Seemingly small decisions made in a labor and delivery ward can result in life-or-death consequences for the patients there. Expectant mothers are incredibly vulnerable, as are their unborn children and newborns.
Best practices and facility standards help ensure that people receive an appropriate and professional standard of care during what can be a dangerous time. Unfortunately, specific individuals and certain facilities do not consistently follow best practices. For example, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends fetal heart rate monitoring during active labor. Professionals may choose not to follow this recommendation, only to have a tragedy result.
Why does ACOG recommend that professionals monitor the heart rate of an unborn child in addition to the vital signs of the expectant mother?
A fetus cannot communicate directly
The main reason that health care professionals monitor fetal heart rate during labor and delivery is to detect distress as early as possible. Many things can go wrong during the labor process that can put the fetus at immediate risk.
The umbilical cord can become pinched or wrapped around the fetus in a dangerous manner. The placenta can detach prematurely, which can also affect the infant’s critical support systems while still in utero. Other factors could lead to extreme distress in the infant that may put it at risk of injury or death.
Unlike the mother, who can express that she feels dizzy or that pain levels have increased, the fetus has no way to communicate their fear and distress to the outside world. Heart rate monitoring is the only way to identify warning signs of a labor and delivery emergency in progress.
Unfortunately, health care professionals may not use fetal heart rate monitors as they should. They may delay placing them or may fail to consistently monitor them. They may not check when the signal indicates that there is something wrong. All of those issues can lead to preventable birth injuries.
Learning about current best practices in labor and delivery can help parents recognize when a birth injury might be the result of medical malpractice. Parents struggling to deal with major expenses because of a birth injury may be able to pursue compensation from health care professionals who have committed malpractice.