Lawsuit Claiming Physician Failed To Act When Baby In Fetal Distress Settles For $2,900,000

Fetal distress is a situation in which something goes wrong with a pregnancy and the unborn baby's fetal environment threatens the health of the baby. Such complications require that the medical staff, including the physicians and nurses treating the pregnant woman, recognize (1) that a complication has occurred, (2) that the health of the baby is at risk, and (3) that appropriate action needs to be taken immediately. Unfortunately, doctors sometimes fail to recognize the presence of the complication, fail to realize its urgency, or fail to take timely action. Any of these can and sometimes do lead to tragic consequences for the baby.

Consider a recently reported case involving a nineteen year old expectant mother who was admitted to a hospital for labor and the delivery of her unborn baby. On admission the nineteen year old woman was found to have very frequent contractions and an irritable uterus. There are a number of conditions that can result in an irritable uterus and very frequent contractions, including an infection and a placental abruption. Under either of these circumstances it is possible that the only way to protect the baby from serious resulting harm is by performing an emergency C-section.

The physician instead made the choice to administer drugs in order to accelerate the woman's labor. The drugs the physician administered for this are known to sometimes significantly increase uterine irritability and can cause even more frequent contractions. In this case, however, the woman had already presented with an irritable uterus and frequent contractions.

Further, the fetal heart rate monitor tracings started showing deterioration - a sign of fetal distress. The physician ignored this indication of a serious problem and instead had the woman push. He had her do this for a minimum of forty-five minutes prior to going forward with a C-section. The newborn baby was not breathing at two minutes. The initial Apgar score was 2. The baby then started having seizures ten hours after birth. The child was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The law firm that represented the family was able to report that they obtained a $2,900,000 settlement.

Fetal distress (especially those that indicate a dramatically low fetal heart rate are often due to oxygen deprivation). When the unborn baby goes for an extended amount of time under oxygen deprivation, a condition called hypoxia, the baby can suffer brain damage often leading to cerebral palsy. Physicians thus generally recommend that when an unborn baby is in fetal distress which cannot be rectified, an emergency C-section is the appropriate course of action.

While cases often settle without any admission of wrongdoing by the defendants. It is not surprising, however, that this case settled for such a significant amount. This case shows that physicians who do not take timely and appropriate action in the presence of complications to a pregnancy, particularly when there are signs of fetal distress, may face a meritorious medical malpractice claim.