Baby dies due to failure to diagnose a ruptured uterus
Jane was admitted into hospital having gone into natural labour with her second child, her first child previously being delivered through caesarean section.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Jane was placed into a room with her partner, Steve, and left there for approximately an hour and throughout this time she became increasingly distressed. Jane’s pain became almost constant and would increase with contractions.
After the hour had passed, a midwife came in to see Jane and gave her gas and air. The midwife was unable to find a heartbeat and came to the conclusion the baby was ‘playing hide and seek’. Jane and her partner noticed that the baby made a violent movement which was itself visible through Jane‘s stomach. Several midwives and an obstetrician then attempted to detect the baby’s heart beat, but this could not be found. Rather than suspecting that the baby was in distress, the obstetrician called for an ultrasound scan of the baby.
There was a fifteen minute delay whilst the scanner was located and the scan performed. This identified that there was no heartbeat from the baby. The decision to perform an emergency caesarean section was finally made.
It was subsequently discovered that Jane’s uterus had ruptured along the site of her previous caesarean section scar and that also her bladder was damaged. Her baby, Charlie, was born in a very poor condition due to having been starved of oxygen. He was moved to a separate hospital and given drugs to control his constant fitting. Sadly he did not survive more than twenty-four hours.
Jane and Steve pursued a claim against the local NHS Trust and was awarded £75,000 with the assistance of medical negligence lawyer, Guy Forster.