subject: $4,000,000 Case For Infant With Cerebral Palsy Due To Mistake By Doctors And Nurses [print this page] The fetal heart rate monitor provides physicians and nurses with important data regarding the well being of the unborn child while the mother is in labor. The information from the monitor is used to check on whether the baby is well or is in fetal distress. Should such signs arise measures need to be taken immediately to counteract the situation or to deliver the child. Waiting can lead to serious and lifelong injury to the child. By not acting right away physicians and nurses might be acting in a way that does not satisfy the standard of care. In the event this does end in injury to the infant, these physicians and nurses may be liable for medical malpractice.
Consider a reported claim regarding what had been an uneventful pregnancy, the pregnant woman was 13 days beyond her due date. She went to the hospital for the planned delivery of her baby. After her admission , one of the physicians ruptured her membranes in an effort to enhance her labor. Her records show that there was "scant to no amniotic fluid" observed. While she was being followed the fetal heart rate monitor started to exhibit non-reassuring tracings. Nevertheless, 6 hours after that a drug was used so as to promote her contractions. Even though this drug is known to have the potential of producing hyperstimulation, progressively higher levels of the medication were given over the course of the following several hours.
During this time, the unborn child's heart rate revealed marked late decelerations, an increasing baseline, as well as intervals of decreasing variability the drug did nothing to further her labor. On more than one occasion, two nurses attempted to counteract the decelerations however neither did anything about the continued use of the drug. Nearly seven hours following the first time the medication was given, the fetal heart rate started steadily rising, a sign that the unborn child was trying to compensate for a decrease in the supply of oxygen.
Finally, almost four hours following the first signs of fetal distress this physician decided to try a vacuum extraction. This doctor made 9 attempts at vacuum extraction. As this doctor attempted the vacuum extraction, the fetal heart rate readings deteriorated to a level suggesting terminal bradycardia. At this point the obstetrician finally ordered an emergency C-section. This doctor delivered the infant just over 1 hour following beginning attempts at vacuum extraction.
The woman's chart documented the presence of thick meconium. On being born, the child did not have a heart rate and was not breathing. Resuscitation efforts were able to revive the baby. The child was taken to NICU unit where the baby began having seizures. The infant was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a result of an prolonged period of oxygen deprivation. The law firm that handled the resulting case announced that it settled for $4.0 million.
