Following a three week trial, a California jury reached a determination that a hospital’s negligence led to the death of an unborn baby. The medical malpractice verdict, amounted to $590,000. The jury agreed with the mother’s allegation that her baby died inside the womb because the hospital delayed an emergency cesarean section.

Plaintiff Denise C. accused San Antonio Regional Hospital in Upland, Calif. of negligence, claiming that the hospital’s doctor and nurses failed to properly monitor her fetus’s heart rate. Hospital personnel also allegedly failed conduct an emergency cesarean section in a timely manner — leading to her baby’s death.

Allegedly, said Denise in her lawsuit, had the nurses and doctor properly monitored the fetus’s heart rate, they would have discovered that the fetus’s heath was in danger in time to conduct an emergency cesarean section and save her life.

Denise also claims that she suffered a postnatal infection, also caused by the hospital’s negligence during their care for the patient.

In the medical malpractice verdict, the San Bernardino County Superior Court jury found that San Antonio Hospital’s Dr. Mark Alwan was not negligent in his treatment of Denise, but that nurses Susan Gearhart and Andrea Sanchez were. Because of the nurses’ alleged negligence, the jury warded Denise $65,000 for post medical expenses and past income. Denise was also awarded $575,000 fro past and future damages of a non-economic nature, including pain and suffering caused by the loss of her unborn child.

Despite determining that hospital negligence led to the plaintiff’s baby’s death, the medical malpractice verdict does not hold the hospital liable for wrongful death because the baby died while still in the uterus. California does not recognize wrongful death claims in the case of the death of an unborn fetus. 

An attorney for Denise told Law360 in a statement regarding the lawsuit that “if [Denise’s baby] had taken just one breath outside of the womb, [Denise] would have been entitled to wrongful death damages. However, under the law we determined at she was not entitled to emotional distress damages for the death of her baby even though she was not entitled to wrongful death damage.”

Counsel for Dr. Mark Alwan, expressed approval that the jury had not found Alwan guilty of negligence. According to a report by Law360, the attorney stated that “while the plaintiff suffered from an extreme tragedy and underwent extraordinary emotional duress, the jury realized that our client had done every conceivable thing possible to save her baby.”

The attorney for the plaintiff also told Law360 that she was “very pleased that we were able to get justice for our client, Denise…and that San Antonio Regional Hospital will now be forced to take responsibility for [Denise’s] injuries and the death of her baby, Abigayle Jocelyn.”

The Medical Malpractice Unborn Child Death Lawsuit is Case No. CIVD21701102, in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Bernardino.