Claim Alleging Delay In Reaction To Placental Abruption Caused Stillbirth Of Baby Settles For $1.1 Million
Statistically, 27 out of every 1000 babies suffer a birth injury. There are many complications that can arise during the pregnancy as well as during labor and delivery. Some of these complications can threaten the health and even the life of the baby and the mother. One such complication is a placental abruption. A placental abruption is a condition in which the placenta which holds the unborn baby detaches from the mother’s uterus. When this happens the blood vessels in the area are torn apart. The resulting loss of blood causes a drop in the oxygen supply reaching the unborn baby. A lack of necessary levels of oxygen for an extended period of time can cause brain damage and can even result in a stillbirth
While many birth injuries are unavoidable, a number of them are the result of medical malpractice. In one reported case after was a delay in diagnosing a placental abruption and 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.
A young nineteen year old expectant mother in the early stages of labor was admitted to the hospital. The expectant mother complained of continuous abdominal pain. After her admission the obstetrics nurse observed that she had a hard abdomen and constant uterine contractions. Soon after, the mother began to have vaginal bleeding, which was so severe that it required constant changing of towels underneath her. Instead of immediately advising a doctor, the nurse showed the mother where the linen closet was in her room so that she could replace the towels herself.
The expectant mother then began having extreme pain after being at the hospital four to five hours. The nurse still did not notify a doctor. Rather the nurse administered pain medication.Five minutes later, the baby’s fetal heart monitor was flat. The nurse, however, viewed this as simply a reaction to the pain medication.She did not try to wake the baby in order to rule out hypoxia and still did not contact a doctor until fifty minutes after the fetal monitor went flat.
Once a doctor was notified the doctor noted meconium and observed that the baby’s heart rate showed progressive deep decelerations. The attending obstetrician then also arrived 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. Testing later confirmed that the baby had suffered from a lack of oxygen resulting in neurological damage.
The child was later diagnosed with developmental and mental retardation. Given his injuries the child needs occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy, and will permanently need life care. The child is expected to live into his 40’s. The law firm that handled the case on behalf of the parents and the child was able to report that they achieved a settlement of ,100,000, of which ,000 was for the parents, and the remainder was for the child. Part of the settlement was structured so that the child would have a steady income stream into the future.
Analysis:
In this case the nurse was left to monitor the pregnant woman’s condition without a doctor’s supervision. Common signs of a placental abruption in a late-term pregnancy are severe abdominal or lower back pain and persistent vaginal bleeding. The expectant mother exhibited both but the nurse took no action. In addition the nurse 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 – two signs that the unborn baby was in severe fetal distress. It was not until the arrival of the attending obstetrician that an emergency C-section was performed. By the time the baby was born brain damage had already occurred. The lack of responsiveness to signs of complications formed the basis of the parent’s claim of malpractice. The result: a settlement for $1.1 million.
