Although advances in medical technology have made labor and delivery safer for mothers and babies, parents in Ohio are aware that there is still some degree of risk associated with the process. While a medical emergency or complication that occurs naturally may be difficult to bear, knowing that a child’s birth injury was caused by another’s negligence is understandably emotionally devastating. One out-of-state family has recently taken legal action against a doctor who they say caused their son’s cerebral palsy.
Court records show that the woman was 15 days overdue when she was admitted to the hospital. Labor-inducing drugs were administered over the course of approximately 11 hours. The woman and her husband claim that she was then instructed to push even though the baby’s head was not in the correct position. The stress, they argue, caused the baby’s heart rate to fall significantly.
The boy, now 7 years old, was eventually delivered by Cesarean section and was found to be unable to breathe. Nurses and doctors allegedly attempted to resuscitate the baby with an air mask but failed to clear his airways of the meconium he inhaled prior to delivery. In the end, a special NICU unit was called in to help stabilize the baby, and that unit transported him to a local university hospital. The parents were later told that the baby’s birth injuries were caused by oxygen deprivation.
While there are some complications that can occur that cannot be anticipated, a birth injury caused by a medical care provider’s negligence is devastating. Ohio families who are suffering from this type of injury have the option of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in a civil court, just as this family has done. A successfully argued case could result in an award of damages that can pay for past and future medical bills, while also safeguarding future patients against similar mistakes.
Source: statesmanjournal.com, “Trial begins in Ramseyer birth injury case“, Saerom Yoo, Jan. 21, 2015