How Mismanaging Preeclampsia Can Lead to Serious Birth Injuries

Preeclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure and often accompanied by proteinuria during pregnancy, poses significant risks to both the mother and the unborn child. While it affects around 5 to 8% of pregnancies worldwide, its precise cause remains unclear. However, its potential to lead to severe complications such as eclampsia, organ damage, and even maternal and fetal death makes it a critical concern in obstetrics.

In addition to its impact on maternal health, preeclampsia can also result in birth injuries for the infant. These injuries may occur due to medical negligence (carelessness) on the part of hospital staff and complications arising from the condition, such as premature birth, intrauterine growth restriction, or placental abruption. Understanding the relationship between preeclampsia and birth injuries is crucial for healthcare professionals to provide timely and appropriate care to both mothers and infants affected by this potentially life-threatening condition.

What is Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure (hypertension) and often the presence of protein in the urine (proteinuria) after 20 weeks of gestation. It is a serious condition that can affect both the mother and the unborn baby. The exact cause of preeclampsia is not fully understood, but it is believed to involve issues with the placenta and the blood vessels that supply it. Preeclampsia can lead to complications such as eclampsia (seizures), stroke, organ damage (particularly affecting the kidneys and liver), and even maternal and fetal death if left untreated.

Common symptoms of preeclampsia include high blood pressure, swelling (edema) in the hands and face, headaches, visual disturbances, and abdominal pain. Preeclampsia requires careful monitoring and management by healthcare professionals, often involving close monitoring of blood pressure, urine protein levels, and fetal well-being through regular prenatal check-ups and sometimes early delivery to prevent serious complications.

Mismanagement of Preeclampsia

This refers to situations where healthcare providers fail to properly diagnose, monitor, or treat the condition, leading to adverse outcomes for the mother and/or baby. This can occur due to a number of reasons, including inadequate training, lack of awareness of warning signs, misinterpretation of symptoms, or failure to follow established protocols and guidelines.

Mismanagement of preeclampsia can have serious consequences, including:

• Delayed diagnosis: Failure to recognize the signs and symptoms of preeclampsia during prenatal care visits can result in delayed diagnosis and treatment initiation, increasing the risk of complications.
• Inadequate monitoring: Proper monitoring of blood pressure, urine protein levels, fetal well-being, and other relevant parameters is crucial for identifying worsening preeclampsia and preventing complications. Failure to conduct regular monitoring can lead to missed opportunities for intervention.
• Inappropriate treatment: Incorrect or delayed administration of medications to manage hypertension or prevent seizures (eclampsia) can exacerbate the condition and increase the risk of maternal and fetal harm.
• Poor communication: Inadequate communication between healthcare providers, including obstetricians, midwives, nurses, and other staff, can result in gaps in care and misunderstandings regarding the management of preeclampsia.
• Lack of referral or consultation: Failure to involve specialists, such as maternal-fetal medicine specialists or obstetric anesthesiologists, in the care of women with severe or complicated preeclampsia can result in delayed diagnosis and complications.
• Disregard for risk factors: Failure to recognize and address maternal risk factors for preeclampsia, such as a history of hypertension or preeclampsia in previous pregnancies, obesity, or certain medical conditions, can lead to missed opportunities for prevention and early intervention.

Medical Negligence (Carelessness) and Compensation

It is the responsibility of medical professionals to monitor the condition of the fetus and the mother and make decisions that reduce or eliminate a risky delivery. If your child has suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence (carelessness), then he or she may be able to receive compensation that helps pay for medical expenses, lost income, cost of therapy, future treatments, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc.

The experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. One of our clients secured a $2,850,000 verdict in an Erb’s palsy (brachial plexus palsy) case that was reduced by the appeals court to $1,846,000 because the verdict was so large. This was the highest amount upheld by the appellate (appeals) courts for many, many years. In addition, we recovered $1,400,000 for a newborn who lost motion in the arm during birth due to doctors applying incorrect force on the baby’s head. One of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.

We have seen cases where New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation facilities deliver babies who are born with cerebral palsy or brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) stemming from negligence (carelessness), and/or medical malpractice in the labor and delivery etc. of the children.

The following list identifies some of these hospitals (operated by New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation):

• Jacobi Hospital aka Bronx Municipal 1400 Pelham Parkway South Bronx, New York 10461 718-918-5000
• Lincoln Hospital 234 East 149th Street Bronx, New York 10451 718-579-5000
• North Central Bronx Hospital 3424 Kossuth Avenue Bronx, New York 10467 718-519-5000
• Coney Island Hospital 2601 Ocean Parkway Brooklyn, New York 11235 718-616-3000
• Kings County Hospital 451 Clarkson Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11203 718-245-3131
• Woodhull Hospital 760 Broadway Brooklyn, New York 11206 718-963-8000
• Bellevue Hospital 462 First Avenue New York, New York 10016 212-562-5555
• Harlem Hospital 506 Lenox Avenue New York, New York 10037 212-939-1000
• Metropolitan Hospital 1901 First Avenue New York, New York 10029 212-423-6262
• Elmhurst Hospital 79-01 Broadway Elmhurst, New York 11373 718-334-4000
• Queens Hospital Center 82-68 164th Street Jamaica, New York 11432 718-883-3000

Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury, lead poisoning and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.

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1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES

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