CT Mom Sues Yale New Haven Hospital Over Delayed C-Section

CONNECTICUT — A recent lawsuit brought by a Connecticut mother and her son against Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale University blames a delay performing a cesarean section for the newborn's brain damage.

The complaint names both the mother and her child as plaintiffs. The mother was admitted to YNHH on Feb. 10, 2023 for the labor and delivery of her son. Both are unnamed here to protect the identity of the minor.

The child was delivered on Feb. 11, under the care of YNHH delivery room employees, but suffered "catastrophic injuries" in the process, according to the lawsuit.

Among these were "severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy … resulting in permanent mental, neurologic and physical handicaps including motor deficits, loss of intelligence, seizures, difficulty feeding requiring a gastronomy tube, bilateral vision loss, abnormal muscle tone with spasms and tremors, physical pain and mental anguish, some or all of which injuries are or may be permanent" the lawsuit alleges.

Documents filed alongside the lawsuit included a Physician's Opinion from a doctor board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, supporting the plaintiffs' allegations regarding the negligence of YNNH employees and their agents.

Specifically, the suit claims hospital workers failed to:

• adequately and properly care for, treat, diagnose and supervise the labor and delivery of the plaintiffs;
• timely recognize and properly respond to indications of fetal distress;
• appreciate and respond to recurrent category II fetal heart tracings;
• appreciate and properly address the depletion of reserves;
• timely intervene when labor was progressing slowly and had not made significant progress;
• recommend, order and perform an emergency cesarean section delivery in a timely fashion when the risk factors of not doing so were obvious; and/or
• timely recognize and respond to (the newborn's) critical condition and failed to ensure he was delivered as soon as possible before he suffered catastrophic injuries.

The lawsuit also claims "the plaintiffs have been forced to incur financial obligations for medical care and treatment including prolonged hospitalization and rehabilitation, diagnostic studies, medical treatment, office visits, surgeries, medicines and the like."

In addition, the child will "continue in the future to suffer physical and mental pain and anguish, will be unable to lead a | normal life, and will require special care and supervision for the rest of his life," with his "earning capacity … permanently destroyed."

YNNH spokesperson Mark Dantonio told Patch the hospital "is aware of this lawsuit and is committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care possible but we are unable to comment on pending litigation."