subject: Extreme Birth Injury Results In Death Of Infant And $1,000,000 Lawsuit By Parents [print this page] It is estimated that twenty-seven in every a thousand newborns suffer a birth injury. There are many problems that can take place during pregnancy and in the course of labor and delivery. A number of of these problems can threaten the health and even the life of the unborn child and the mother. One such problem is a placental abruption. A placental abruption is a condition in which the placenta which encases the unborn baby separates from the mothers uterus prematurely. When this occurs the blood vessels in the area are torn apart. The resulting loss of blood triggers a drop in the oxygen supply getting the unborn child. Going without the necessary levels of oxygen for an lengthy length of time may bring about brain damage and may possibly lead to the stillbirth of the baby.
Despite the fact that a large number of birth injuries are unavoidable, a number of them are the result of medical malpractice. Look at a documented case that concerned a placental abruption which led to brain damage to the baby. A lawsuit followed alleging medical malpractice and the parties reached a settlement.
The case arose when a 19 year old woman pregnant with her first baby arrived at the hospital in early stages of labor. The expectant mother indicated she was having persistent abdominal pain. She was examined by an obstetrics nurse who documented a hard abdomen and constant uterine contractions. Not long after she started having heavy vaginal bleeding. The nurse failed to notify a doctor of any of her observations and instead showed the woman where the linen closet was and instructed her to get towels from the closet to soak up the blood on her own.
The expectant mother then started having excruciating pain after being at the hospital four to five hours. The nurse still did not notify a doctor. Rather the nurse gave the woman pain medication. About five minutes later, the fetal heart rate went flat. The nurse interpreted this as a reaction to the pain medication. She failed to even attempt to rule out a lack of oxygen to the baby as the reason. It took her another fifty minutes after the monitor went flat to finally call a physician.
When a doctor arrived, meconium was found and progressive deep decelerations of the babys heart rate were noted. 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 performed the C-section using only local anesthesia. The physician saw that placental abruption had occurred. The child exhibited signs of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (damage to the central nervous system from a lack of oxygen) which testing later affirmed. The baby was subsequently diagnosed with developmental and mental retardation. Because of his injuries the baby requires occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy, and will forever need life care. The child is expected to live into his 40s. The law firm that represented the family reported that it was able to obtain a settlement in the matter for $1,100,000, with $60,000 to the parents and the rest to the child.
In this matter the nurse was responsible for monitoring the pregnant womans progress without a doctors supervision. Common signs of a placental abruption in a late-term pregnancy are severe abdominal or lower back pain and persistent vaginal bleeding. The nurse missed or ignored both. In addition the nurse missed the significance of the tracings from the fetal heart rate monitor going flat. The first physician did nothing after noting the presence of meconium and the progressive deep decelerations of the babys heart rate - two indications that the unborn child 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 failure to respond to indications of complications formed the basis of the parents claim of malpractice. The result: a settlement for $1.1 million.
by: Joseph Hernandez
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