An examination of cases regarding a birth injury reveals a number of common medical mistakes that can result in a placental abruption that endangers the wellbeing of the unborn child. The reason that an abruption of the placental is so dangerous for the unborn baby is that is can significantly reduce the amount of oxygen reaching the baby. In cases where an unborn baby is exposed to a lengthy period of oxygen deprivation the baby may suffer severe brain damage or not survive. Physicians and nurses can work with the knowledge of these generic mistakes to modify their approach should they be faced with other placental abruption matters. It may also assist families whose son or daughter experienced a placental abruption injury learn what went wrong and the way a physician or nurse responsible for the error might be held accountable.

A pregnant woman was admitted to the hospital with contractions at roughly 8:25 the evening before the day of her scheduled C-section. The woman had a history of a prior placental abruption. The obstetrician, however, who was not notified of her history, decided to go home and have dinner. Within 20 minutes following her admission, the readings from the fetal heart rate monitor showed signs of fetal distress. No action was taken by the nurses to notify the obstetrician. Fifteen minutes later the unborn child's heart rate dropped to under ninety beats per minute, a problematic danger signal. The nurses finally called the physician. It took 24 minutes for the doctor to get to the hospital and perform an emergency C-section. The baby could not breath on its own and the medical staff tried to resuscitate the baby who had endured at least 20 minutes of oxygen deprivation after the placenta had ruptured. The law firm that assisted the family the case reported that the took the cases to trial and obtained a tria verdict of $4,250,000.

The above is an example of prevalent types of mistakes that can bring about a failure to identify or to act upon a placental abruption. One type of mistake arises in cases where the responsibility for monitoring the expectant mother is allocated to a nurse. In these situations it occasionally happens that the nurse does not understand that a problem has arisen and therefore does not inform a doctor about the developing emergency. It is not always apparent why this occurs but every now and then a nurse just seems to fail to appreciate the immediacy of the situation. Sometimes the nurse has insufficient experience. Occasionally the nurse may become distracted. Despite the reason, a doctor does not get advised of the complication and valuable time passes by with the unborn child in distress.

A further variety of error has to do with the way information is communicated. This type of error happens regardless of a nurse or other member of the medical staff actually recognizes that there is a complication but nonetheless fail to tell a physician. One reason this occasionally occurs may be attributable to the hierarchical form of relationship among medical staff. Nurses and other staff, even junior physicians, at times defer to a senior doctor’s decisions even when there are clear clues that the scenario requires urgent action. Yet, if a complication arises it is the duty of the nurse or staff member to inform the doctor in charge or seek out another doctor. This type of mistake may have been why the nurse acted as she did. The nurse simply might not have wanted to interrupt the physician's dinner and held back from doing so until the situation reached dangerous levels.

In the event that your child sustained brain damage resulting from a delay by a nurse or other medical profession in reacting to fetal distress, you ought to confer with a birth injury lawyer without delay to figure out if you should pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit. Given the severity of the harm that can result to the baby this sort of mistake the recovery can be significant in order to protect the child's future.