Medical malpractice during birth resulting in death of baby. Help.
Okay this is going to be a long one fair warning. And if you are here to comment that medical malpractice lawsuits are pointless and not worth it, then keep it to yourself. I just want justice for my son and myself.
This happened in May of 2025. I was 20 years old and had a normal pregnancy up until the dreaded gestational diabetes test. I failed and was then instructed on how to eat and how to give myself small nightly insulin shots because I was unable to bring my morning fasting number down with just diet. However my numbers were not really that high at all just a little more than the standard.
Due to this I was told I must have an induction. This is the standard I have been told. Even tho baby was always weighing on track.
I went in on a Wednesday morning at 6 with my boyfriend at side. I was 39 weeks and 4 days. Things started out great, we played Fortnite while the pills they put up there softened my cervix. They did a few of those and I slowly progressed. By midnight my water broke naturally and the pain started. I was insufferable with back labor. By about 2 a.m I called for epidural. My first epidural was great relief. That man was a saint. I layed down and even got some sleep. The next morning the nurses continued to check me every few hours. The doctor had been by once or twice but she was seemingly uninterested and told the nurse to get her when the real action starts. By 8 a.m. they decided I was ready to push. This is when things started going south.
I was forced to push for 6 hours straight with little to no breaks. My nurse tried everything she could. I was in all positions we tried all the methods nothing worked. She just kept telling me “just a little more”. The doctor came in a few times, she even did an ultrasound at one point because just now it accrued to her that I had said baby was face up. She decided that was the cause of the length of time I was pushing. Granted I was a first time mom so yes I would say it’s normal at this point.
At around 5 hours of pushing my nurse started to get frazzled. My epidural had failed and the shitty anesthesiologist that replaced my saint from last night was terrible. She failed it twice. Then gave me a shot of fentanyl to try to mask the pain. I was absolutely screaming I was in so much pain and nothing was working. At this point my nurse mentioned c section, I was fine with whatever because I was in so much pain.
However the doctor finally decided to show up and she wanted me to keep trying. She manually tried to turn my baby with her hand which caused his heart rate to plummet. Finally after 6 hours of pushing baby and I were not doing very well. His heart rate was not going back like it should after contractions. The doctor decided she wanted to try the vacuum. I was spent and said yes just get him out. Well it failed. Miserably. It popped off his head blood gushing everywhere. She tried twice and went for a third try and that’s when I screamed enough and the nurse agreed and they decided to go for emergency c section.
By this point I was wavering in and out of consciousness. They wheeled me down to the OR. They checked his heart rate on the way down and it was in the 70s. The anesthesiologist took 12 minutes to do the spinal tap.
They laid me down on the table and things started to feel very wrong. I felt like I wasn’t breathing. The nurses insisted this was normal. I tried to stay calm but suddenly I couldn’t feel my hands. Then I could barely talk. I tried to tell them but they ignored me. Then I lost all control of everything. I could only move my eyes. They did a test poke on my stomach that I could feel but I was paralyzed so I couldn’t even tell them. Finally one of the nurses realized what had happened and said “she’s high” so she then proceeded to say “we’re gonna give you something just to calm you down. And then it all went black.
Now this is what I imagine death is like. I truly did think I was dead. I said my last prayer while I faded into the darkness and was at peace.
That is until I heard noises around me. A nurse beside me said “they are getting him out, just a minute and you will see your baby”. Then I faded into the blackness once more.
The second time I woke up was not as calm. I heard voices and panic around me saying “starting compressions” and other medical mumbo. I assumed I was having an out of body experience and it was me they were working on. If only…
Next thing I know I wake up to a calm OR. My dad is standing above my head crying. I told him I was okay. He just shook his head. And I knew.
My baby did not make it. They said they tried everything. They had to pull him out by his legs because he was stuck so deep in my pelvis. I’m assuming it was from the various vacuum attempts.
I was never given an explanation. I was sent home with a box of my babies things and a severely screwed up body.
My c section incision was so bruised the doctors said they had never seen anything like it. They tore my uterus badly in multiple places. I will never be able to attempt natural birth again.
However that is besides the point. I need your guys help on what to do. I have reached out to multiple lawyers but they are too scared to take on big bad $anford.
I am screwed up. Mentally and physically. I have panic attacks, nightmares and enough bodily pain in my stomach and back to make a grown man cry.
It has been over a year now and I thought maybe I would calm down and be able to accept what happened but I can’t. I’ve tried therapy and am looking for a new one to try soon.
I want justice for my baby. He was perfect. 7 pounds 3 ounces and 19 inches long. Not a thing wrong with him.
The doctor refused to meet with us when we requested a face to face meeting to go over what happened.
So my question is. What can be done? The statute of limitations is 2 years so time is running out. It was clearly a case of medical malpractice. If the doctor would have just called for a c section sooner. But she pushed a first time mother and a face up baby to push for 6 hours straight. No progress was ever even made in the birth canal. Nurses and doctors what’s your opinion?
Sincerely, a distraught mother who misses her baby.