Failure to Monitor Birth Injury

Fact Checked

A medical provider’s failure to monitor can lead to birth injuries in infants, whether before, during, or soon after childbirth. Birth injuries caused by failure to monitor can range from minor to life-threatening and, in some cases, death. They may include brain damage, nerve damage, or cerebral palsy.

What Is Failure to Monitor in Birth Injuries?

During childbirth, mothers and infants need to be closely monitored by a medical team (doctors, nurses, etc.) to ensure there are no health issues. Monitoring allows doctors and nurses to catch problems before significant damage occurs.

Healthcare providers want to ensure all procedures are done correctly during childbirth. Sometimes, medical negligence occurs when they fail to follow up on a patient or detect and correct a medical issue. In medical malpractice, this is known as a “failure to monitor.”

Electronic Fetal Monitoring and Failure to Monitor

Healthcare providers use a fetal monitoring machine during labor. It checks the baby’s heart rate and pulse before and during birth.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists:

“Fetal heart rate monitoring is the process of checking the condition of your fetus during labor and delivery by monitoring your fetus’s heart rate with special equipment.”[1]

Electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) can either be continuous or intermittent. Continuous EFM can lead to higher rates of C-section births and births that require vacuum extraction. This increases the chances of birth injuries.

EFM can be attached externally or internally. An internal EFM increases the risk to the mother and baby. An infant, according to studies, “is 2.5 times more likely to contract an infection.”[2]

If a nurse, doctor, or any other medical professional responsible for your care fails to monitor closely, it can lead to severe birth injuries.

For example, if a baby’s heart rate drops, that could indicate that the infant doesn’t have enough oxygen. If the baby is being adequately monitored, medical professionals will typically take measures to correct the issue immediately.

If medical professionals fail to monitor, oxygen loss can lead to brain damage, leading to several disorders, including lifelong conditions such as cerebral palsy.

Failure to Monitor After Delivery

Monitoring after delivery is just as important as monitoring before childbirth. Many tasks go into postpartum care to ensure good health for both mother and baby.

Common postpartum duties include:

• Keeping a close watch on the infant for signs of jaundice, abnormal movements, or breathing issues
• Monitoring the mother for excessive bleeding
• Monitoring the mother for any uterine issues or vaginal tearing
• Monitoring for high blood pressure
• Monitor for signs of a possible stroke

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that pregnancy-related deaths increased from 7.2 per 100,000 live births in 1987 to 33.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021.[3]

Some of these deaths could have been prevented if not for medical mistakes or failure to monitor after childbirth.

Failure to Monitor Infants in the NICU

After birth, infants with medical issues may be taken to a hospital’s neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU). If the hospital where the baby was born doesn’t have a NICU center, the baby could be transferred to another medical center.

The NICU is designed to save babies’ lives and give them the required medical care to help them thrive. Sometimes, these babies, who need specialized and advanced care, end up with birth injuries due to medical negligence.

Outcomes from the NICU vary depending on the severity of the infant’s medical condition. Death can occur in special needs babies without proper medical attention.

According to a study, the most common reason for failure to monitor at NICU centers that leads to injuries is “deviation from the standard of care.”[4] This is when healthcare professionals do not follow the accepted standard of nursing care.

Failure to monitor babies in NICU can happen for a variety of reasons, including:

• Leaving babies unattended for too long
• Failure to detect distress promptly
• Failure or delay in monitoring breathing for respiratory distress
• Failure or delay in determining intravenous issues
• Failure to monitor infant hypoglycemia

Types of Birth Injuries That Happen After Failure to Monitor

The type of birth injury sustained when a medical professional fails to monitor a baby depends on the kind of mistake and the baby’s overall health. One of the most common and most severe types of birth injury is a brain injury.

Brain Injuries and Brain Damage

Brain injuries include brain bleeding (cerebral hemorrhage), subarachnoid hemorrhage, or cephalohematoma (bleeding between the skull and skull cover).

Brain damage is another common birth injury caused by failure to monitor. A lack of oxygen typically causes brain damage. It can lead to a host of disabilities and disorders, such as cognitive issues, sleeping disorders, muscle spasms, organ issues, and feeding problems.

Cerebral Palsy

Some babies with brain damage will need lifelong therapy and medical care. Cerebral palsy is a common disorder that results from brain damage.

Cerebral palsy can range from mild to severe. Children with severe cerebral palsy may not be able to feed themselves or walk on their own, and there is a chance they won’t be able to talk without a communication device.

Brachial Plexus Injuries

Another common birth injury is a brachial plexus injury, known as Erb’s palsy. It can occur when a physician pulls too hard on a baby’s arm during delivery. If a medical expert fails to monitor an infant properly, their tiny plexus nerves can get stretched.

Other birth injuries can include:

• Shoulder dystocia
• Skin lacerations
• Brain swelling
• Infections
• Broken bones
• Fractured bones

What Is the Prognosis After Failure to Monitor?

The long-term outlook of birth injuries depends on how severe the injuries are and the type of injury.

For instance, most babies who develop Erb’s palsy will heal within the first year of life with treatment.[5] Others will continue to have weakness in the affected arm, and some children may have one arm longer than the other.

On the other hand, a disorder like cerebral palsy lasts a lifetime. Further, cerebral palsy can be mild, with slight symptoms such as shaky movements, but with the ability to walk, while another child may have severe symptoms that prevent them from walking and even holding their own spoon.

Whether birth injuries are mild or severe, parents should not be financially responsible if a healthcare professional’s negligence caused the injuries.

Most states have medical malpractice laws that hold medical professionals and even hospitals accountable for expenses associated with medical treatment, mental health treatment, home accommodations, and other financial factors that result from the birth injury.