Ohio Cesarean Section Attorney

When your doctor performs a Cesarean section or C-section, you put your trust in them not only to keep your baby safe, but to keep you safe, too. Unfortunately, however, doctors make mistakes during Cesarean delivery, harming mothers as well as children. If there was a mistake associated with your C-section, your doctor might have been negligent and committed medical malpractice.

If you suffered from medical malpractice, you might be entitled to compensation. An experienced birth injury attorney can advocate for you and protect your right to compensation. The skilled attorneys at The Eisen Law Firm have a deep understanding of C-sections. They know how to advocate for people who are victims of medical malpractice. Call The Eisen Law Firm at (216) 687-0900 or reach out online.

Read on to learn more about how medical malpractice in C-sections impacts mothers.

What Is A Cesarean Section?

A Cesarean section, or C-section, is an essential lifesaving surgery, per the World Health Organization. In the United States, 31.8% percent of deliveries are Cesarean, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2020, there were 1,148,692 recorded Cesarean deliveries in the United States.

A C-section is surgery. In a C-section, an obstetrician (a doctor who specializes in birth) delivers the baby surgically. Generally, the obstetrician makes incisions in the mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver the baby.

Obstetricians may recommend Cesarean delivery when there is a problem with the pregnancy. Often, emergencies make C-sections necessary. Types of issues that give rise to Cesarean delivery include:

• Stalled labor
• Distressed baby
• Abnormal position of the baby
• The presence of twins or multiples
• Placenta problems
• Umbilical cord problems
• Prior C-section deliveries
• Other health concerns.

Some women elect to have Cesarean delivery despite no problems with their pregnancy. However, most obstetricians will not recommend this. After all, a C-section is a surgery, and there are risks to surgery.

Do Cesarean Sections Pose Risks To Mothers?

Yes. There are risks associated with Cesarean delivery. Compared to vaginal birth, Cesarean delivery carries more risks of complications and death. Indeed, one study found that women who had Cesarean births were 31% more likely to experience complications and death than women who had vaginal births. The risk of Cesarean delivery was even more pronounced for women over 35.

What Complications Can Cesarean Sections Cause?

There are many maternal complications associated with Cesarean sections. They include:

• Infections of the lining of the uterus
• Wound infections
• Postpartum hemorrhages (bleeding)
• Blood clots deep inside a vein in the legs or pelvic organs, or blood clots in the lungs
• Surgical injuries, including bladder and bowel injuries
• Bad reactions to anesthesia

In addition, Cesarean delivery can make future deliveries riskier. They also make recovery from delivering a baby more difficult.

Complications may occur on their own, but medical malpractice during a C-section may also cause or worsen complications. An experienced birth injury attorney can help distinguish between a complication that was unavoidable and a complication that was the result of negligence.

What Kind Of Mistakes Might Doctors Make During Cesarean Sections?

Obstetricians may make several kinds of mistakes with C-sections that can give rise to claims of medical malpractice. For example, an obstetrician may order a C-section too late, leading to complications for the baby and the mother. Other types of mistakes include:

• The area and equipment were not sterile during your surgery, causing infection.
• Your medical team left a piece of equipment inside of you during the surgery.
• Your obstetrician used the wrong technique when performing the Cesarean delivery, giving rise to complications.
• You obstetrician failed to reach promptly and appropriately to signs of significant bleeding.

Although complications from a C-section do not necessarily mean that your obstetrician made a mistake, they can indicate a mistake. An expert birth injury attorney can help evaluate your case.

In addition to the obstetrician making a mistake during your C-section, other medical personnel can make critical mistakes, too. For instance, the anesthesiologist (the doctor who administers anesthetics

so, you do not feel the pain of the surgery) may administer the wrong amount of drugs when using general anesthesia or may misplace the needle intended to deliver drugs into the spinal canal when using epidural or spinal anesthesia.

Can You Sue For A Cesarean Section Mistake In Ohio?

If a mistake during your Cesarean delivery harmed you, you might be able to sue for monetary compensation. An experienced birth injury attorney may be able to help. With the help of a birth injury attorney, you can show that your doctor—or other hospital staff—committed medical malpractice.

How Do You Prove Medical Malpractice In Ohio?

In Ohio, like most states, there are four elements of a medical malpractice claim. First, you must show that your healthcare provider owed you a duty of care. Showing a doctor-patient relationship is usually sufficient to establish a duty of care. Second, you must show that your healthcare provider acted negligently, breaching the duty of care. Third, you must demonstrate that your healthcare provider's mistake caused the harm. Fourth, you must show you suffered harm, in other words, damages.

Suppose, for example, your obstetrician used the wrong technique during your Cesarean delivery, giving rise to a surgical injury. To prove that your obstetrician was medically negligent and harmed you, you would need to show four things. First, you would need to establish that the obstetrician was your provider. Second, you would need to show that the obstetrician acted negligently by using the wrong technique during your C-section, breaching their duty of care to you. Third and perhaps the most challenging element, you would need to show that your obstetrician's incorrect technique caused your surgical injury. Fourth, you would need to show you suffered actual harm by sustaining a surgical injury.

Making a medical malpractice claim can be complex. The attorneys at The Eisen Law Firm have a wealth of experience with medical malpractice and understand how to make medical malpractice claims.

Ohio Cesarean Delivery Attorney

When you have a Cesarean delivery, you trust that your healthcare providers will take care of you. Unfortunately, healthcare providers can breach their duty of care to patients like you, causing complications with Cesarean deliveries. While errors in Cesarean deliveries may harm babies, they may also harm mothers.

The attorneys at The Eisen Law Firm understand Ohio's medical malpractice law and can use that knowledge to advocate for you. For aggressive representation, reach out to The Eisen Law Firm at (216) 687-0900 or online.