Complications can arise in a pregnancy during labor and delivery that place the health of the unborn baby at risk and require immediate action. Yet, it is not uncommon to see cases in which a physician has not reacted to increasingly ominous signs that the baby's health is in danger.
Consider a recently reported case involving a 19 year old pregnant woman who was admitted to a hospital for labor and delivery. She presented with very frequent contractions and an irritable uterus. Irritable uterus is a condition wherein the uterus contracts too frequently due to irritation. Possible causes can include an infection and a placental abruption. Either of these could require an emergency C-section. The frequent contractions can also be the result of a placental abruption.
Even though the woman exhibited signs of a possible serious complication requiring immediate action, the physician attempted to medically accelerate her labor. The drugs the physician administered for this can significantly increase uterine irritability and can give rise to even more frequent contractions. The administration of these drugs needs to be carefully monitored for signs that the unborn baby is starting to be in fetal distress.
In this case, the fetal heart rate monitor tracings began to show deterioration - a sign of fetal distress. Yet, even at this point the doctor instructed her to push for at least 45 minutes instead of performing a C-section. By the time the baby was finally delivered he was not breathing. The physician attempted to use a drug as a resuscitation method but the baby was still not breathing on his own at two minutes. Apgar scores were 2, 6 and 7. Within 10 hours of birth the baby began to experience seizures. At age 9 the child has cerebral palsy. The law firm that handled this case reported that a settlement was reached in the amount of $2.9 Million.
This case illustrates that physicians can sometimes fail to recognize or take appropriate action even when presented with a series of increasingly worrisome evidence of an unborn baby in fetal distress. Since fetal distress is generally associated with a loss of much needed oxygen to the baby it can lead to hypoxia. Cerebral palsy often results. In such cases, the baby and the baby's parents may have a claim of medical malpractice against the physician.
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