Childbirth can be dangerous for the child and the mother. There are many potential injuries that your child could face that result in ongoing pain and developmental disabilities, but you may face injuries yourself as the mother. Some deliveries are very difficult, and your doctor may turn to alternative strategies of delivering the child, such as using forceps or a C-section. With or without these procedures, one of the most common injuries mothers face while giving birth is excessive blood loss.
If you or a loved one was injured during childbirth and suffered from severe hemorrhaging and blood loss, contact our Miami hemorrhage and blood loss during childbirth lawyer. Prosper Shaked Accident Injury Attorneys PA may be able to take your case and fight to get you compensation for your injuries or the fatal injuries your loved one faced during delivery. For a free legal consultation, call our law offices today at (305) 694-2676.
Causes of Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH) and Bleeding
Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), or bleeding after childbirth, is one of the most common and most severe injuries that the victim of medical malpractice during a delivery can face. Some statistics say that around 18% of all childbirths involve this kind of bleeding, and that the bleeding can occur immediately or within hours of the delivery. “Postpartum hemorrhage” as a specific medical condition is defined as losing 500ml of blood in the first 24 hours after giving birth. The human body has around 5,000ml of blood, so this is a loss of 10% of your blood, which can cause reduced heart rate, low blood pressure, organ damage, shock, and even death.
PPH can be caused by many issues. Tissue damage, the condition of the uterus, problems with blood clotting, and trauma from the birth are some of the most common issues. The causes include:
Misuse of Birthing Instruments
When delivering a child, a doctor may become concerned about whether a child will safely fit through the mother’s birth canal. In some cases, a child’s shoulder or head could become trapped in the birth canal, which could result in a severe injury. To avoid this possibility, a doctor may employ the use of birthing instruments.
Forceps and vacuum extractors are often used by a doctor to help pull a child from the womb. These tools are typically attached to the head of a child to carefully remove a child from the birth canal. However, if a doctor fails to exercise caution when using forceps or vacuum extractors, they may use too much force and cause a mother to suffer severe hemorrhaging.
Unnecessarily Risky C-Section
Other care decisions may require cutting or surgical procedures to help deliver the baby. One of the most well-known procedures it the C-section, where the doctor delivers the baby through an incision instead of the birth canal. These can have severe bleeding complications, but they are necessary in some cases. Providing an unnecessarily risky C-section when it is not medically required is often one of the causes of severe bleeding after giving birth. In other cases, the doctor may need to enlarge the birth canal by performing an episiotomy, which may result in excessive bleeding as well.
Medication Errors
A doctor could recommend a variety of medications for a mother in labor. One of these medications is Pitocin, which was designed to increase the number of contractions that a mother may experience to help a child be delivered faster. However, the misuse of Pitocin could cause a mother to suffer violent contractions. If this occurs, the contractions may cause a mother to experience hemorrhaging.
Many instances of bleeding and postpartum hemorrhaging may start from acceptable complications, but others are directly caused by medical mistakes and errors. Even in cases where the initial cause was a natural complication, your doctor’s failure to respond immediately with proper care could result in additional injury or blood loss, or even death.
Suing for Excessive Bleeding After Delivering a Baby
Your doctor’s care should be on par with the same care that you could reasonably expect from any other physician in a similar situation. If your care fell below this “standard of care,” you may be entitled to sue the doctor for the negative outcomes, the pain and suffering, the additional medical care, and the lost wages you suffered because of your injuries and negative outcomes. The fact that you have a negative outcome is not enough, by itself, to prove your doctor did something wrong. However, any time that the negative outcome was caused by negligent care decisions, you may be entitled to file a malpractice lawsuit.
As mentioned, many instances of postpartum bleeding are caused by unavoidable complications. However, your doctor’s response might not include adequate attempts to stop the bleeding, replace the lost blood, or help prevent additional injury. In other cases, the doctor’s negligent care may outright cause the bleeding or help contribute to the bleeding. These situations typically allow you to file a lawsuit.
When you sue your doctor, you may be able to take your case to court. The jury will ultimately decide your case by judging the evidence you provide and determining whether the doctor’s care fell below the standard of care. You can, as part of your evidence, present a medical expert who can help describe how your doctor’s care was lacking and why that makes them responsible for your damages.
The damages you claim in a medical malpractice lawsuit can cover any physical or financial harms you faced because of the negligent care. This commonly means seeking damages for the additional medical care necessary to repair the injury as well as the cost of any wages you missed if you had to take time off work. These lost wage damages are not common, since you will likely be taking maternity leave after giving birth, but if the injuries led to future limitations or prolonged injuries, you can sue for the financial effect that has on your wages. You can also sue for damages related to your physical pain and discomfort as well as the mental and emotional effects of the injury.
Talk to a lawyer about what your case is worth; never accept the judgment of your doctor or their legal team to properly value your case.
Call Our Medical Malpractice Lawyers for Help with Your Post-Delivery Blood Loss Lawsuit
If you or a loved one faced extreme bleeding and blood loss after giving birth, call Prosper Shaked Accident Injury Attorneys PA. Our Miami hemorrhage and blood loss during childbirth lawyer may be able to help you file a claim for your injuries and help you get the compensation you deserve. If you lost a loved one to heavy bleeding after delivery, contact our attorney for help filing a wrongful death lawsuit. To set up a free consultation, call our law offices today at (305) 694-2676.