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subject: Example Of Settlement In Case Concerning Delay In Childbirth After Placental Abruption [print this page]


Example Of Settlement In Case Concerning Delay In Childbirth After Placental Abruption

Every day expectant mothers put themselves and their unborn baby in the hands of a doctor to see them through childbirth. It can often take quite a bit of time after the patient is admitted to the hospital until the newborn is delivered. During somepart of this time doctors at times rely on the nurses and staff to monitor the womans situation and to let them know about of any problems that may arise.

The doctor is stil responsible for supervising the nurses and staff. Also, the nurses and staff are accountable for having the knowledge, training and experience to recognize symptoms of issues and for telling the physician if they do come up. Regrettably, nurses and staff in some cases do not satisfy these demands.

Look at the published lawsuit alleging that a pregnant woman at full term began experiencing contractions while at home and when going to the local hospital she commenced having unrelenting major pain. Upon reaching the hospital she complained to the nurse that she was having intense pain and that she thought there was a problem. However the nurse either failed to register or disregarded her complaints and did not contact the physician, who had not arrived at the hospital, to inform him.

Instead the nurse acted like this was a typical pregnancy. Precious time went by before she even commenced monitoring the fetal heart rate. Once she finally did realize that the unborn child was in fetal distress. At this time the nurse did inform the obstetrician, who even now had not come to the hospital, by telephone. Another obstetrician on the unit took charge and carried out an emergency C-section. The intense pain was due to a placental abruption which led the unborn baby to experience a lack of oxygen producing significant brain injury. The infant is disabled for life and requires full time care. The law firm that handled this lawsuit reported that the case settled for from the hospital for the nursing staffs failure to recognize that the pregnant woman had suffered a placental abruption.

In this claim the patient basically alerted the nurse of her impression that something had gone wrong with the pregnancy. At this stage in the pregnancy major persistent abdominal pain can be the result of a placental abruption.

It is not clear why the nurse did not connect these. Regardless if she dismissed the patients complaints, failed to hear them, did not have the right knowledge, training or experience to properly understand the situation, or discounted the woman's complaints because a placental abruption is often (though not always) accompanied by visible vaginal bleeding, she overlooked indications of a serious problem.

The result, however, was a severe injury to the unborn child producing a permanent disability. Due to the injury from the nurses error the law firm that represented the family documented a settlement intented to be enough so that the child has suitable care for life.

by: Joseph Hernandez




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