Pregnancy should be one of the happiest periods of your life. However, concern over medical issues and potential complications can cause you to worry.
If you speak with your medical provider about symptoms you’re having, they should be diligent in providing appropriate treatment as necessary.
Unfortunately, failure to diagnose certain conditions and risks are not uncommon. One commonly undiagnosed condition is preeclampsia.
Failure to diagnose this condition can result in a preeclampsia baby death.
What Is Preeclampsia?
Preeclampsia is a severe pregnancy complication that involves high blood pressure. It can lead to organ damage, especially in the kidneys. Preeclampsia typically starts around 20 weeks into the pregnancy.
It’s not limited to people who have pre-existing high blood pressure. It may develop slowly, which is why prenatal care is so critical.
If your blood pressure is more than 140/90 two times more than four hours apart, the doctor should recognize something is wrong.
Additional symptoms of preeclampsia include excess proteins, vision changes, nausea, pain in the upper abdomen, breathing struggles, sudden weight gain (especially in the hands and face), liver problems, decreased urine output, and severe headaches.
Treatment for preeclampsia varies. The most common treatment is inducing labor, but that is not necessarily possible if the baby is not fully developed.
Some medications and steroids may be an option to keep the preeclampsia from worsening until the baby can be delivered.
Can I Sue My Doctor for Not Diagnosing Me?
If you had undiagnosed preeclampsia and your baby died, you should contact a New Mexico birth injury malpractice lawyer right away. Undiagnosed preeclampsia could have fatal consequences for both mother and child.
Proving a failure to diagnose isn’t necessarily easy, which is why you need to speak with an experienced New Mexico medical malpractice lawyer right away.
At Poulos & Coates, LLP, we have a medical doctor and nurse on staff who can help evaluate your case. We specialize in medical malpractice cases, so we know what to look for and how to build a strong case.
To successfully recover compensation in a birth injury case, you need to show:
- The medical doctor owed you a professional duty,
- They breached that duty,
- The breach is what caused your baby’s injuries or death, and
- You suffered damages.
For example, consider a woman who is 37 weeks pregnant and showed severe signs of preeclampsia.
The doctor failed to diagnose her condition and induce labor, so the baby was stillborn. In this situation, the mother likely has a viable medical malpractice claim.
Other possible consequences of preeclampsia include placental abruption, fetal growth restriction, organ damage, development of cardiovascular disease in the mother, other birth injuries, and preterm delivery.
Contact a New Mexico Medical Malpractice Lawyer
The lawyers at Poulos & Coates routinely represent victims of medical malpractice throughout New Mexico, including undiagnosed preeclampsia claims. We understand what a traumatic and terrifying time this is for you and your family.
Having medical professionals on staff allows us to build the strongest case possible to fight against medical malpractice.
Our top priority is to protect your rights and hold these negligent medical providers accountable for their actions. Contact Poulos & Coates today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to learn how we can assist you.
Victor Poulos
Vic Poulos & Greig Coates became law partners in April of 2002, when the two medical malpractice litigators merged their offices, combining what is now over seventy years of litigation experience, to form Poulos & Coates, LLP. Licensed to practice before all State Courts of Texas, New Mexico, Iowa, and Kansas. Licensed to practice before the United States District Courts of Kansas, Iowa, New Mexico, and Texas (Western, Eastern, Southern, and Northern Districts of Texas), as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.X. Ax Court.
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