The mother of a child born with severe birth injury has been awarded nearly $3.1 million by a federal judge in Florida.
Dulce Rojas sued Jessie Trice Community Health Center in Miami. Rojas’s attorneys said doctors injured her baby in a botched vacuum-assisted delivery in 2013. They say doctors should have performed an emergency delivery, but failed to notice symptoms of fetal distress.
Charges of Negligent Delivery Resulting in Birth Injury
Rojas’s lawyers also say that staff didn’t call neonatal intensive care (NICU) staff quickly enough. The baby was gasping for air after birth, but staff did not supply additional oxygen for five minutes. After transferring it to the NICU, nurses noted bruises on the baby’s head, presumably from the vacuum extractor used in delivery. The device works by using suction to attach a soft cup to a baby’s head to assist in delivery.
Nurses also noted that the baby was struggling to breath and showed signs of sepsis.
According to the complaint, the baby suffered seizures and brain damage caused by the lack of oxygen to the brain immediately after birth, resulting in the birth injury cerebral palsy.
Judge K. Michael Moore approved the settlement on May 12, 2017. Rojas filed the suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida because the federal government funds The Jessie Trice Community Health Center.
