Childbirth is an exciting but simultaneously stressful time. You may be eager to welcome your new baby into the world, but at the same time, you may be worried about the physical process involved. You rely on the medical experts around you to do everything that’s necessary to keep you and your baby safe.
Unfortunately, doctors can make mistakes too – and the results can be disastrous.
Preventable brain trauma
We represent a young child who suffered devastating brain injuries as a result of a delay in performing a cesarean section delivery. Evidence included admissions from attending obstetricians that the standard of care was breached and that they failed to do a cesarean section for many hours, notwithstanding a “failure to progress.”
When a woman fails to make good progress during labor, it is often necessary to do a cesarean section before preventable harm can befall the baby. In this case, not only did the essential staff negligently fail to do a cesarean section for failure to progress, they failed to do a cesarean section when the fetal monitor suggested severe fetal distress.
Instead, the doctor attempted to do a vacuum delivery for fetal distress. When she was unable to deliver the baby in this way, she inexplicably subjected the baby to over two additional hours of labor, with inadequate blood and oxygen supply (ischemia and hypoxia) to the baby.
The chief of neonatology at the defendant’s hospital admitted that the baby’s injuries were preventable, had a cesarean section been done in a timely fashion. Notwithstanding these admissions, the lawyers defending the hospital continue to maintain a sham defense.
The poor choices made by the hospital’s staff are indefensible – as they led to the tragic destruction of human life. The hospital staff need to be held accountable for their actions. For the family of this child, seeking justice represents one important step towards healing.
