Newborn’s Decapitation at Birth Prompts Malpractice Lawsuit

[ToldYouSo]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...ery-article-1.1181731?localLinksEnabled=false


I heard about this story from a headline that medicinesux tweeted...


"A Missouri couple filed a lawsuit Sept. 28 against four defendants for a birth gone horribly wrong. The New York Daily News reports Friday that Arteisha Betts and Travis Ammonette of Florissant, Mo., claim their newborn son, Kaden Travis Ammonette, died while in the birth canal. The baby's head was allegedly decapitated from its neck when the doctor tried pulling the baby out of the birth canal.

The story gets worse. At the point, the plaintiffs say blood from the baby's neck splattered into the labor and delivery room in plain sight of the mother and father. The couple then claims the doctor did the unthinkable --Webb supposedly pushed the baby back into the uterus and ordered an emergency Caesarian section."

I had to pick my jaw off the floor after reading b/c its horrible to the point of absurd... I feel like there are major details missing but as a complete stranger to the field is it common to not deliver a premature infant via c-section? How common would a complication like this be?

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[THP]

I have certainly heard of stories like this. In the "old days" and by that I mean my attendings from residency have personally been involved in this very situation. Its usually in the setting of a severe shoulder dystocia to the point where the baby has long died. It may be necessary to intentionally decapitate the baby to get it out. There is a maneuver called Zavanelli in which during a severe shoulder dystocia the cardinal movements of descent are reversed and the head is pushed back into the mother and an emergent c/s is done. This I have seen. Ultimately ended up with a severely brain dead baby.

I have heard of a situation where the head came out with a severe shoulder dystocia and could not be replaced with Zavanelli. Baby died. Went to OR for c/s to deliver baby but still couldn't get it out. Ultimately had to decapitate the baby and delivery the body through the abdominal incision. Unbelievably horrible situation for all parties involved.

We certainly delivery premature babies vaginally. A recent study came out showing that as long as the baby is vertex, you don't necessarily have to do a c/s for a very preterm baby and that a vaginal delivery should be safe. This assumes the baby will tolerate labor. Apparently this baby was 28 weeks. I don't know why they had to deliver but a shoulder dystocia in this setting is very rare and a vaginal delivery is definitely possible. Again I don't know all the details of the situation.

I have personally seen a baby decapitate during delivery as a resident, however, this was a 17 week baby that was going to die anyway but nonetheless traumatic for everyone involved.

 

[cbrons]

The question is why was a 28-week old delvered? The article doesnt say. While that little piece of info might not be relevant enough for the NY daily news, it would be at an M&M conference.

 

[GuzzyRon]

There are too many missing pieces and too many unanswered questions in this story for it to make complete sense.

 

[cbrons]

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/10...ncealed-decapitation-of-baby-during-delivery/

Try and read this story and let me know if you think the full picture is being painted here.

Here is another reporting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nt-delivered-C-section.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

How many questions do you have that are not being reported nor asked by the uneducated general public who have already made up their mind?

So what ... I'm supposed to believe this was just another run of the mill case of shoulder dystocia? And here you have a seasoned Ob who doesn't know how much force he can exert manually and killed an otherwise healthy infant with a Zavanelli maneuver? Or was it a premature infant? Or am I just a totally ignorant medical student? I'll admit the latter is more than possible here, hope to be educated.

 

[GuzzyRon]

These sources are not painting the "full" story.

Some unanswered questions that readily come to mind are: What are the qualifications of the doctors here (MFM vs. Generalists)? Was this woman referred to an MFM specialist when the fetal abnormality was found? If so, what was the diagnosis and what was the specialist's recommendation? Were these 2 doctors following those recommendations? If vaginal delivery was contraindicated at 27 weeks, why were they trying to deliver it vaginally at 28 weeks? Why were tocolytics and steroids not given when the woman went into premature labor? Did this woman develop any condition that required immediate delivery (e.g. severe preeclampsia)? Did the doctor apply traction to the child's head? If so, why? (traction is NEVER applied to an infant's head, even in a shoulder dystocia)? Why did the couple think that the doctor was trying to cover-up the infant's death by performing a c-section? (c-section is the next logical thing to do if an infant is stuck and dead in the birth canal).......and so on.

Also, let's keep in mind that these reports are the plaintiffs and plaintiffs attorneys' side of the story, which probably contain their own impressions (right or wrong) and their biases. There are witnesses, providers' and medical record accounts that have not been reported, which may or may not corroborate these reports.

While there's no doubt that the infant's death was a tragedy but until all the facts are learned, I think any judgment either way is premature.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/10...ncealed-decapitation-of-baby-during-delivery/

Try and read this story and let me know if you think the full picture is being painted here.

Here is another reporting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nt-delivered-C-section.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

How many questions do you have that are not being reported nor asked by the uneducated general public who have already made up their mind?

So what ... I'm supposed to believe this was just another run of the mill case of shoulder dystocia? And here you have a seasoned Ob who doesn't know how much force he can exert manually and killed an otherwise healthy infant with a Zavanelli maneuver? Or was it a premature infant? Or am I just a totally ignorant medical student? I'll admit the latter is more than possible here, hope to be educated.

 

[cbrons]

These sources are not painting the "full" story.

Some unanswered questions that readily come to mind are: What are the qualifications of the doctors here (MFM vs. Generalists)? Was this woman referred to an MFM specialist when the fetal abnormality was found? If so, what was the diagnosis and what was the specialist's recommendation? Were these 2 doctors following those recommendations? If vaginal delivery was contraindicated at 27 weeks, why were they trying to deliver it vaginally at 28 weeks? Why were tocolytics and steroids not given when the woman went into premature labor? Did this woman develop any condition that required immediate delivery (e.g. severe preeclampsia)? Did the doctor apply traction to the child's head? If so, why? (traction is NEVER applied to an infant's head, even in a shoulder dystocia)? Why did the couple think that the doctor was trying to cover-up the infant's death by performing a c-section? (c-section is the next logical thing to do if an infant is stuck and dead in the birth canal).......and so on.

Also, let's keep in mind that these reports are the plaintiffs and plaintiffs attorneys' side of the story, which probably contain their own impressions (right or wrong) and their biases. There are witnesses, providers' and medical record accounts that have not been reported, which may or may not corroborate these reports.

While there's no doubt that the infant's death was a tragedy but until all the facts are learned, I think any judgment either way is premature.

Unbelievable. I hope the facts will bear out in court.

 

[GuzzyRon]

Unbelievable. I hope the facts will bear out in court.

That's if the case goes to trial. If it doesn't, (settled out of court) we may never know.