Despite wrongful death during childbirth being less common than injuries during childbirth, the United States still has higher rates of maternal or infant mortality due to medical negligence or malpractice during childbirth.
Common causes of wrongful death during labor include maternal neglect, like failing to perform a timely C-section or act on fetal distress; medical errors, like misdiagnosis and administering wrong medications; and perinatal asphyxia due to delayed C-sections.
If you lost your wife, mother, or newborn because of medical malpractice during childbirth, consult a wrongful death attorney. Though an attorney can never bring your loved one back, they can hold negligent providers accountable and calculate how much compensation you’re entitled to.
Common Wrongful Death Reasons and Filing for a Wrongful Death Claim
During childbirth, care for both the mother and the fetus is very crucial; even the slightest of neglect can result in severe injuries or even death.
Maternal death occurs when medical professionals fail to recognize placental issues, preeclampsia, poor monitoring or treatment of high blood pressure, manage severe postpartum bleeding, and incorrect dosage causing uterine issues.
Perinatal death occurs due to stalled labor, failure to act on the signs of fetal distress, and misuse of forceps and vacuum extractors.
Families can file for a wrongful death claim by consulting a medical malpractice attorney who’s experienced in dealing with wrongful death cases.
Who Can File for a Wrongful Death Claim?
For childbirth-related deaths, close family members can file for a wrongful death claim, such as
- Surviving spouse of the deceased mother
- Parents of the deceased infant
- The children of the deceased mother
- Personal representative of the decedent’s estate.
When both the mother and the baby die, separate wrongful death lawsuits may be pursued.
Who Can Be Liable for Wrongful Death During Childbirth?
The liability for wrongful death during childbirth typically falls on negligent healthcare providers who breached their duty of care, which led to the death of the mother or the baby, and the family suffered loss and damages from it.
Potential parties for liability can be:
- When OB-GYN (obstetrician/gynecologist) providers are found to be negligent because of their misuse or improper treatment
- Nurses are often the first to notice signs of distress, and they can be held liable if they fail to monitor it and notify the physician.
- When midwives fail to recognize high-risk situations
- A neonatologist’s failure to resuscitate or manage neonatal distress.
- An anesthesiologist’s error in medication administration
- If death was caused by malfunctioning equipment, the manufacturer, designer, and supplier may be held liable.
What You Should Know About Statute of Limitations
If you lose someone to wrongful death during childbirth, you should file a claim as soon as possible since you have a deadline for filing these claims in most states ranging from 1 to 3 years.
However, there are few exceptions when the death wasn’t immediately known or was hidden by medical providers, and if the claimant is a minor, they can file a lawsuit only after they reach the age of majority and understand their rights.
The maternal death may have shorter deadlines than the newborn’s wrongful death claims, often having extended deadlines by “tolling.”
Collect Evidence Along with Your Attorney
With your attorney’s help, file a court order to preserve all the medical documents that can indicate the negligence of the medical professionals led to the wrongful death during childbirth, especially if the hospital tries to destroy or alter the records.
What Families Can Recover as Compensation
Families can recover compensation for both economic damages like medical bills, funeral costs, and lost parental income and non-economic damages like suffering, grief, and trauma of losing a mother or a spouse.
Key Takeaways
- Maternal or fetal death occurs due to failure to recognize risks and fetal distress during childbirth.
- Families can file a wrongful death claim by consulting a wrongful death attorney.
- Spouses, children, personal representatives of the deceased mother, and the parents of the infant can file for a wrongful death claim.
- OB-GYN providers, nurses, neonatologists, midwives, and anesthesiologists for negligence and manufacturers or designers for defective equipment can be sued.
- Families have a deadline for filing a wrongful death claim, and they should act before the deadline.
- Along with an attorney’s help, families need to preserve medical records with a court order.
- Families can recover for medical bills, funeral costs, and their loss and grief.
