Settlement For $457,000 When Doctor Fails To Administer Antibiotics For Group B Strep And Baby Dies

A newborn with a Group B Strep infection is at serious risk. The infection can quickly advance into sepsis, pneumonia or meningitis and can lead to a severe disability or the death of the baby. Given the dangers a GBS infection poses to babies doctors generally agree that it is important to reduce the risk that the infection will be transferred to the baby from a mother who carries, or has any of the risk factors, for the bacteria.

For this reason, doctors generally agree that the administration of the appropriate antibiotics is necessary during labor when any of certain circumstances are met. The first is when the woman has a history of carrying the bacteria during a previous pregnancy. The second is when the woman tests positive from a GBS screening during weeks 35 and 37 of the pregnancy.

Doctors also agree that the antibiotics should be administered during labor when the mother shows any of the risk factors for the presence of the bacteria. One such risk factor is the rupture of the woman's membranes more than eighteen hours prior to labor. If a doctor is aware of this, or another, risk factor, does not administer antibiotics and the baby later develops a Group B Strep infection and suffers serious harm as a result, the doctor may be liable for failing to meet the standard of care.

Consider the report of a case involving a nineteen year old woman who, before reaching full term, was admitted to a hospital where her baby was born. The woman had experienced a membrane rupture more than eighteen hours before her labor. Her doctor knew this. Yet despite the fact that this put the woman at risk of a GBS infection the doctor did not administer antibiotics for GBS. After delivery, the baby was not breathing. The staff resuscitated the baby and eventually concluded that the problem had been caused by a GBS infection. The baby died 2 days later from infection related complications. The law firm that handled this matter on behalf of the baby's mother reported that the case was tried and a jury awarded the mother $457,000.

This case shows that a Group B Strep infection can be deadly in a newborn. The need for antibiotics in cases where the mother has one or more risk factors is thus generally stressed by doctors. Under such circumstances, the failure to follow through with the administration of the appropriate antibiotics during labor or, if necessary, after birth may result in liability under a medical malpractice or wrongful death claim.