Menu
Call

1 (440) 442-6677

X

Get Legal Help

Did Your Newborn Suffer Cerebral
Palsy or Another Brain Injury Before
or During Labor and Delivery?

Learn More

Our Birth Brain Injury Resource Guide

the guide

Get a FREE guide of resources available throughout Ohio to children and families of children who were born with brain injuries.

Our guide can help you build a foundation of knowledge and tools that will help you help your child
now and in the future.

Get Your Free Guide Now
Get a Free Case Evaluation

Maternal Death - Medical Provider Negligence Multiple Gestations Revision

Mothers who deliver more than one baby during the same labor experience what the health care industry calls multiple gestations.

Get A 100% Free CASE Evaluation     

According to the March of Dimes, three percent of pregnant women go through labor delivering one or more fetuses. Twins represent the most frequent type of a multiple gestation pregnancies.

Probability

A family history of multiple gestations increases the probability of a woman delivering multiple babies at the same time. Obesity and fertility treatments also increase the likelihood of the relatively rare birth event. Caucasian and African American women, as well as women over 30 years of age, are more likely to give birth to twins, triplets, and quadruplets.

Elk & Elk

Complications

Women who go through multiple gestations endure a higher rate of health complications, some of which can lead to maternal death. Health issues that impact mothers giving birth to multiples include anemia, preeclampsia, preterm labor, and gestational diabetes. Preterm labor refers to childbirth before the end of 37 weeks. Other health complications include acute morning sickness, postpartum depression, excessive amniotic fluid, and postpartum hemorrhaging.

Symptoms

Expectant females carrying one or more fetuses can detect several signs of pending multiple births. The symptoms typically do not affect mothers carrying one child. Some of the more obvious signs include extremely sore breasts, serious morning sickness, a voracious appetite, and a rapid increase in weight. Less obvious signs that require the medical diagnostic expertise of an obstetrician include more than one fetal heartbeat and fetal movements in different areas at the same time. An obstetrician also should be able to detect the presence of a larger than average uterus.

Your care provider can confirm the presence of one or more of the symptoms. Unfortunately, that is not always the case, which places the mother and infants at risk of experiencing serious health issues can possibly be life-threatening.

Medical Provider Negligence

Expectant mothers who believe they are carrying multiple fetuses should contact their health care provider to receive a thorough examination. Some cases can go undetected leading to severe medical problems. Medical malpractice refers to a type of negligence that occurs when a provider fails to follow universally accepted medical standards.

For a lawsuit, the plaintiff has to provide evidence of the four elements, which are duty, breach of duty, damages, and causation. Breach of duty involves the health care provider violating a medical standard intentionally or unintentionally. Duty means the establishment of a professional relationship, which in the case of multiples, is the relationship between the expectant mother and the health care provider. Causation occurs when the breach of duty has a close connection to the birth injuries suffered by a pregnant woman. Finally, damages encompass financial losses, as well as physical and emotional pain and suffering.

Ohio Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review

In 2010, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) created the Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review (PAMR) to review all deaths in the State of Ohio associated with pregnancies. The goal of the new review board is to create successful medical interventions that prompt a dramatic decline in maternal deaths. PAMR mandates three criteria for a death qualifying as a maternal death: must be associated directly with pregnancy, the mother must be a resident of Ohio, and the death has to occur in Ohio.

If you or a loved one has suffered from medical care provider negligence who turned multiple gestations into a serious health issue, you should contact a licensed attorney who has a track record of successfully litigating medical malpractice cases.