Baltimore, MD Maternal Hemorrhage Attorney

When giving birth, a mother’s primary concern is usually the baby and the baby’s safety. Despite this, the doctor caring for the mother and the baby should still focus on the safety of both patients, and failing to properly address health concerns or dangers for the mother might be considered medical negligence.

Maternal hemorrhaging is one of the most common causes of serious injury for mothers giving birth, and doctors should be equipped to provide care for this kind of complication. If you suffered serious hemorrhaging during childbirth and your doctor did not provide adequate care, or if the mother of your child passed away during birth from excessive bleeding, contact the Baltimore maternal hemorrhage attorneys at Rice, Murtha & Psoras today. Contact us at (410) 694-7291 to set up a free consultation and learn more about suing for maternal hemorrhaging injuries in Baltimore.

Maternal Hemorrhage Injuries During and After Childbirth

It is quite common for a mother to suffer a maternal hemorrhage and other complications when giving birth to a child. the doctor’s responsibilities include taking reasonable steps to prevent, diagnose, and treat these kinds of complications, but many doctors might fail to properly uphold that duty. If that happens and you suffer serious injuries, you may be entitled to sue the physician and the hospital they work for.

Post-delivery bleeding, or “postpartum” bleeding, is often caused by issues with the muscles in the uterus or tears and trauma to the birth canal and uterus. If risk factors for these injuries are not discovered before the delivery, there might be no additional care put toward preventing the hemorrhage. the excess bleeding can begin during the delivery or in the hours after the delivery. Proper follow-up care is required to catch postpartum bleeding early and allow treatments to be effective.

If your doctor fails to discover postpartum bleeding early, you could face a drop in blood pressure, significant blood loss, and other complications. These issues can lead to further problems, such as a need for surgery to repair tears and stop the bleeding, surgery to remove any remaining pieces of the placenta, or other procedures. Blood or plasma infusions might also be necessary to treat the blood loss.

All of these additional care costs could increase the cost of medical care, and if the additional care costs would have been avoided with more attentive care, you may be entitled to sue for these costs.

Common Causes of Hemorrhages in Baltimore

A hemorrhage occurs when a ruptured blood vessel causes blood loss. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 700 women die in childbirth every year, and over 50,000 more nearly die, experiencing maternal morbidity, most often due to complications from severe bleeding. Bleeding is common after C-sections, which can lead to complications like hemorrhages. Scheduled inductions are also associated with higher rates of post-partum hemorrhage. A ruptured cervix is a common problem in natural births that causes birth injury hemorrhages. However, doctors aren’t always prepared to manage these common risks swiftly. Reportedly, one primary reason is that many hospitals do not have effective protocols in place to protect mothers from complications related to childbirth. This problem can be the result of wrong assumptions about the risks of birth injury hemorrhages. NPR reports that many of our medical practitioners and staff assume that women rarely die in childbirth. At times staffing is better prepared to respond to complications involving the newborn instead of the mother.

Some bleeding after giving birth is completely normal. However, their obvious signs that something is going wrong. Most women at risk will begin to feel sick and light headed as the bleeding starts. Blood loss flows faster than doctors can pump it back and surgery has to be performed immediately to stop the bleeding. In addition, there are risks involved in the surgery as doctors have no option but to perform an emergency hysterectomy. A hysterectomy is an operation to remove a woman’s uterus. Removal of the uterus definitely forecloses the woman’s ability to have more children. Recovery after surgery to correct birth injury also exposes other risks. Antibiotics have to be administered, and blood has to be continuously drawn to check for infections.

Birth Injury Hemorrhage Risk Statistics

Researchers maintain that the United States is the most dangerous country in the developed world to have a baby. In fact, the rate of maternal mortality in the U.S. has been increasing, making it worse now than it was 20 years ago. A 2012 Maryland report determined that hemorrhage was the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths and issued recommendations for implementing protocols for prompt and timely responses to post-partum hemorrhages.

The average costs of emergency surgeries are $100,000, and any further complications can raise the total medical expenses. Your family’s finances can be crippled as steep medical costs mount. Proper treatment provided in the first place could have avoided a severe financial injury. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can help you navigate through the process. the most traumatic result is when a preventable loss of the life of a mother results from complications stemming from birth injury hemorrhage. When there are protocols ignored or surgery is delayed because no one was prepared for this eventuality, it’s clear that the tragic loss could have been avoided. An experienced birth injury malpractice attorney can identify all the ways in which the injury could have been avoided.

Suing for Postpartum Bleeding Complications in Baltimore

While some level of bleeding is to be expected during many births, some cases of hemorrhages are caused by negligent care. If you can prove that your bleeding only occurred because your doctor failed to give you adequate care, you can claim compensation related to the injuries. Similarly, you can also claim damages if your doctor’s negligence allowed what would have been a more minor case of bleeding to become excessive and cause additional harm.

To prove your doctor’s negligence, you must typically use a medical expert to testify on your behalf in court. Your lawyer can hire a medical expert to testify in court, typically a doctor that performs similar procedures and handles similar medical problems. the jury can usually accept the expert’s testimony as fact, giving them information about how the procedure should go, how bleeding risk should be assessed, and what doctors should do to try to discover and treat postpartum bleeding.

In many cases, the defendant doctor will be represented by a lawyer supplied by their medical malpractice insurance company. the lawyer and the medical malpractice insurance provider will typically work to end cases early. If they see that their client was indeed responsible, they may offer a settlement rather than taking the case to court, but you should always have a lawyer review a settlement offer to ensure that it covers your needs. Instead of a settlement, the doctor might fight the case in court, in which case your attorney will need to take the case to trial to prove your claim before a judge and jury to get you the compensation you need.

Compensation and Damages in a Post-Birth Maternal Hemorrhage Case in Baltimore

If you or your baby’s mother suffered a serious maternal hemorrhage while giving or after giving birth, there could be substantial costs and other harms that you can seek compensation for. In most cases of injuries like this, there are serious pain and discomfort associated with the injury. Additionally, there might be other harms, such as emotional distress from the stress of the injury or the fact that additional hospitalization stops you from enjoying your newborn’s first few days in the world. the pain and suffering of the injury can be compensated directly.

Maternal hemorrhages caused by negligence can also require additional care costs. the cost of treatment for surgeries and other medical intervention can be expensive, and these costs should be paid by the responsible party. This means seeking compensation for the full value of your additional medical care from the at-fault doctor.

Lastly, if your injuries are excessive enough to cause permanent or long-term injuries, you may be entitled to future damages. This can include lost wages after maternity leave or future medical care costs. If the maternal bleeding led to fatal injuries, additional damages for lost companionship, lost counsel, lost household services, and other harms might be available as well.

Call Our Baltimore Lawyer for Mothers Suffering from Excessive Bleeding After Childbirth

While postpartum hemorrhages are somewhat common, that does not mean that they are always normal complications. If your doctor was responsible for excess bleeding or postpartum hemorrhaging after a delivery, contact Rice, Murtha & Psoras today. A free legal consultation with our Baltimore maternal hemorrhage attorney can help you learn more about your options for seeking compensation. Call (410) 694-7291 today to schedule your free consultation.