Nurse Pays Out Over $4 Million For Harm To Child During Time She Did Not React To Signs Of Fetal Distress
There are several kinds of errors physicians make when faced with a pregnant woman experiencing a placental abruption. The reason that an abruption of the placental is so high risk for the unborn child is that is may drastically lessen the amount of oxygen getting to the unborn child. This can result in severe and irriversible damage to the child. It can furthermore lead to the loss of the baby. Doctors and nurses can take the knowledge of these common mistakes to alter their reaction should they be faced with other placental abruption matters. It may in addition assist families whose son or daughter has suffered a placental abruption injury learn what went wrong and how a physician or nurse who made a mistake can be held accountable.
A pregnant woman was admitted to the hospital with contractions after eight in the evening before the day of her scheduled C-section delivery. The obstetrician in charge of her care went home to eat. The obstetrician had not been told by the rest of the staff that the expectant mother had suffered a placental abruption during an earlier pregnancy. Approximately 20 minutes after her admission, the readings from the fetal heart rate monitor showed signs of fetal distress. The nurse took no action at the time to inform the obstetrician of this development. After another 15 minutes the unborn child's heart rate decreased to less than ninety beats per minute, a critical warning sign. The nurses eventually called the obstetrician. It took 24 minutes for the doctor to get to the hospital and perform an emergency C-section. The baby could not breath on its own and the medical staff tried to resuscitate the baby who had suffered at least 20 minutes of oxygen deprivation after the placenta had ruptured. The law firm that assisted the family the case reported that the took the lawsuit to trial and obtained l verdict for $4,250,000.
This matter shows two common sorts of mistakes that can lead to a failure to identify or to act upon a placental abruption. One kind of mistake comes up when the responsibility for monitoring the expectant mother is allocated to a nurse. In these situations it sometimes happens that the nurse fails to understand that a complication has arisen and therefore does not tell a physician on the change in the patient