Mother sues hospital over traumatic birth

On Behalf of | Dec 9, 2015 | Birth Injuries

New Mexico residents may be interested in a story about a woman who is suing the hospital where she gave birth to her son. Though the woman’s baby did not sustain a birth injury, the woman says that her birth experience left her with constant pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In 2012, then 32-year-old woman checked into Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama, to give birth to her fourth child. The mother had changed hospitals halfway through her pregnancy when she was drawn in by advertisements about the new Brookwood Women’s Center. The ads promised pregnant mothers that the hospital would honor their personalized birth plans, support their choice to use birthing tubs and not require them to give birth on their backs.

According to the plaintiff, her experience at Brookwood Women’s Center was not at all what she had been promised during her tour of the hospital. Rather than enjoying mobility with a wireless monitor, the woman was hooked up to a continuous wired monitor and told to remain on her back. When the woman tried to move around to more comfortable positions during labor, nurses physically forced her onto her back. Nurses also pressed the baby’s head to delay birth for six minutes, causing the woman to sustain a painful and permanent nerve injury called pudendal neuralgia.

Some may call the mother’s hospital experience an example of ‘obstetric violence,” a phenomenon that can lead to medical malpractice complaints. A mother who was physically forced to submit to a medical procedure during labor may want to speak with an attorney about the advisability of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital where she gave birth.

Source: Yahoo! Parenting, “Woman Sues Hospital Over Traumatic Birth That ‘Turned Our Family Life Upside Down’,” Beth Greenfield, Nov. 19, 2015

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