Death of Baby, Loss of Uterus: $3.25 Million Birth Injury Settlement
Failure to respond to fetal heart rate decelerations and botched cesarean results in death of infant and loss of mother's uterus
2025 Medical Malpractice Settlement Report
By Robert M. Higgins, Attorney for the Plaintiff
Worcester Superior Court, Worcester, Massachusetts
Case summary
On 8/21/23, the plaintiff was pregnant when her water broke. She immediately with to the hospital where she was admitted to the labor floor to initiate labor.
The baby looked well on the fetal heart monitoring the entire day. Early in the morning of 8/22/23, there started to be decelerations in the baby’s heart rate with minimal variability. The labor nurse let the defendant obstetrician know about the changes in the fetal heart rate. Defendant obstetrician acknowledged the information but did not come to evaluate the plaintiff.
After approximately 3 hours of changes in the fetal heart rate the defendant obstetrician came to see the plaintiff. He acknowledged the decreased in variability and the decelerations but his recommendation was to continue forward with plans for cesarean section. After another few hours of worrisome tracings plans were made to take the plaintiff to the OR for a cesarean section. The baby was born lifeless with Apgar of 0/0/0. The baby was wrapped in a blanket and given to his parents where he passed.
The plaintiff was then brought to the PACU for recovery. She developed heavy bleeding. She was taken back to the OR and when the abdomen was opened the surgeon was unable to enter the uterus because the lower portion of the uterus was sewed to the cesarean section incision by the defendant. He also left part of the uterus without sutures and the plaintiff was bleeding for that site.
The surgeon repaired the uterus but the plaintiff continued to bleed and required massive amounts of blood transfusions. In order to stop the bleeding and save her life the decision was made to perform a hysterectomy.
The plaintiff had experts who would testify the defendant obstetrician was negligent in failing to deliver the baby when the tracing became worrisome. Had that occurred the baby would have been born alive without injuries. The experts also opined that it was a gross deviation for the defendant to sew the uterus to itself. As a result, the uterus bled uncontrollably and required removal.
The case settled for $3,250,000.
Lubin & Meyer medical malpractice attorneys Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and Robert M. Higgins represented the plaintiffs in this case.
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