How Can Improper Fetal Monitoring Lead to Birth Injuries?

 Posted on January 29, 2025 in Birth Injury

Monitoring a fetus during pregnancy, labor, and delivery can give your medical team advance notice of any problems that arise. Early warning enables the possibility of intervening in many cases, potentially saving the baby from preventable harm or death. Unfortunately, improper monitoring can cause birth injuries that have permanent consequences.

What kinds of fetal monitoring are standard practice? What birth injuries could result from improper monitoring? If you believe your child was harmed by improper fetal monitoring, a knowledgeable Chicago, IL birth injury attorney can help you get the compensation you deserve.

What Types of Fetal Monitoring Should Be Performed?

Fetal monitoring is used to assess the growth and health of a fetus. While it should be performed for all pregnancies, fetal monitoring is particularly important in a high-risk pregnancy, for example when a mother has gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or other serious risk factors. Along with giving advance notice of fetal distress, monitoring can also help avoid unnecessary treatments.

During prenatal office visits, doctors should listen to the baby’s heartbeat. Ultrasound imaging can evaluate fetal health and development, measure the volume of amniotic fluid, check the baby’s heart rate, and detect growth issues.

During labor and delivery, continuous fetal monitoring should be performed. This form of monitoring assesses the contractions and fetal heart rate and indicates how much oxygen the baby is getting. When monitoring indicates fetal distress, doctors may decide to perform a C-section or other interventions to keep the baby from harm.

Medical negligence related to improper fetal monitoring could be:

• Failing to place the monitoring device correctly

• Using a malfunctioning device

• Failing to monitor the device’s readouts closely

• Failing to recognize fetal distress, such as an abnormal heartbeat or decreased fetal movement

• Misinterpreting fetal heart rate data

• Delaying or failing to perform a necessary intervention

When a baby’s birth injury could have been prevented with proper care, families may be entitled to compensation.

What Kinds of Birth Injuries Could Be Caused by Improper Fetal Monitoring?

Many of the issues associated with improper fetal monitoring are related to the amount of oxygen the child gets during labor. Brain injuries, including cerebral palsy, are often caused by oxygen deprivation.

In some cases, other conditions, including Erb’s palsy, bone fractures, shoulder dystocia, facial paralysis, and death could have been avoided with proper monitoring.

These conditions can be heartbreaking, but they can also be incredibly expensive. Your child will likely need life-long medical care and daily assistance, and he or she may require medical equipment that needs to be replaced constantly as the child grows, such as a wheelchair.

When medical negligence in the form of improper fetal monitoring is the cause of your child’s birth injury, the at-fault parties deserve to be held accountable. Your compensation could include damages for medical and other related expenses in addition to the many kinds of pain and suffering you are experiencing. Your legal team will work hard to see you collect the full amount you deserve.

Call a Chicago, IL Birth Injury Lawyer Today

At Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd., we understand how severely medical negligence can impact lives, and we know how to maximize the compensation you may receive. Call a dedicated Cook County, IL cerebral palsy attorney at 312-462-4200 or schedule your free consultation online today.