Many juries have awarded large judgments for babies harmed by failure to perform a necessary C-section. This is the first case I’ve heard about where the large judgment was awarded for failure to perform a requested C-section and the mother suffered the injury.
According to The Intelligencer:
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Women have the right have to control their own bodies by opting for a C-section instead of a vaginal birth.[/pullquote]
A Bucks County jury has awarded a mother $11 million for ongoing health issues following the birth of her second child.
A Bucks County jury has awarded $11 million to a mother who suffered disfiguring and ongoing injuries during the birth of her second child. The lawsuit states that she had requested a cesarean delivery because of a difficult first birth.
She had suffered a shoulder dystocia and a third degree vaginal tear during her first birth:
The suit, first filed in August 2013, states that in Giberson’s first delivery, which occurred in 2008, her baby was born with shoulder dystocia which occurred when a baby’s shoulder gets wedged under the pelvic bone in the birth canal. Giberson suffered a third-degree laceration with the delivery. Those complications were detailed and known or should have been known by Stoneridge Obstetrics & Gynecology physicians, the suit states.
What is a third degree laceration?
All vaginal tears are not alike. The decision on whether they should be repaired, how they should be repaired and the consequences of not repairing them depend completely on the type of tear. Most tears occur downward into the area between the vagina and rectum known as the perineum. It is more accurate, therefore, to refer to them as perineal tears. The Mayo Clinic website has an excellent series of slides detailing the normal anatomy of the perineum and the 4 degrees of perineal tears. First degree tears are the least serious and 4th degree tears the most.
Here is an illustration of a third degree tear.
The perineal muscles identified in the illustration are the superficial perineal muscles. The anal sphincter is the ring of muscle that holds the anus closed. It is directly responsible for preventing bowel incontinence. If it will is torn completely apart and not properly repaired, the woman will be incontinent.
Her history put this mother at high risk for a second shoulder dystocia with possible injury to her baby, herself or both. Then she developed another risk factor for shoulder dystocia — gestational diabetes.
She communicated to the practice that a C-section “was requested and necessary” since her first child had been born at 9.9 pounds with shoulder dystocia.
On the day of birth she once again requested a C-section:
On July 21, 2011, the day she gave birth, she again requested a C-section because of the difficult first birth and the fear that something would happen to her or her baby. But, according to the suit, Hancock and the other defendants opted for a vaginal delivery.
The complaint states that ”(the baby) was stuck in the birth canal and not coming out.” The baby weighed 9 pounds, 8 ounces and was not breathing when delivered, the suit states. The baby recovered.
According to the suit, Hancock caused a laceration to Giberson but didn’t inform the plaintiff of the degree. The mother was discharged “in excruciating pain” and was incontinent…
We don’t know if the mother sustained another third degree tear or possibly a fourth degree tear.
A fourth degree tear extends into the rectum. The result is that the vaginal and rectum form one continuous space. The repair of a fourth degree tear starts with the repair of the rectum itself. Depending on the how far the tear extends up into the rectum, the repair can be technically challenging and can take an hour or more. Once the rectum is repaired, the rest of the tear is repaired like any other third degree tear. However, because the rectum itself has been torn, the possibility exists that the tear may heal improperly and leave a hole (fistula) between the vagina and rectum with continual leaking of feces from the vagina.
The article does not specify the type of tear that the mother sustained, whether it was properly identified and whether it was properly repaired. Something went wrong, however, to render the mother incontinent and surgery was recommended. According to a report in a legal publication, the mother will require additional future surgery.
The verdict sends an important message. A healthy baby is not enough. A woman’s wishes about her own body also count and the desire for a C-section is a woman’s reasonable attempt to prevent damage to her vagina and surrounding tissues as well as future incontinence.
It’s about time that we acknowledge the important right that women have to control their own bodies by opting for a C-section instead of a vaginal birth.
