subject: Mother Pursued Case Against Doctor For Not Following Up While Mother Experiences Pregnancy Complication [print this page] Mother Pursued Case Against Doctor For Not Following Up While Mother Experiences Pregnancy Complication
Most women decide on their obstetrician carefully. And then as their pregnancy progresses they come to develop a bond with the doctor and to trust him or her. They normally think their obstetrician, who has been following the pregnancy throughout, is intimately aware of their situation.
If a doctor commits to go to the hospital to check in on their patient the majority of people would hold that doctor accountable for showing up. Most people would also assume that, if the patient develops a complication, the staff at the hospital will act appropriately and not just continue to wait for the doctor to show up losing precious time during which no treatment is given to the patient. Remarkably, this is not always what happens.
Look at the documented matter involving a pregnant woman who was in a similar a situation. She was rushed to a nearby hospital after she fell. The hospital staff did an ultrasound to determine if the unborn child had been injured when the woman fell. The staff at the hospital read the ultrasound as normal and concluded the baby was not hurt. The mother, still concerned, requested more fetal monitoring. Given that this hospital did not have the right equipment the staff had her transported to a different hospital - one which had the right equipment for the requested tests. Her obstetrician was contacted and said that he would meet her at the second hospital.
After being moved to the second hospital she was connected to monitoring equipment. Her obstetrician had not arrived. The monitor showed that the baby was in fetal distress and that the baby's health was deteriorating. After waiting for two hours and the baby's heart rate had dropped to dangerously low levels the labor and delivery nurse ultimately notified another obstetrician of the situation.
At this point this obstetrician performed an emergency C-section. During surgery the obstetrician found that the woman had experienced a placental abruption which in turn had led to a lack of adequate amounts of oxygen supply to the unborn baby. The child was not breathing when born and all attempts at resuscitating the baby failed.
The law firm that assisted the family learned that the mother's obstetrician, after saying he would meet the woman at the second hospital, had instead gone home and just did not make the effort to inform anyone at the hospital about that choice. And the labor and delivery nurse, the only one who had information that the baby was in fetal distress, kept waiting for the obstetrician. The nurse did not contact the obstetrician herself to report the fetal distress and failed to bring it to the attention of the in-house obstetrician until the situation became dire. With this, the law firm was able to report that they achieved a settlement for $750,000 for the parents.
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