Doctor Settles Malpractice Lawsuit With Mother Of Baby Who Died During Pregnancy For $650,000

A woman who had been dealing with hypertension for a number of years reaches the decision that she and her husband want to have a baby. After learning of the pregnancy, she met with her primary care physician who sent her to an obstetrician. When she meets with the obstetrician, the doctor decides that she should try to control her hypertension by diet alone given that her medication could have a harmful effect on her child in the early stages of her pregnancy. Yet, the obstetrician could not keep the woman's blood pressure within the normal levels, so her primary care physician and obstetrician agreed to prescriber her one-half of her normal dose.

Despite the mother taking medication for her hypertension, she starts to suffer from headaches, nausea, vomiting and blurred vision, which progressively become more frequent throughout her pregnancy.

When she goes into her doctor's office, he continues to note elevated blood pressure and gives her a higher dose of medication in an attempt to lower her blood pressure. Despite her best efforts in meeting with the doctor to correct these issues, her symptoms get progressively worse and happened more frequently as her pregnancy progresses. In her later visits it is noted that she has begun to leak amniotic fluid, which can be very dangerous.

After the ultrasound, the physician informed the woman that the leakage was not significant and she shouldn't worry. He did not inform her that the nutritional levels in her womb had gone down and that it could have an effect on her baby. The doctor did not inform her that her child was at risk to experience problems related to fetal hypoxia (being deprived of an adequate oxygen supply). And, moreover, he did not conduct any tests on the baby to see how the baby was doing.

After this visit the mother is still suffering from sever headaches, begins to have sinus problems in her ears and becomes worried as she becomes aware her child is not moving much. At her next appointment tells her doctor, who decides to induce labor the following week. despite her concerns over waiting another week, the obstetrician downplays the mother's fears and sets up an appointment for her for the following week.

The following week the woman went into her doctor's office to have her child. Following the ultrasound, the technician, began to act strangely, handed her the video and immediately left the room. One of the nurses brought her into a small room, which was not regular exam room. There her physician advised her that her baby did not have a heart beat. She was brought to a hospital and the death was verified. After this she has to endure going through labor, knowing her baby was dead. She and her husband held their dead baby girl and emotionally planned her funeral. Following this event the mother and her husband filed a malpractice case against the physician, requesting damages relating to the death of their baby, including emotional distress. After filing the claims against the doctor, the law firm handling the matter reported that they were successful in reaching a settlement for $650,000 on behalf of the couple for the death of their baby and the emotional distress they suffered.

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