Childbirth is a difficult medical procedure that can put intense stress on the mother and the child alike. In some cases, bleeding during birth can cause substantial injuries that put the mother’s life and safety at risk. These risks of severe bleeding and hemorrhaging are often enhanced by negligent physicians and subpar healthcare.
If you or a loved one was injured while delivering a child and suffered severe hemorrhaging and bleeding, contact the Arlington, Texas birth injury hemorrhage lawyers at The Queenan Law Firm. Our attorneys represent medical malpractice victims and fight to get them and their families the compensation they need for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Call (817) 476-1797 to set up a free legal consultation with our lawyers.
Common Causes of Postpartum Hemorrhaging and Bleeding During Delivery
Many factors put mothers at risk for injuries while giving birth. The most common reason that someone might be injured while giving birth is that the birth canal is too narrow for the baby. This could be because the mother has a narrow birth canal or because the baby is large. In either case, extra pushing may only cause injury to the mother and the infant, and the doctor may decide that delivery with forceps or via C-section might be better for both patients. In some cases where a doctor does not intervene and allows the mother to be hurt, serious bleeding can occur.
Other times, the bleeding is caused by issues with the mother’s uterus, internal tears, damage to the placenta or uterus, medication complications, or old tissue damage from previous births. In many of these cases, there is little that can be done to prevent bleeding, but prompt medical care can help alleviate the symptoms and prevent additional complications from excessive blood loss.
In many cases, the doctor’s negligence is not in preventing the blood loss, but failing to discover and treat the mother for excessive hemorrhaging. A postpartum hemorrhage is diagnosed as loss of at least 500ml of blood – about a 10th of the total blood in your body. Failing to discover a severe bleed like this is often negligent, as is failing to get the patient proper care.
Suing for Bleeding Injuries After Delivering a Baby
If you faced serious blood loss, you may have passed out or required additional surgeries and procedures to stop the bleeding. In many cases, this can result in damages that could be compensated by filing a lawsuit. Getting the additional surgeries and medical care covered by the doctor that let you bleed in the first place can alleviate the cost of procedures you would not have needed if it were not for their negligence. You can also, similarly, claim damages for the pain and suffering you faced as well as any additional harms this excessive bleeding caused you, such as lost wages and additional time off work outside of normal maternity leave.
To get this compensation, you must prove that your doctor did something wrong. A doctor is required to give you adequate healthcare that aligns with the “standard of care.” This standard care is subjective in the sense that it depends on the specific scenario: what condition the patient has, what their symptoms are, what care has already been given, etc. However, the standard is still objective because it is based on what a “reasonable” physician would do in that situation. You typically prove the standard of care by having a medical expert testify on your behalf as to what a reasonable physician should do and how your doctor’s care fell below that standard.
The doctor cannot usually be held responsible for your injuries if their care was adequate. Typically, injuries and complications that occur in childbirth cannot be avoided by better care, and many doctors in the same situation would have been unable to avoid the injury, too. In these cases, these normal complications cannot justify a lawsuit. Instead, you must prove that your doctor did something wrong, such as failing to order a C-section during a difficult delivery or failing to monitor your condition after delivery.
To prove your case, you must convince the jury that your doctor was negligent. The jury typically decides the facts of a case, not the judge, which means you must convince them that your doctor was responsible for your injuries. The judge, instead, acts as a legal referee so that the law is followed and only admissible evidence and testimony makes it to the jury’s ears, ensuring the case is fair.
You must prove that your claim is the truth, more likely than not, under a standard known as a “preponderance of the evidence.” This is a much lower threshold than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard used in criminal cases and on many TV shows, and it is often easier to meet this burden. Talk to a lawyer about what kind of evidence is admissible and how to go about building your case and interviewing witnesses with your lawyer’s help.
Call Our Arlington, Texas Attorneys for Excessive Bleeding During Childbirth
If you suffered excessive bleeding during childbirth or you lost a loved one to postpartum hemorrhaging during delivery, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit for the doctor’s negligent medical care. The Arlington birth injury hemorrhage attorneys at The Queenan Law Firm represent injury victims and their families, and we may be able to take your case and work to get you compensation for your injuries. For a free legal consultation, call us today at (817) 476-1797.