Most women choose their obstetrician carefully. And then over the course of their pregnancy they come to develop a bond with their obstetrician and to trust him or her. They often believe their obstetrician, who has been following the pregnancy throughout, knows their situation better than any other doctor could.
Now imagine how a woman might feel near full-term, finding herself facing a possible serious complication, being told that her obstetrician is on the way to meet her and handle the situation. Imagine the different emotions that must go through such a woman's mind - she wants to wait for her obstetrician as she trusts him or her and yet she grows increasingly concerned about the health of her unborn baby as the seconds, the minutes, and then even the hours pass without any sign of her obstetrician. But she would also likely trust that the nurses and staff around her would take action if there were any real danger to her baby.
Consider the reported case of a pregnant woman who found herself in just such a situation. She was rushed to a nearby hospital after she fell. The hospital staff performed an ultrasound to check for any harm to the baby that may have been caused by the mother's fall. The ultrasound was interpreted as negative for any injuries. The mother, still concerned, requested further fetal monitoring. As this hospital was not properly equipped she was transferred to another hospital where the monitoring was to be performed. Her obstetrician had been contacted and indicated that he would meet her at the second hospital.
After being transported to the second hospital she was connected to monitoring equipment. Her obstetrician had not arrived. The readings from the fetal heart monitor suggested that her unborn baby was in fetal distress and that the situation was getting worse. After waiting for two hours and the baby's heart rate had dropped to dangerously low levels the labor and delivery nurse finally alerted another obstetrician of the situation.
This obstetrician performed an emergency C-section. This obstetrician found that the fetal distress had been caused by a placental abruption which had cut off the oxygen supply to the baby. The baby was asphyxiated at birth. Apgar scores were 0 and 0. The medical staff was unable to resuscitate the baby.
The law firm that handled this matter uncovered that the mother's obstetrician, after saying he would meet her at the second hospital, had instead gone home but simply did not bother to tell anyone at the hospital about that choice. This obstetrician abandoned her and her baby. And the labor and delivery nurse, the only one who had information that the baby was in fetal distress, made the decision to continue to wait for the obstetrician - not contacting the obstetrician herself to report the fetal distress and not bringing it to the attention of the in-house obstetrician until the situation became dire.
As a result, the law firm was able to report that they achieved a settlement totaling $750,000 on behalf of the baby's parents.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney focused on complex injury cases, including birth injury medical malpractice cases. You can learn more about placental abruption and medical malpractice Cases at his website. www.birth-injury-malpractice-law.com.
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