ZDR Birth Injury Attorneys Win $7 million Settlement in Illinois

The female birth injury attorneys at Zevan Davidson Roman recently settled a case involving a now 4-year-old girl born at an Illinois hospital. This event showcases how the women of ZDR pursue justice and recompense for families impacted by medical malpractice during a delicate period of a child’s life.

Case Background

ZDR’s young client was born at a hospital in central Illinois after her mother arrived in active labor. Both a nurse midwife and a delivery nurse failed to notice that an external electronic fetal monitor meant to show the fetal heart rate in conjunction with uterine contractions had lost signal after administering an epidural to the mother. As a result, the medical professionals on staff allowed the mother to labor for more than an hour without being able to obtain a good read on the fetal heart rate. The birth injuries were severe — the baby girl was born limp, blue, without respiration and with a low heart rate.

The baby girl was resuscitated and flown to a hospital to receive therapeutic hypothermic cooling in an attempt to stop or reverse damage to her brain. Unfortunately, it was too late — the baby girl’s MRI revealed that she suffered from a static hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy of the brain. She suffered from seizures and was eventually diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy. To this day, she requires 24-hour care as she is unable to walk, communicate effectively or have purposeful movements.

Failure to Monitor During Labor

As both women and mothers, the birth injury lawyers at ZDR were ready to fight for the trauma inflicted to the mother and her child. Our attorneys hired top experts to evaluate the labor and delivery events as well as post-partum care. Our team alleged that the delivery providers failed to establish adequate monitoring of the fetal heart during labor and delivery. Our attorneys also alleged that the failure to act after the monitor was no longer working directly caused the trauma and brain damage that continues to impact this family.

The internal fetal scalp electrode should have been applied when the external mode of monitoring was no longer working, and an expedited delivery via Cesarean section should have been conducted by a physician as soon as they failed to pick up a signal. Our experts opined that, as the mother was positioned for her epidural, the umbilical cord was compressed and the child required emergent delivery. If the healthcare workers had continually monitored, it is probable that the child would have been born without injury.

Settlement

After preparing the case for trial, our birth injury lawyers reached an agreeable settlement for $7 million with the defendants. The child’s money was placed into a special needs trust, allowing her mother to provide for her ongoing medical care.

Representation that Understands You

Although this case was settled prior to court, the women of ZDR pursued justice with compassionate and aggressive representation. As mothers, we understand that watching your child hurt is one of the most heart-wrenching things you can experience. You placed your trust in medical professionals while they allowed irreparable damage to occur. Consulting a female birth injury attorney after medical malpractice can ensure that you receive the compensation you and your child greatly deserve.