County sued after girl born with birth injury

Far too often, parents throughout Ohio and the rest of the nation are left heartbroken when they find out that a mistake during childbirth resulted in serious or permanent injury to their newborn baby. Sometimes birth injuries result from errors made by hospital staff members during delivery, but other times, birth injuries result from what isn’t done.

In a tragic example of this, a Midwestern pregnant woman went into labor while she was serving time in jail in 1998. The woman was taken to the hospital, but then was returned to the jail two hours later. However, the woman’s labor progressed and despite cries for help, the woman was not taken back to the hospital in time.

The woman ended up giving birth to a daughter in jail, but because the child lacked critical oxygen during the birthing process, she was left with serious brain damage. The daughter is now 14-years-old and is severely impaired. Recently, an attorney representing the girl sued the county for failing to get the girl’s mother to the hospital in time.

Last month, the birth injury lawsuit was settled for a reported $8 million, which will go towards funding the care of the disabled girl, who has been raised by a guardian since birth. Of course, no amount of money could ever be enough to compensate a child or family for a serious birth injury, but it can help pay for the special care that is often required.

Source:  Detroit Free Press, “Lawsuit over birth with lack-of-oxygen at Wayne County jail settled for $8M,” Dec. 13, 2012