Medical malpractice lawyers are exploring the ramifications of a Court of Appeals decision last week that found sharply higher burdens for plaintiffs who claim their babies were injured by emergency medical mistakes during childbirth.

The ruling held that, to prevail in their suit against an OB-GYN practice, the parents of a child born with shoulder and nerve damage must prove the midwife delivering the baby acted with gross negligence, which the court defined as “the absence of even slight diligence.” Judge Verda Colvin wrote the decision on behalf of a three-judge panel.