Catastrophic Injuries – $675,000

The plaintiff was a 40-year-old obese woman with a prior history of delivering two macrosomic (weight more than 10 pounds at birth) infants.

After trying for several years to get pregnant a third time, she became pregnant at age 40. She developed gestational diabetes, and her fundal height exceeded her weeks of gestation throughout her pregnancy. She had numerous warning signs of delivering another macrosomic infant.

As the plaintiff neared her due date, she warned her obstetrician that she was carrying a large baby again and would have difficulty delivering.  The defendant counseled her that her baby would be no more than eight pounds and suggested that the delivery would be uneventful.

The plaintiff went into labor at full term and had very slow progress of the second stage of labor.  The defendant ordered Pitocin and, when labor failed to progress, repeatedly increased the dose.  The infant became tightly wedged in the plaintiff’s pelvis and the defendant doctor applied forceps.  The infant died during delivery.  An autopsy revealed that the infant had a severely bruised face and head and a broken neck.

The mother suffered lacerations from the efforts to deliver her daughter.  She also suffered a sacroiliac joint injury resulting in back pain and sciatica.  She was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, suffering flashbacks, nightmares, tremors and tearfulness.

The case was settled during mediation.