During labor, the baby’s heart rate showed repetitive decelerations on the electronic fetal monitoring strips. The attending nurse requested that the defendant OB evaluate the mother and baby…medicalmalpracticelawyers, $3.3M Virginia Medical Malpractice Verdict For Brachial Plexus Injury During Childbirth
The mother reportedly was found at about 6:21 p.m. to be 9.5 cm dilated with an anterior lip. The defendant OB reportedly pushed the lip over the baby’s head with the next contraction, after which the baby’s head delivered after the mother pushed two more times.
According to the defendant OB’s documentation, after the baby’s head was delivered, she called for assistance with shoulder dystocia and two nurses responded and performed the McRobert’s maneuver as the OB applied “gentle” downward pressure in an effort to relieve the impacted anterior shoulder.
Because the baby did not deliver following these efforts, the OB attempted to perform a corkscrew maneuver, which did not result in movement of the impacted shoulder. The defendant OB documented that she then delivered the baby’s left arm (the posterior arm) after which the baby delivered. The OB reportedly documented that the shoulder dystocia lasted one minute.
In the delivery room, the baby was not moving his right arm (the impacted shoulder). The OB reportedly acknowledged during her deposition that she used downward traction a second time during the delivery, which was not documented in the delivery record. The defense argued that normal maternal forces of labor caused the baby’s injury and therefore the defendant OB was not negligent.
The infant was examined in the brachial plexus clinic of Children’s National Medical Center at three months of age. An MRI reportedly showed evidence of a C8 nerve root avulsion. At 13 months, the baby underwent a nerve graft surgery followed by physical therapy and occupational therapy that continued to the time of trial. Despite surgery and continuing treatments, the child reportedly has permanent functional limitations in his right arm, right hand, and fingers.