Lawsuit Alleges Nurse Failed to Diagnose Placental Abruption
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-06-20 21:46:39 | Word Count: 647
A placental abruption is a complication in which the placenta that supports the baby detaches from the mother's uterus. This is an unsafe complication that may place the unborn child at risk of significant harm and death unless immediate action is taken. Symptoms of a placental abruption include continuous contractions, uterus pain, abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. By not realzing that woman has endured a placental abruption and not puting at risk the health of the baby going forward withou an emergency C-section can result in the severe injury or even the death of the unborn baby.
The pregnant woman in this situation was only 19 years old and it was her first pregnancy. The woman was admitted to the hospital for labor and delivery. At admission she reported that she had continuous abdominal pain to the medical staff. After examining her the obstetrical nurse noted that the mother had constant uterine contractions and a hard abdomen.
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A short time later, she also started having considerable vaginal bleeding. Rather of alerting a hospital obstetrician the obstetrics nurse actually had the mother get more towels from the linen cabinet in the room and continue swapping them herself.
In addition to the bleeding and contraction pattern (which are known symptoms of a placental abruption) the expectant mother started having extreme pain (a common symptom of a placental abruption) after being at the hospital for approximately four to five hours.When the baby's fetal heart rate went flat a mere five minutes later, the nurse did not attempt to wake the baby in order to rule out hypoxia and again did not contact a doctor. The nurse concluded this was merely due to a response to the mother being administered the pain medication. The nurse thus not only failed to notify a physician, the nurse did not make any attempt to awaken the baby in order to make sure hypoxia was not involved. The nurse finally contacted a doctor some fifty minutes after the baby's heart rate went flat.
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After arriving the doctor found the presence of meconium and also found that the heart rate monitor demonstrated progressive deep decelerations. The attending obstetrician then performed an emergency C-section. No anesthesiologist was available at the time and so the physician performed the C-section using only local anesthesia. During the procedure, the doctor saw that placental abruption had occurred. The baby showed signs of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy - (damage caused to the central nervous system due to a lack of oxygen) which testing later confirmed. Testing later confirmed that the newborn had suffered from a lack of oxygen resulting in neurological damage. As the child developed the child was diagnosed with mental and developmental retardation.
A malpractice case was pursued on behalf of the parents and the child alleging that the harm to the child was preventable had the nurse realized that there was a serious complication in the pregnancy and notified a doctor of the situation. He has a life expectancy into the 40's. But, in an attempt to reduce the value of the case, the defense argued he would only have about 10 years. Throughout the remainder of his life he will need occupational, speech and physical therapy and will always need custodial care. The law firm that represented the family reported that they were able to reach a settlement in the amount of $1,100,000. Of that amount, $60,000 was for the parents. The rest, partly paid as a cash payment and the rest as a structured settlement, was for the child.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting birth injury medical malpractice cases. To learn more about placental abruption and birth injury matters visit the websites
