Postpartum Hemorrhage Attorney: Chicago, IL

Were you or your unborn baby the victim of medical malpractice that led to a birth injury? Did the obstetrician make an error that caused a severe postpartum hemorrhage?

The personal injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC handle medical negligence cases and can serve as your legal advocates.

Call our Chicago, IL birth injury lawyers today at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone call) or use the contact form to schedule a free case evaluation to discuss your family's legal rights concerning your baby's preventable birth trauma. Let us review your confidential or sensitive information and seek justice on your behalf.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a severe condition involving excessive bleeding in the new mother's body occurring after childbirth. The choice to perform a C-section, forceps delivery, or vacuum delivery can often be the underlying cause or a contributing factor to the excessive bleeding.

In most cases, if the postpartum hemorrhage is detected and treated promptly, the prognosis is excellent, and the mother can recover with minimal complications.

Failure to properly diagnose postpartum hemorrhaging can have disastrous consequences, however, including the mother's death or permanent brain damage to the child if the bleeding is not stopped in time.

Medical Negligence Attorneys in Postpartum Hemorrhage Claims

Were you or a family member injured by a postpartum hemorrhage? You may need a medical malpractice lawyer to take action against the health care provider for their negligent actions.

At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, we are an experienced medical malpractice legal team with a long track record of helping families who have suffered from birth injuries in and around Chicago, Illinois. Call today or fill out the contact form to schedule your free consultation.

What Causes Postpartum Hemorrhaging?

After the delivery of a child, the placenta must detach from the uterine wall and pass the afterbirth through the birth canal. Sometimes the mother experiences significant blood loss from one or more of the major causes of postpartum hemorrhage.

Uterine atony is among the most common causes of postpartum maternal hemorrhage. Typically, uterine atony is the inability of the uterus to contract hard enough to prevent blood vessels from bleeding out after giving birth when passing the afterbirth.

Other increased risk factors and causes of postpartum hemorrhages that could result in severe injury or even death include the following.

• Premature detachment of the placenta from the uterus (placental abruption)
• Incomplete separation of the placenta, causing bleeding where remaining pieces of the placenta remain attached to the uterine wall
• Long or difficult labor
• Forceps delivery
• Cesarean section, including a C-section from a previous pregnancy
• Vacuum-assisted delivery
• Side effects of medications used to induce labor or reduce contractions
• The presence of more than one placenta— such as in the delivery of twins or triplets
• Inflammation or infection of the uterus
• LGA (large for gestational age) baby
• Pitocin or oxytocin-induced labor
• Placenta accrete
• Delivery problems including a failure to progress
• Babies with hypertensive disorders
• Retained placenta

Multiple pregnancies, multiple gestations, a prior C-section (cesarean section), Pitocin or oxytocin-induced delivery, and Chorioamnionitis are leading risk factors to blood loss from postpartum hemorrhage.

Prolonged labor due to macrosomia (a large baby) might require vacuum extractors and forceps, increasing the potential risk of needing uterine surgery to stop a postpartum hemorrhage.

Some women experience blood loss after childbirth, including those with induced deliveries, retained placenta deliveries, and larger than average babies. In cases where the bleeding continues, physicians administer IV fluids and blood products and perform uterine massage to control any significant blood loss.

In cases involving severe postpartum hemorrhage, the mother may experience organ failure, stroke, kidney failure, or another serious condition. Sometimes, administering a blood transfusion is the best option to treat postpartum hemorrhage and prevent maternal death.

In severe cases, the physician may recommend other treatments and surgical procedures, including uterine artery ligation, ovarian artery ligation, hysterectomy, or internal iliac artery ligation.

Diagnosing Postpartum Hemorrhage

The doctor will often order a blood workup to identify any clotting disorder or coagulation that could indicate an underlying problem, including placental abruption, HELLP syndrome, fatty liver of pregnancy, sepsis, amniotic fluid embolus, or infection.

Standard identifiers of postpartum hemorrhage include:

• Tone – The physician will assess the mother's uterine tone to see if the uterus can contract and tighten up in the presence of continuous bleeding. Typically, an infection or retained placenta can lead to uterine atony or boggy uterus following delivery.
• Tissue – A retained placenta or other products of conception could inhibit the uterus from contracting, leading to ongoing bleeding.
• Trauma – Any damage or trauma to the clitoris, labia, vagina, cervix, or uterus could lead to significant blood loss in a pregnant woman because of the increased blood supply in those areas.
• Thrombin – This severe bleeding disorder is usually caused by the body's inability to clot blood following delivery.

