$31 Million Jury Award For Nurse Missing Indications Of Fetal Distress

When a pregnant woman who has earlier given birth via a C-section gives birth to her new child by natural childbirth there is an increased chance that she will sustain a ruptured uterus while in labor. When this happens the unborn child’s much needed oxygen supply, which is normally obtained by the placenta, can be cut off. Depending on the extent and the amount of time concerned the baby might sustain a brain injury which manifests with serious cognitive and neurological difficulties. It is thus important when considering a vaginal delivery for an expectant mother with a previous C-section (known as a VBAC) to consider this risk into account.

Look at a recently published case regarding a pregnant woman who went to the hospital for a planned natural delivery of her child. She underwent a C-section in a prior pregnancy. Still, the nurse applied a drug commonly used to induce labor. The use of this drug , however, should be properly supervised because it can lead to overstimulation of the uterus and become a major complication especially at greater dosages. The nurse failed to tell the doctor that the pregnant woman's contractions became irregular Instead, as the contractions escalated to clearly unsafe levels, the nurse kept applying greater quantities of the drug.

The expectant mother suffered a uterine rupture. The unborn child was in fetal distress. The child was deprived of oxygen for eighteen to twenty minutes as a result of which he suffered a brain injury. He has severe cerebral palsy. He cannot walk or talk. He is unable to hold anything in his hands. He is unable to eat without the use of a feeding tube. He can, though, identify members of his family and is alert. However he will require full-time life assistance. The law firm that represented the child and his parents announced that at trial the jury delivered an award of $31,000,000 with included $26,000,000 to pay for the cost of the child’s future medical care.

As this lawsuit demonstrates nurses and hospital staff have a duty to figure out if complications arise during a pregnancy, need to know and understand the effects and side effects of the medications they administer, and let the doctor in charge know of any symptoms that indicate there is a difficulty happening. Whether caused by a lack of training, inexperience, overwork, or communication breakdowns, a failure in any (or as in this case all) of these areas can result in devastating injuries to the baby. When this takes place the family might be able to bring a case for malpractice. As this lawsuit furthermore illustrates - such claims, due to the type and degree of the injury to the child, can lead to a considerable recovery.

You can learn more about fetal distress and other types of birth injuries including group b streptococcus matters by visiting the website