There are certain factors that can turn an otherwise normal pregnancy into a high risk one. One such factor, high blood pressure, placed a pregnant woman at risk for a placental abruption. This is a situation wherein the placenta separates from the uterus prematurely. When this happens the blood vessels in the vicinity are torn bringing about bleeding that can impair the unborn child's oxygen supply. If proper and timely measures, such as an emergency C-section, is not taken the unborn child is vulnerable to sustaining brain damage that may lead to a permanent disability or possibly die.

Think about a lawsuit concerning an expectant mother was admitted to the hospital in the thirty fifth week of her pregnancy for significant hypertension which was induced by the pregnancy. The woman remained in the hospital for five days before anyone ordered that the fetal heart rate be monitored. The monitoring was ordered only after the mother’s condition worsened. Even though the output of the monitor exposed that the baby was in distress the staff administered drugs to induce her labor. After 8 hours of monitoring and the fetal distress reaching ominous levels the medical staff finally determined that she had experienced a placental abruption. Even then another hour passed before the doctor performed a C-section. Due to the delay the baby sustained a form of brain damage known as acute hypoxic-ischemia which is due to a lack of oxygen.

The baby was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and an died from complications at two and a half. The law firm that handled this malpractice matters on behalf of the child’s family documented that it accomplished a settlement for one and a half million dollars.

This case holds a valuable lesson for physician and nurses. Because significant high blood pressure is known to result in a number of perilous complications in pregnancy such as placental abruptions it may be malpractice to fail to determine that one has occurred and act immediately to safeguard the wellbeing of the unborn child.

Here we have a woman who goes to the hospital equipped to do the required monitoring to check for a potential placental abruption including ultrasound machines and fetal heart rate monitors. The pregnant woman is admitted with severe high blood pressure which is a know risk factor for a placental abruption. However, none of the doctors or nurses at the hospital ordered monitoring her for signs that she might experience a placental abruption until 5 days after her admission.

There is no citation in the document that the woman had pain in the back or abdomen or that she was experiencing vaginal bleeding - signs consistent with a placental abruption. Still not all women who suffer a placental abruption display these symptoms. An ultrasound, however, can help identify a placental abruption in which the blood is hidden and so the expectant mother does not have vaginal bleeding. And even after the fetal distress reached an alarming stage it was still an additional hour before the doctor did a C-section.

In litigating the lawsuit the law firm representing the parents in all likelihood used medical experts to establish

(1) that the mother’s severe hypertension made her susceptible to a placental abruption and so required that she be carefully monitored for that possibility,

(2) that there were indications that the baby was in fetal distress and that this condition was allowed to worsen greatly without proper action,

(3) that there was yet another delay even as the fetal distress got to a severe level of another hour before a C-section was done,

(4) that these delays caused the baby to go for an extended stretch of time without an adequate oxygen supply, and

(5) that this lead to brain damage, the development of cerebral palsy, and the eventual death of the child from complications due to cerebral palsy.

and that these delays caused the baby to experience an extended amount of time without an adequate oxygen supply, resulting in brain damage, the development of cerebral palsy, and ultimately the death of the child from complications due to cerebral palsy.

Despite the fact that settlements in these types of malpractice matters are routinely reached without any admission of liability on the part of the defendants it is not surprising that they settled the matter for one and a half million dollars.