Doctor And Nurse Settle Legal Action After Letting Fetal Distress Deteriorate And Unborn Child Dies

Several problems can develop in the course of a pregnancy. One complication that is extremely dangerous and needs prompt action is fetal distress. Fetal distress commonly occurs after the unborn baby's oxygen supply is somehow cut off. Fetal distress is observed by monitoring the unborn baby's heart rate. Under specific situations, like when the heart rate drops beneath a specified level, immediate measures for instance an emergency C-section is needed. Below we consider the issue of liability in a published case involving a delay of approximately 2 hours in reacting to signs of fetal distress. We also look at the ensuing damages and the settlement outcome.

In this claim an expectant mother who had fallen was being taken to a hospital to confirm that there had been no trauma to her unborn baby. The expectant mother had undergone an ultrasound at the hospital so as to look for any injury to her baby and the ultrasound was interpreted as displaying no injuries. Given that the hospital did not have a fetal heart rate monitor she was going to be transported to a different hospital, her obstetrician was informed that she was being sent and the doctor agreed to go to the second hospital. When at the second hospital a fetal heart rate monitor was attached to the woman. The labor and delivery nurse at this hospital interpreted the results as non-reassuring and revealing that the unborn child was experiencing fetal distress. The second hospital and the nurse had been told that the woman's physician was on his way to that hospital to handle the care of the patient and her unborn baby. While evidently having noted that the baby was in fetal distress, the nurse nonetheless concluded that she needed to wait for the obstetrician to come instead of taking any measures by herself or even informing an on-call physician.

Over the next two hours the nurse continued postponing notifying another physician that the baby was in fetal distress. She did nothing until the monitor suggested that the baby's heart rate had had dropped to a critically low level. It was only then that the labor and delivery nurse informed another obstetrician at the hospital of the situation. This doctor conducted an emergency C-section at once and realized that the explanation for the fetal distress had been a placental abruption which had cut off the unborn child's oxygen supply.

The physician knew the woman was being sent to the hospital and expected her physician to meet her there. However, instead of go to the hospital as he said he would do, the obstetrician went home. This would not have been a problem if the obstetrician had informed someone at the second hospital of this decision. Since fetal distress demands immediate measures the nurse at the second hospital became the other defendant in the malpractice case by the mother and father due to her choice to wait for the woman's obstetrician to turn up instead of notifying the in-house doctor until two hours afterwards.

At birth the newborn was non-responsive. Even though the medical staff attempted resuscitative measures they could not revive the baby. The law firm that handled the claim was able to report that they achieved a settlement for $750,000 on behalf of the child's mother and father. This claim demonstrates both (1) a physician's duty to follow up on the care of a patient once he agrees to do so and (2) a nurse's duty to make certain that a doctor is notified immediately in the event that signs of fetal distress are detected.

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