Across the country, thousands of parents are contending with damage done to their children due to the negligent actions of their doctors and obstetricians during childbirth. A number of these parents have taken legal action against these medical professionals for birth injury malpractice.

Parents Derrick and Elizabeth R. are joining the fight. They filed a medical malpractice birth injury lawsuit in Marion County Circuit Court that names three doctors, two clinics and the hospital where their son was born as the defendants. The plaintiff couple is seeking $40 million in economic and non-economic damages for the trauma Elizabeth suffered and the permanent birth injuries their child is still enduring.

Elizabeth and Derrick say their six-year-old son still struggles with a variety of challenges in life due to cerebral palsy, which they claim was caused by the negligent acts of the defendants during his birth. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that get worse over time and prevents normal cognitive and motor development. It can be caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain during childbirth.

Medical records submitted as evidence in their birth injury lawsuit indicate that Elizabeth had a completely normal pregnancy and did not encounter any complications until the birth itself.

Elizabeth describes in the birth injury lawsuit a very harrowing birth experience at Silverton Hospital, where the decisions made during their son’s birth allegedly led to his cerebral palsy. The medical malpractice lawsuit accuses the hospital of acting too late and not adequately addressing the parents’ concern during the birth.

Difficult Childbirth or Medical Negligence?

Before the birth of her son, Elizabeth had chosen her obstetrician and hospital based on the positive reviews she found through internet research. She had reportedly chosen this hospital for its luxurious birthing center, and for the hospital’s reputation of being attentive to its mothers. The overall plan Elizabeth had for her son’s birth was primarily based on the trust she placed in her doctor. She says she wanted to try giving birth without drugs with the exception of an epidural. If the birth ended up with complications, she was also open to a cesarean section (C-section) delivery.

According to the medical malpractice lawsuit, Elizabeth and Derrick arrived at the hospital on Dec. 11, 2007 after being 15 days late of the due date. Her labor reportedly lasted eleven hours, with delivery staff continuing to increase the dosage of the drugs given to Elizabeth, and ordered her to push despite her son’s head not being positioned at the cervix. This allegedly caused stress to the child, as indicated when his heart rate dropped to 60 beats per minute for about six minutes, according to the medical malpractice lawsuit.

In the end the doctors decided to deliver the baby though an emergency C-section and found that the baby had inhaled his own fecal matter during the birth; the baby had defecated due to the stress. The baby was unable to breathe when he was born and had to be resuscitated with a face mask and oxygen bag, according to the birth injury lawsuit. While their son was eventually stabilized, it was soon discovered he suffered massive brain damage due to how long he was deprived of oxygen.

Elizabeth and Derrick are filing this lawsuit after becoming educated of birth injuries that may have been induced by negligent decisions during the birthing process, which was discovered in their son’s physical therapy sessions. They started analyzing the actions the hospital took, and realized that almost no information was given to them about the potential complications during the birthing process.

While childbirth is always stressful to the mother, how complicated the birth is can increase the likelihood of injury to both the mother and child. Expert obstetricians advise that delivering the baby quickly and ensuring the mother’s comfort should be prioritized during the birth to prevent birth injuries. Hospitals that fail to adequately protect the mother and child could be held accountable.

The defendants named in the birth injury lawsuit have denied all allegations, and claim the plaintiff couple have passed the statute of limitations. A trial has been set for Jan. 20, 2015.