Defendants say delivery happened within half-hour of C-section being called
Plaintiff’s minor was delivered via emergency C-section at 41 weeks gestation. The last 90 minutes of labor were characterized by post-epidural hypotension, spontaneous rupture of membranes with meconium-stained fluid, and the onset of persistent nonreassuring FHTs, with 20-25 minutes of fetal bradycardia immediately prior to delivery.
Plaintiffs’ experts established that the hypotension was inadequately treated and that the standard of care required that the baby be delivered 20-30 minutes earlier.
Plaintiff minor was severely depressed at birth. The baby was intubated at 7 minutes of age. Seizure-like activity was noted at two hours, and body cooling was initiated at two hours and 20 minutes of life.
A 72-hour course of body cooling was completed. An MRI on day four of life revealed diffuse bilateral basal ganglia and white matter tract signal abnormalities most suggestive of hypoxic sequela. The child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and related quadriparesis with significant mental, motor and language delays.
Defendants argued that the delivery was timely, having been effectuated within 30 minutes of the time the C-section was called. Defendants further claimed that any brief delay in calling the C-section was not a proximate cause of plaintiff minor’s injuries.
Plaintiff’s counsel said that the key to obtaining a $2.45 million settlement was expert support from multiple specialists — including maternal-fetal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatric neurology and pediatric neuroradiology — in identifying the mechanism of injury and timing the insult.
Type of action: Medical malpractice
Type of injuries: Birth injury, cerebral palsy
Court/Case no./Date: Confidential; confidential; March 19, 2013
Settlement amount: $2.45 million
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