The United States has incredible technology, advanced healthcare, constant innovation. But mothers are dying in delivery rooms. So many mothers are dying, in fact, that the U.S. is now the most dangerous place in the developed world for a woman to give birth. How can this be true? It’s not because our country is lacking in medical equipment or experienced doctors. It all boils down to medical negligence.
Medical Negligence in the Delivery Room
Hospital safety practices should be routine but, as found in a USA TODAY investigation, too many hospitals, doctors, nurses, and medical workers nationwide fail to provide the basic standard of care to prevent trauma in the delivery room.
The tragic results of this negligence include:
- Massive bleeding leading to organ failure
- High blood pressure resulting in stroke
- Preventable blood clots
- Untreated infections
These complications have led to life-threatening injuries, hysterectomies, paralysis, and death. Children have been left without mothers. Mothers have been robbed of the chance to have more children. Families have been permanently altered.
While most women in America give birth without complication, more than 50,000 mothers are severely injured every year. Of these women, about 700 die. Black mothers die at a rate of three to four times that of white mothers. Research has found that nearly half of these deaths could have been prevented and half the injuries eliminated or at least reduced with better medical care.
The Consequences of Poor Attention to Detail
There is a widespread failure to protect new mothers and a stunning lack of attention to safety recommendations. Through the USA TODAY research, it was found that many hospitals across the nation are not taking the necessary safety steps to quantify a mother’s blood loss or efficiently treat mothers with dangerously high blood pressure, leading to hemorrhage and severe hypertension.
What these tragedies come down to is a lack of attention to detail. The problems are occurring in small hospitals, major birthing centers, and in doctor’s offices before the delivery process even begins.
Medical staff should be tracking mothers for warning signs of internal bleeding, high blood pressure, and all possible related delivery complications. Failing to monitor patients and delays in administering medication have led to irrevocable health problems and death.
Forcing Hospitals, Doctors, and Nurses to Do Better
The largest hospital accreditation group in the United States has proposed new legislation to prevent deadly deliveries from ever occurring. Measures to react to severe bleeding and extremely high blood pressure have long been recommended to protect the life of a mother – and her baby – but they are often, unbelievably, ignored.
Certainly, some hospitals do have limited resources or are short on staff, but to what end? The priority should always be to provide the highest standard of care to every patient, no matter the limitations. Substandard care by hospitals and medical professionals have led to thousands of preventable deaths and maternal injuries. Not only maternity departments but emergency departments, as requested by the new legislation, should be trained in these best practices.
Have you suffered because of incompetence and negligence in the delivery room? Contact Thurswell Law to get the legal help and support you need and deserve. Don’t allow a poor medical facility or medical professional to get away with substandard care. Schedule a consultation with one of our medical malpractice lawyers by calling (248) 354-2222 today. We do not charge any fees unless you collect.
