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There are many serious complications that a pregnant woman can face during labor and delivery. Such of complications, including the condition known as fetal distress, require that medical staff, including the physicians and nurses treating the pregnant woman, realize that a complication has occurred, that the health of the is at risk, and that appropriate action needs to be taken immediately. Regrettably, cases where physicians fail to do so happen all too frequently. In one reported case a pregnant woman went to the hospital for labor and delivery of her baby. On admission the 19 year woman was noted to have very frequent contractions. The expectant mother was also noted to have an irritable uterus. This is characterized by an irritable uterus contracting too frequently. Some of the factors that can account for these symptoms are an infection and a placental abruption. Under either of these circumstances it is possible that the only way to protect the baby from serious resulting harm is by performing an emergency C-section. The frequent contractions and irritable uterus would normally serve to raise a physician's concern that this may not be a normal pregnancy. At the very least physicians would generally conclude that this woman's progress should be carefully monitored. The doctor in this case, however, reached another conclusion. This doctor decided to medically accelerate the woman's labor through the use of drugs. Even in a normal pregnancy the use of these drugs warrants careful monitoring but this was already not a normal pregnancy. As labor progressed the tracings from the fetal heart rate monitor started to indicate that the unborn baby was in fetal distress. The doctor ignored this indication of a serious problem and instead had the woman push for at least forty-five minutes before going forward with a C-section. The baby was not breathing at delivery. The doctor attempted to resuscitate the baby using medication but at two minutes the baby still was not breathing. The Apgar scores were 2, 6, and 7. Ten hours later seizures started. The child developed cerebral palsy. The law firm that represented the family was able to report that they obtained a $2,900,000 settlement. Physicians know that fetal distress is a very dangerous complication of labor in which the unborn baby's own environment inside the mother has changed and is threatening the baby's health. Extended exposure to such an environment can lead to serious harm including brain damage. physicians thus generally recommend that when an unborn baby is in fetal distress which cannot be rectified, an emergency C-section is the appropriate course of action. This case demonstrates that a failure to perform an emergency C-section in the presence of fetal distress and other sings of complications could result in a medical malpractice claim.
Article Source: http://www.mycontentbuilder.com
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney focused on catastrophic injury cases. To learn more about fetal distress injuries visit his website at www.birth-injury-malpractice-law.com/fetal-distress.shtml.
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