A placental abruption is a dangerous condition that takes place when the placental lining separates from the mother’s uterus. A doctor should recognize that placental abruption may have occurred when a mother is in severe constant pain and is suffering from abnormal bleeding and]the heart rate of the unborn child has dropped. If it is not recognized immediately and a emergency C-section is not preformed, both the child and mother run the risk of suffering severe injuries or face death.
In this lawsuit, the mother arrived at the hospital in labor. soon after she was admitted to the hospital, her unborn child’s heart rate suddenly dropped from 150 to 90. At this point the unborn child was in fetal distress . The nurse on duty attempted to raise the heart rate, but after being unsuccessful she called the mother’s physician. The doctor arrived at the hospital about thirty minutes after the mother was admitted. After he examined the mother he determined that she would need to have any emergency C-Section, but he did not have the credentials to perform cesarean births he contacted an obstetrician, who arrived at the hospital about forty minutes after the mother was admitted.
Upon the obstetrician’s arrival he conducted an examination on the mother and diagnosed her with a partial placental abruption and requested a surgical team. The surgical team arrived shortly thereafter and the C-section took place roughly an hour after the mother got to the hospital. However, the C-section did not happen soon enough. Because of the mother’s physician’s delay the child suffered severe brain damage placing her in a permanent vegetative state. The mother also suffered complications from labor
Soon after this incident, the family filed a malpractice lawsuit against the mother’s doctor, arguing that if he had called the surgical team soon after being contacted by the nurse, the child and mother’s injuries would not have been realized. If this had occurred the C-section would have taken place roughly a half hour after the mother arrived at the hospital, instead of the hour that it actually took. moreover, despite the physician’s denial, the mother stated that after the delivery the physician acknowledged that he should have paged the surgical team earlier.
At trial, the attorney for the the family were successful. The attorney showed that the child had a life expectancy of approximately twenty years and due to her permanent vegetative state she required constant care. after the attorney’s presentation of this evidence and showing that the physician did not provide the standard of care that every pregnant mother is entitled to, the jury sent a clear message to doctors. Failure to take immediate action when the health of an child is at risk which then leads to severe injuries, will result in a substantial jury award, which in this case was $7 million. Of this $3.2 million was to go to the child, $2.3 million to her mother and the remaining $1.5 million to her father.
The jury in this matter sent a clear message: if a physician fails to take immediate action when there is evidence that the health of the child is in danger and the delay results in permanent and severe harm to the child, that doctor will be held liable. Attorneys who represent families in birth injury cases first have the case carefully reviewed by medical experts and, if the case passes the expert review, prepare the case thoroughly for trial.
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