Instead Of Bothering A Physician Having Dinner Nurse Lets Baby Endure Fetal Distress
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-12-27 21:30:23 | Word Count: 730
There are some kinds of mistakes physicians make when faced with an expectant mother suffering from a placental abruption. When a placental abruption occurs the placenta detaches from the uterus restricting the baby's supply of oxygen. In cases where an unborn child is subjected to a prolonged amount of time without an adequate supply of oxygen the child may end up with severe brain damage or not survive. Perhaps it will help physicians and nurses to take steps to change how they deal with these matters in the future. The parents can also benefit from knowing ?f what happened was avoidable if the doctors and nurses involved had not made these types of errors.
In one reported lawsuit an expectant mother went to the hospital with contractions after eight in the evening before the day of her planned C-section delivery. The woman had a history of a prior placental abruption. The obstetrician, however, who was not notified of her history, decided to go home and have dinner. Approximately twenty minutes following her admission, the readings from the fetal heart rate monitor showed signs of fetal distress. No action was taken by the nurses to notify the obstetrician. Fifteen minutes later the baby's heart rate dropped to under 90 beats per minute, a dangerous danger signal. The nurses eventually called the doctor. It took 24 minutes for the obstetrician to arrive and perform an emergency C-section. The baby could not breath on its own and required resuscitation having suffered at least 20 minutes without a sufficient supply of oxygen after the placenta had ruptured. The law firm that handled the case reported a $4.25 million award by a jury for the family.
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This matter shows two common sorts of mistakes that can bring about a failure to detect or to react to a placental abruption. One kind of mistake occurs when the responsibility for monitoring the expectant mother is allocated to a nurse. In these situations it sometimes happens that the nurse fails to recognize that a complication has come up and therefore does not inform a physician on the change in the patient's condition. It is not always apparent why this occurs but every now and then a nurse just appears to fail to appreciate the urgency of the situation. Sometimes the nurse does not have enough experience. Occasionally the nurse may become distracted. Despite the reason, a physician is not informed of the developing situation and precious time elapses while the baby is in distress.
Another variety of mistake is one of proper communication. This type of error occurs even though a nurse or other member of the medical staff actually recognizes that there is a complication but still do not tell a physician. One reason this occasionally happens may be attributable to the hierarchical nature of the relationship among medical staff. Nurses and other staff, even junior doctors, at times defer to a senior physician's decisions even in the presence of clear clues that the situation needs prompt action. But, when a problem arises it is the duty of the nurse or staff member to challenge the physician in charge or find a different physician. This sort of error may have been the reason for the nurse not calling the doctor earlier. The nurse just might not have wanted to bother the physician while the doctor was eating and only did so when the situation reached dangerous levels.
In the event that your child has been left with a serious injury resulting from a delay on the part of a nurse or other medical profession in responding to fetal distress, you ought to consult with a birth injury attorney at once to determine whether you and your baby might should pursue a medical malpractice case. Given the severity of the injury that may result to the baby this type of error the recovery may be substantial in order to cover the cost of the care the baby will require for the remainder of his or her life.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting placental abruption cases. You can learn more about placental abruption and other
birth injury matters visit the websites
