Medical Malpractice Claim Against Physician For Failing to Recognizing Premature Membrane Rupture

Premature rupture of membranes is a condition in which the amniotic sac ruptures prior to labor. When a obstetrician that diagnoses a mother with premature rupture of membranes the medical community normally concurs that the treating doctor should admit the woman to the hospital, observe her for at least three to four days, and give her an antibiotic and steroids. The antibiotic is supposed to minimize the risk of infection from happening in her uterus and steroids are administered to stimulate lung growth in the child as when premature rupture of membranes occurs, the physician must deliver the child early. Using the steroids and antibiotic in conjunction increases the possibility that the child will live.

In this lawsuit the mother, who was pregnant, observed that she had wetness in her undergarments and scheduled an appointment to see her doctoras soon as possible. She went to the obstetrician's hospital where she was connected to a fetal heart monitor while her doctor conducted a speculum examination. After the examination she was disconnected from the fetal monitor roughly five minutes later.

The obstetrician informed her that she had a yeast infection and sent her home. The mother was unhappy with the care she received and contacted her primary care doctor with the intention to change obstetrician. However, before she could even meet with her primary care physician she saw that she had blood in her urine and rushed in to see her doctor.

After she got to the hospital, her obstetrician told her that her baby did not have a heart beat. An ultrasound confirmed that her baby was dead. After the mother gave birth to her stillbo
baby, her physician told her that her amniotic sacs had ruptured. An autopsy showed that the mother had an intrauterine infection that resulted in a placental abruption which ultimately lead to the baby's death. If the mother's obstetrician had diagnosed the infection earlier the baby could have lived.

A case ensued against the mother's obstetrician. At trial the atto
ey that represented the mother was was able to successfully argue that the obstetrician did not meet the standard of care. The first time that the mother went to see her physician because of the wetness she noticed in her undergarments the doctor was required to conduct three tests, a nitrazine test, a ferning test and an ultrasound.

A nitrazine test is similar to a litmus test, which tests the ph in a woman's vagina. If the result exceeds a particular value it is an indicator that the membranes of the amniotic sac has ruptured. The ferning test would have indicated the amount of amniotic fluid that was in the mother's vaginal secretion. And the mother's ultrasound would have informed the doctor how much amniotic fluid was in the amniotic sac and how much she had lost. However, the physician did not perform any of these tests.

The doctor additionally failed to recognize the signs from the fetal heart monitor that were indicative of cord compression. Moreover, after the doctor received the results of the mother's white blood cell count, which signaled that she might have an infection, her physician did not change his diagnosis, failed to inform the mother and failed to request that she return for further testing. As a result, and as reported by the law firm that represented the woman the jury returned a in the sum of $2.75 million.