Parents Sue Obstetrician And Nurse When Their Child After Suffering From Fetal Distress For 2 Hours

Since fetal distress is a serious problem in pregnancy that many times involves a diminished oxygen supply to the unborn child. Fetal distress commonly occurs after the unborn baby's oxygen supply is somehow restricted. Fetal distress is noted by monitoring the unborn child's heart rate. Under specific situations, including when the heart rate falls under a certain level, fast action like an emergency C-section is needed. Below we examine a published medical malpractice claim where the delay lasted approximately two hours.

A physician is advised that his patient, a pregnant woman, had been taken to a close by hospital after she had fallen. An ultrasound was completed and revealed no injury to the baby. The expectant mother was still worried that something was not right and requested additional monitoring. Since the hospital did not have a fetal heart rate monitor she was going to be transported to a second hospital. Her doctor was informed that she was being transported and the physician agreed to go to the second hospital.

Upon her arrival at the second hospital a fetal heart rate monitor was attached to the woman. The nurse at this hospital read the results as non-reassuring and showing that the unborn baby was in fetal distress. The second hospital and the nurse had been apprised that the woman's obstetrician was on his way to that hospital to look after the patient and her unborn baby. While evidently having known that the baby was in fetal distress, the nurse nevertheless concluded that she needed to wait for the physician to come rather than take any measures on her own or even calling in an on-call obstetrician.

In the next two hours the nurse continued postponing notifying another physician that the unborn child was in fetal distress. She kept waiting until the monitor showed that the baby's heart rate had precipitously dropped to dangerously low levels. At that point the nurse advised another doctor at the hospital of the situation. This physician conducted an emergency C-section right away but discovered that the explanation for the fetal distress was that the pregnant woman had suffered a placental abruption which had restricted the baby's oxygen supply.The patient's physician went home rather than going to the hospital as he had said he would - effectively abandoning the woman and her baby and making him a defendant in the medical malpractice case. As fetal distress requires urgent measures the nurse became the other defendant in the malpractice case by the mother and father because of her decision to wait for the woman's doctor to arrive instead of calling the in-house obstetrician for two hours.

At birth the infant was non-responsive. Even though the medical staff attempted resuscitation measures they could not revive the baby. Here the law firm that represented the family reported that the matter settled for $750,000. This matter shows both (1) a doctor's duty to follow up on the care of his patient when he agrees to do so and (2) a nurse's duty to make certain that a physician is informed without delay when signs of fetal distress are detected.