Delivery Room Errors
The delivery room is a place where one of life’s most cherished events takes place, but sometimes, the birth process doesn’t go according to plan. When delivery room errors are the direct result of birth asphyxia, delayed or prolonged labor, improper fetal monitoring, inattention or neglect, a child could require a lifetime of medical care.
If your baby experienced devastating birth injuries due to delivery room error, Stern Law, PLLC can provide you with the tools necessary to become empowered with knowledge to help you take back control and fight for your child’s rights. Please call (800) 462-5772 to discuss your case with an experienced attorney.
What happens in the delivery room?
When you are in the delivery room, things are happening at a rapid pace. If there is a problem with your baby, the fetal monitor may show signs of distress. A medical professional needs to be there to assess the nature of the problem and take immediate action.
At this stage of your baby’s life, the smallest delay could lead to serious and sometimes permanent harm. As a mother, you know if the medical personnel around you were paying attention. You also know how you felt – likely confused, afraid and powerless.
Frequently, mothers will sense there was a problem even before the equipment picks up on their baby’s distress. In this instance, you may have said to yourself, “Did the doctors and nurses pay attention to the monitor and other equipment, or were they distracted?”
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What Is Electronic Fetal Monitoring? from The CP Lawyer | Stern Law, PLLC on Vimeo.
The delivery room is critical because things can go so wrong so fast. Failing to realize that a baby is in distress can lead to a crucial delay in treatment or other potentially harmful actions. Waiting to react to an prolonged delivery can result in traumatic brain injury to the fetus. Delaying the administration of necessary intravenous drugs can lead to the transmission of harmful diseases or bacteria.
A delivery room needs to be a place where everyone is focused on the goal of delivering a healthy and injury-free baby. Loss of that focus can bring about a devastating reality that could have been avoided with reasonable care.
Numerous medical problems can occur in a delivery room which can lead to serious harm to a baby include the following:
- Delayed cesarean section – A serious problem that may have occurred is a failure of the medical professionals to react to an emergency situation that required a cesarean section (c-section) rather than a vaginal birth. If there were indications of fetal distress or signs that the baby was too big to be delivered in a natural birth, the doctor should have intervened and scheduled a cesarean section as soon as the symptoms occurred. A failure to do so may constitute medical malpractice;
- Prolonged labor – Another situation that should result in immediate action by the doulas, midwives, nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel is a prolonged delivery. This could be the result of a number of conditions, including macrosomia and cephalopelvic disproportion. The trauma associated with these complications could lead to nerve damage or other injuries. Another situation that may lead to a prolonged delivery is shoulder dystocia, where the shoulder of the infant becomes lodged underneath the pubic bone of the mother during delivery. Regardless of the situation, medical practitioners should be able to recognize the risk factors and take preventive actions to avoid harm to the mother and child;
- Preeclampsia and Eclampsia – Preeclampsia is a condition that develops in the later stages of pregnancy, or even at delivery. It presents through high blood pressure and protein in the urine of the mother. There is no cure for preeclampsia other than delivering the baby, and often times this condition requires an early delivery. Discovering the condition as soon as possible may enable obstetric specialists to monitor the mother and administer drugs to accelerate the development of the baby if the condition is mild enough. If the condition is not recognized, it can lead to eclampsia, which causes seizures in the mother and serious complications in an unborn or newborn child.
Stern Law, PLLC is available 24 hours a day, seven (7) days a week to answer questions about your case and the health and well-being of your child. For a free consultation please call (800) 462-5772 today.
