Louisville Fetal Monitoring Negligence Lawyers

Failure to Identify & Treat Fetal Distress in Kentucky

When you admit yourself to a hospital in time to give birth to your child, you expect a high level of medical care and supervision over yourself and your unborn child. To not have your medical team meet those expectations, and to have you or your child suffer due to this failure, goes beyond what any expectant parent imagines to happen during the birth process.

At Dolt, Thompson, Shepherd, Conway & Stanton, PSC, we understand how difficult a time this is for you. For three decades, we have helped parents like you get the compensation they need to care for their children after a birth injury. We promise to provide you with the personalized attention and dedicated representation that you need at this time.

Many of the medical malpractice cases we have taken on have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts. Learn how we can use our past successes to help you by contacting our Kentucky law firm today.

What Is Fetal Monitoring?

While you are pregnant and during labor, your baby’s vital signs are monitored just as yours are monitored as well. The baby’s heart rate is an important indicator of the health of the baby during pregnancy and labor. From the very first time a baby’s heartbeat is detected between six to seven weeks after gestation, it is monitored along with other developmental factors as the fetus grows.

Fetal heart monitoring measures the rhythm and heart rate of your baby to help your doctor assess the growth and development of your baby. There are generally two methods of fetal heart rate monitoring — external fetal heart monitoring and internal fetal heart monitoring.

External Fetal Monitoring

External fetal heart monitoring involves the use of a medical device to listen to the baby’s heartbeat through the mother’s abdomen. These medical devices can also record the rate and pattern of the baby’s heartbeat and translate that to a printable chart that can be read and interpreted by the doctor.

Internal Fetal Monitoring

Internal fetal heart monitoring involves the use of an electrode inserted through the cervix to the baby’s head. This method is used when the doctor requires a better reading than what is produced by the external method. This method can only be done when the amniotic sac has broken (the mother’s water has broken) and the cervix is open, typically during labor.

Fetal Monitoring Negligence

When a fetus is monitored as it should be, a doctor would be aware of any signs of fetal distress at the earliest possible time and take appropriate action to avoid injury to the mother and baby. During labor, failure to recognize signs of fetal distress can result in neurological injury for the baby, including seizures, bleeding into the brain, or brain asphyxia. Fetal monitoring errors can also result in death of the baby.

Your doctor is required to monitor your baby during pregnancy and labor according to the standard of care expected of a doctor in the same position. When the doctor’s failure to act according to the expected standard of care results in injury, they could be held legally responsible for negligence.

While not every bad outcome during pregnancy and labor is the result of a doctor’s negligence, if your or your baby’s injury was caused by fetal monitoring negligence, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

How Much Time Do I Have to Make a Claim?

Under Kentucky law, a victim of fetal monitoring negligence has one year from the time the injury is first discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of reasonable care. This means that you do not have to wait until your doctor tells you that they made a mistake in order to take action.

As soon as you think that something might be wrong and your doctor’s actions might be the cause, that is the time to take action. If you are suspicious from the beginning of your labor or as soon as your child is born, your time to take action starts running and you should contact a fetal monitoring negligence attorney as soon as you can.

Your attorney can begin investigating your case to determine your chances of success in a negligence claim.

Adept at Handling All Fetal Monitoring Negligence Claims

Our Louisville fetal monitoring negligence attorneys have a clear understanding of what it takes to build a birth injury claim. We know that there are numerous types of fetal monitors in hospitals across the country, and that each monitor operates differently. If a doctor or nurse fails to understand how to use the monitor, it can lead to serious birth injuries, including cerebral palsy.

Common Causes of Fetal Monitoring Negligence

• Doctors not being available when a crisis occurs
• Nurses misreading the responses on fetal monitors
• Failing to catch changes within set high and low parameters

We will seek to hold all negligent parties accountable for their actions, including doctors, nurses, and the hospital. Seek out our legal team today to learn more.

For experienced, dedicated representation after your child was harmed by fetal monitoring negligence, contact our Kentucky law firm. We offer free initial consultations and handle cases on a contingency fee basis.