$1.1 Million Lawsuit Follows Mistakes By Resident And Nurses Leading To Death Of Baby

It is estimated that 27 in every a thousand newborns suffer a birth injury. There are many issues that might arise during pregnancy and during labor and delivery. Some of these issues may threaten the health and even the life of the baby and the mother. One particular problem is a placental abruption. A placental abruption is a condition in which the placenta which holds the unborn child separates from the mother’s uterus prematurely. In the event that this happens the blood vessels in the area rupture. The ensuing loss of blood triggers a decrease in the oxygen supply reaching the unborn child. Going without the required levels of oxygen for an lengthy period of time may bring about brain damage and can actually cause a stillbirth.

Simply because something goes wrong while a baby is being delivered and the child endures a birth injury does not inevitably imply that a doctor or nurse made an error that led to the injury. Medical malpractice is centered on those cases in which the doctor’s or nurse’s treatment failed to satisfy the medical standard of care and caused the injury. In one reported case after was a delay in diagnosing a placental abruption the baby was born with drain damage, a known risk of a placental abruption. A lawsuit followed alleging medical malpractice and the parties reached a settlement.

The lawsuit was based on the events that happened when a young nineteen year old woman pregnant with her first baby in the early stages of labor was admitted to the hospital. The expectant mother indicated she was having persistent abdominal pain. After examining her the obstetrical nurse noted constant uterine contractions and a hard abdomen. A short time later, she starting having vaginal bleeding. The bleeding was severe, requiring continuous changing of towels to soak up the blood. Instead of immediately notifying a doctor, the nurse showed the mother where the linen closet was in her room so that she could replace the towels herself.

Within four to five hours, the expectant mother eported experiencing severe pain and the nurse gave her a pain masking medication but did not tell a physician. Within 5 minutes, the fetal heart rate monitor indicated that the baby’s heart rate went flat. The nurse, however, saw this as simply a reaction to the pain medication. The nurse did not even try to exclude a lack of oxygen to the baby as the reason. It took her an additional fifty minutes after the monitor went flat to finally call a physician.

The doctor came, found the presence of meconium, and then noticed that the heart rate monitor showed progressive deep decelerations. The attending obstetrician then also showed up and decided to perform an emergency C-section. No anesthesiologist was available at the time and so the doctor did the C-section using only local anesthesia. The obstetrician found that the young pregnant woman had experienced a placental abruption. The child showed signs of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (damage caused to the central nervous system because of a lack of oxygen) which testing later affirmed. Testing later revealed that the child had developmental and mental retardation. Given his injuries the baby requires occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy, and will permanently require life care. He has a life expectancy into the 40’s. The law firm that represented the family reported that they were able to reach a settlement in the amount of $1.1 million. Of that amount, $60,000 was for the parents. The remainder, part of which was paid as a cash payment and the rest as a structured settlement, was for the child.

Analysis:

In this case the nurse was left to monitor the expectant mother’s condition without a physician to supervise her. Known signs of a placental abruption in a late-term pregnancy are extreme abdominal or lower back pain and persistent vaginal bleeding. The expectant mother exhibited both but the nurse took no action. The nurse also failed to take immediate action when the tracings from the fetal heart rate monitor going flat. The first doctor did nothing after observing the presence of meconium and the progressive deep decelerations of the baby’s heart rate - both signs that the unborn baby was in extreme fetal distress. The C-section was not done until the attending doctor showed up. By then the damage had been done. The lack of responsiveness to indications of the problem that arose during the woman's labor formed the basis of the parent’s claim of malpractice. The outcome: a settlement in the amount of $1,100,000.

You can learn more about placental abruption and other types of birth injuries including fetal distress matters by visiting the websites