This summer an Iowa jury awarded the family of a little girl $1.314 million for birth injuries she sustained during a poorly performed delivery.
According to the Asher family, the on-call OBGYN Specialist at their daughter’s delivery should have recognized that her shoulder was stuck behind her mother’s pelvic bone. Recognizing the problem, he should have recommended a caesarian section or attempted to free the shoulder. Instead, he went ahead with the delivery, using “excessive traction” to free the child. Injuries to the left arm became apparent immediately after delivery.
The mistakes during delivery resulted in the girl having permanent injuries to the brachial plexus, a network of nerves that start in the spinal cord and control movements in the shoulder, arm and hand. Injuries like this are most common in sports and during childbirth, often leaving the arm without any function. The daughter of the Asher family will have limited use of her left arm.
The trial ended in a substantial settlement. Of the $1.314 million, $550,000 is for loss of future earnings, $380,000 for loss of full mind and body, $258,000 for pain and suffering and $63,000 is for each parent for loss of childhood consortium.
Cappolion Dodd Krebs, LLP – birth trauma lawyers
