Unborn Child Exposed To Loss Of Oxygen During Time Nurse Ignored Signs Of Fetal Distress

There are some kinds of errors doctors make when confronted with a pregnant woman suffering from a placental abruption. Why an abruption of the placental is so dangerous for the unborn baby is that is may significantly lessen the amount of oxygen reaching the unborn child. This can result in significant permanent harm to the child. It can furthermore lead to the loss of the baby. Physicians and nurses might take the knowledge of these generic errors to modify their approach when faced with other placental abruption cases. It can in addition assist families whose child experienced a placental abruption injury understand what went wrong and the way a physician or nurse who made a error can be held accountable.

A pregnant woman went to the hospital with contractions at approximately 8:25 the evening before the day of her planned C-section. 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. Within twenty minutes after her admission, the fetal heart monitor registered that her baby was in fetal distress. The nurse took no action at the time to inform the obstetrician of this development. In another 15 minutes the baby’s heart rate decreased below 90 beats per minute, a problematic warning sign. The nurses finally called the physician. A further twenty four minutes elapsed before the physician was able to arrive and perform an emergency C-section. The baby was unable to breath on its own and required resuscitation having suffered at least 20 minutes of oxygen deprivation after the placenta had ruptured. The law firm that pursued the matter described that the took the claim to trial and achieved a tria verdict of $4.25 Million.

The above serves as an example of common types of errors that can result in a failure to detect or to react to a placental abruption. One kind of error arises in cases where the responsibility for monitoring the pregnant woman is allocated to a nurse. In these situations it sometimes happens that the nurse does not figure out that a complication has come up and hence fails to tell a doctor on the developing emergency. It is not always clear why this occurs but every now and then a nurse just appears to fail to realize the urgency of the situation. Sometimes the nurse has insufficient experience. Occasionally something else may take the nurse's attention away from the patient. Whatever the reason, a doctor does not get notified of the problem and valuable time passes by while the baby is in distress.

One more type of error has to do with the way information is communicated. This type of error happens regardless of a nurse or other member of the medical staff actually recognizes that there is a complication but still do not inform a doctor. One reason this sometimes occurs is because of the hierarchical form of relationship among medical staff. Nurses and other staff, even junior doctors, at times defer to a senior physician's decisions even when there are clear indications that the scenario calls for prompt action. However, when a problem comes up it is the responsibility of the nurse or staff member to inform the doctor in charge or seek out a different physician. This type of error may have been the reason for the nurse not calling the doctor earlier. The nurse just might not have wished to bother the doctor while the doctor was eating and only did so when the patient's condition reached dangerous levels.

If your child sustained a serious injury resulting from a delay on the part of a nurse or other medical profession in reacting to fetal distress, you should confer with a birth injury attorney right away to figure out whether you should pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit. Because of the seriousness of the injury that can result to the baby this sort of error the settlement or award can be substantial so as to cover the care the baby will need throughout his or her life.