If a mother has a high-risk pregnancy, it is a physician’s job to detect this and properly address potential risks with a tailored birthing plan. A high-risk pregnancy should be carefully monitored, with frequent prenatal testing to detect signs of fetal distress. Any failure to meet the expected standards of care when treating a high-risk patient, resulting in injury to mother or infant, may constitute medical malpractice.
Identifying High-Risk Pregnancies
A high-risk pregnancy means significant health risks that could affect the mother, the child or both have been identified by doctors. These pregnancies come with a higher-than-average risk of problems such as birth defects, birth injuries, birth complications and miscarriage. High-risk pregnancies need to be properly managed by a medical team to give the mother and child the best possible odds of a safe and healthy delivery.
What Is the Proper Way to Handle a High-Risk Pregnancy?
When a mother is flagged as having a high-risk pregnancy, she should be referred to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist. This is an obstetrician physician who has had additional training in handling high-risk pregnancies.
The mother should be carefully monitored throughout the pregnancy to detect any changes or signs of an emergency. A plan should be put in place for handling what may be a complicated delivery, including C-section protocols in case of an emergency.
Signs of Mismanagement and Medical Malpractice
The mismanagement of a high-risk pregnancy can constitute medical malpractice if there is evidence that the provider knew or should have known of the risks, failed to meet the accepted standard of care while treating the patient, and if this breach of duty led to injury or a worsened outcome for the mother and/or baby.
Examples of malpractice in relation to high-risk pregnancies include:
- Failure to detect the signs of a high-risk pregnancy
- Failure to refer the patient to a specialist
- Failure to order the proper screening tests
- Failure to properly monitor mother and baby
- Missing the signs of a problem, such as maternal diabetes or hypertension
- Failure to recommend or perform an emergency C-section
- Poor communication or coordination among the medical team
The mismanagement of a high-risk pregnancy could lead to many devastating outcomes for the mother and child, including oxygen deprivation, cerebral palsy, pre-term birth, health complications and stillbirth. A common infant injury is hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a brain injury that is caused by severe oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain.
Compensation Available for the Mismanagement of a High-Risk Pregnancy
High-risk pregnancies require specialized care and attention to optimize health outcomes. If medical negligence interfered with what otherwise would have been a better outcome, you and your family may be eligible for financial compensation. Available damages may include current and future medical bills, pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages, and disability costs.
How an Attorney Can Help
If you suspect that your high-risk pregnancy was negligently mismanaged by a health care professional in Minnesota, contact Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC to discuss a potential birth injury case in Minneapolis. Our lawyers can carefully evaluate your situation and give you personalized legal advice about your rights and what to do next.
If we determine that you have grounds for a medical malpractice or birth injury claim, we can help you gather evidence and build a case against one or more parties. Our lawyers will fight for maximum financial compensation for you, your child and your family in the face of a preventable birth injury. You will not pay us for our work unless we win your case.