Without prompt treatment, the mother can develop DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation), leading to a lack of oxygenated blood in the body, organs, and tissues. Oxygen deprivation can lead to organ damage or failure.

Postpartum Hemorrhage Medical Malpractice

Many postpartum hemorrhage victims file civil claims and medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors who failed to follow established standards of care. In addition, any pregnancy that lasts past 20 weeks of gestation increases the risk of developing postpartum hemorrhage.

A postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) occurs after delivery when the mother experiences a significant blood loss greater than 500cc after a vaginal delivery and 1000cc during a cesarean section.

In many cases, the physician failed to attentively monitor the mother's condition, identify a problem, and immediately treat postpartum hemorrhage. Unfortunately, their failure often leads to a severe condition or even maternal death.

Were you harmed, or did you lose a loved one due to inadequate medical attention that led to postpartum hemorrhage? You and other surviving family members may be entitled to pursue financial compensation to recover your damages.

Contact our law office at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use the contact form to speak with an attorney today.

Any severe circumstances or symptoms present at your delivery time would require the physician to monitor the patient carefully for hemorrhaging signs. The doctor's slow response or lapse in judgment could be detrimental to the mother and baby's health, even leading to a fatality.

The Need for Immediate Treatment of Women With a Postpartum Hemorrhage

Procedures such as a forceps delivery or vacuum-assisted delivery are often the cause of hemorrhaging, and doctors must weigh the risks before electing to proceed with these procedures. Postpartum hemorrhaging causes rapid blood loss and threatens the mother's life if it is not detected and treated immediately.

Medical professionals and delivery nurses should know the risk factors, which include placenta previa. Typically, placenta previa occurs when the placenta separates from the uterus leading to heavy bleeding.

Pitocin use during childbirth to help move the baby into the birth canal is also a possible cause of fetal distress. Therefore, healthcare professionals must continuously monitor the mother's health during vaginal delivery and afterward to quickly identify any clotting disorder that could lead to life-threatening infection.

Monitoring Mother's Vitals

Severe blood loss causes low blood pressure and may send the mother into shock. Medical professionals can detect hemorrhaging by monitoring the mother's blood pressure, heart rate, and red blood cell count; and react accordingly if excessive bleeding is present.

Surgical intervention may be required in some cases to stop the bleeding and save the mother's life. In other cases, the medical treatment consists of a blood transfusion. In addition, the treating physician should check for infection or sepsis and provide immediate treatment to avoid organ damage and oxygen deprivation.

Sometimes, administering medications and uterine massage cannot stop the blood loss. When this occurs, the doctor may have no other option than to perform a uterine artery ligation, ovarian artery ligation, or other surgical procedure.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) often occurs from a medical error. In these cases, the hospital and its staff may be liable for the cost of any additional procedure deemed necessary to resolve the issue.

If the mother dies due to hemorrhaging caused by a failure to promptly detect or treat the bleeding, there may be opportunities for a wrongful death lawsuit.

Chicago Medical Malpractice Attorneys for Childbirth Postpartum Hemorrhaging Injuries

Did your labor and delivery cause your newborn's serious injuries? Have you lost a loved one through postpartum hemorrhaging caused by the doctor's negligence? Did your physician fail to diagnose your condition quickly?

At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC, our birth injury attorneys have a successful track record representing those who have suffered undue harm because of medical malpractice. To schedule a free consultation, call (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone call) or use the contact form. Speak with an attorney to review your postpartum hemorrhage case.

Your postpartum hemorrhage attorney will evaluate your possible medical malpractice claim, address your concerns and explain your rights and give you legal advice on the process of litigation so that you know what to expect going forward.

Our Illinois medical malpractice law firm is located in Chicago, but we will come to you if you cannot visit our law office to discuss your child's birth injuries. Our super lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, meaning that we accept payment for our services only after resolving your case through a negotiated settlement offer or jury verdict.

Create an attorney-client relationship when sharing your confidential or sensitive information. In addition, our entire team of birth injury attorneys currently follow CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Covid-19 (coronavirus pandemic) social distancing guidelines to ensure our clients' safety.

Resources:

• March of Dimes – Postpartum Hemorrhage
• Postpartum Hemorrhage – Prevention and Treatment

Many medical malpractice cases have already been resolved through million-dollar settlements to ensure families have sufficient financial compensation for providing all the treatment and caring their child requires.