When a Preventable Error is Covered Up
A healthy pregnancy doesn’t always guarantee a safe delivery. In one case, a first-time mother arrived at the hospital in active labor. But in the birthing process, a resident doctor lacerated the baby’s umbilical cord—and never spoke up about the error. As he allowed the delivery to progress as normal, the cord bled.
The baby’s brain was deprived of oxygen, causing significant damage.
When the infant was born pale and lifeless, doctors told the parents they had “no idea how this happened.” Later, the child was diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy, a lifelong condition that requires constant care, therapy, and support. The tragedy wasn’t the diagnosis. It was that this could have been prevented.
Casey Injury Pursues the Truth
Our firm conducted a detailed investigation into what went wrong. What caused this otherwise healthy infant’s debilitating cerebral palsy? Casey Injury uncovered medical records, which showed that hospital staff had noted the umbilical cord injury, but failed to act on it. National guidelines from organizations like ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) stress the importance of prompt delivery when errors like this occur. That didn’t happen in this case.
Casey Injury also consulted with leading medical experts to demonstrate that the resident and team breached the standard of care owed to the child and mother, and that this breach led directly to the infant’s injuries. Just as importantly, we held the hospital accountable for not being transparent with the family in the aftermath. The parents had questions. The hospital hid the truth.
Strengthening Patient Protections
As a result of this case, the hospital revised its labor and delivery protocols. Obstetric teams are now required to initiate rapid response evaluations when errors like umbilical cord lacerations take place—and to report such errors immediately. Mandatory training has been implemented to ensure all staff understand the urgency of intervention.
While these reforms won’t undo what happened to this baby and their family, such measures may spare other families from a similar fate. A reluctance to admit errors and act quickly can change the course of a child’s life. But so can honesty and decisive action.
Casey Injury Can Help You
If your child suffered a birth injury and you’ve been left with more questions than answers, you deserve the truth—and a legal team that will fight for it. Contact Casey Injury to learn how we can help you move forward.