN negligent and found that the negligence was a substantial factor in both deaths. The total award was reported at $9.25 million for two families. The doctor represented himself at trial and said he cannot pay the judgment. The outlets report that California damages caps may sharply limit what the families can actually collect.

The news reports say the mother was in her eighth month of pregnancy and was discharged from Mercy Southwest Hospital with high blood pressure and blurred vision, then died days later of preeclampsia. The baby died after an emergency C-section. The family's side argued that warning signs of severe preeclampsia were missed and that she should have stayed in the hospital and received IV magnesium; the doctor disputed this. In general, preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure that can lead to seizures, stroke or organ damage, which is why close monitoring and timely treatment matter. This is general information and not a diagnosis of anyone's care.

The reports do not mention an appeal or other next steps, and the doctor said he has no job or means to pay. The case shows that a large verdict and the amount a family can recover are not the same thing, partly because of California's caps on medical malpractice damages. California also sets strict filing deadlines, and claims against public hospitals can require a notice within six months. Families who have concerns about care around a birth can request their medical records and ask about their options; Beverly Law works on a contingency basis, so there is no fee unless we win.

What 23ABC News Bakersfield reported

What the law says

Key facts

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.

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.