Mom suing nurse after suffocation accident

[MunoRN]

This Mother Is Suing a Hospital for Millions After She Accidentally Killed Her Son

A mother in Oregon is suing Portland Adventist Medical Center for $8.6 million after she accidentally smothered her four-day-old baby in a hospital bed.

Monica Thompson says that, a few days after her son Jacob was born in August 2012, the hospital put her newborn in bed with her so she could breastfeed him. But Thompson says in the lawsuit that the baby was put there in the middle of the night, while she was heavily medicated. Thompson drifted off, and when she woke up, Jacob was unresponsive...

Thompson, who is suing both the hospital and the individual nurse involved in the incident, said she was still drowsy and groggy” from her medication when she realized her son was not moving, her lawsuit states. The suit says Thompson called for a nurse, and when none came, she carried her son to the hallway and frantically yelled for help.”

[dream'n, BSN, RN]

It seems that Postpartum nurses are being held to an almost impossible standard. First they are very heavily pushed to encourage breastfeeding to the point that offering a bottle is a fire-able offense. Then the nurses are given several couplets to watch over and have no nursery to take the baby to if it is needed. The nurse cannot be in all rooms at all times, it's impossible. And does it really matter if the nurse was out of the room for 5 minutes or 15 minutes? Brain death from suffocation happens quicker than that. The only way to prevent this is that mother's on mind-altering medication CANNOT room-in with or feed their babies without a nurse in constant attendance and therefore healthy baby nurseries will have to be rebuilt.

[Mini2544, ASN, RN]

Do you have sources to support this statement? The statistics I've seen in the past, over the years, have indicated that malpractice suits represent only a tiny proportion of the healthcare spending in the US, and that states that have initiated "tort reform" and set limits on individuals' ability to sue have not experienced significant reductions in healthcare costs.

It's more about all the unnecessary lab tests, hospital admits etc that occurs all across our country because healthcare professionals and hospitals are scared of being sued. It's a constant CYA and most of which doesn't do anything but fill in a box on a chart "just in case."

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

It seems that Postpartum nurses are being held to an almost impossible standard. First they are very heavily pushed to encourage breastfeeding to the point that offering a bottle is a fire-able offense. Then the nurses are given several couplets to watch over and have no nursery to take the baby to if it is needed. The nurse cannot be in all rooms at all times it's impossible. And does it really matter if the nurse was out of the room for 5 minutes or 15 minutes? Brain death from suffocation happens quicker than that. The only way to prevent this is that mother's on mind-altering medication CANNOT room-in with or feed their babies without a nurse in constant attendance and therefore healthy baby nurseries will have to be rebuilt.[/quote']

You make excellent points. What a tragedy for all involved. I am sure the nurse is also very traumatized by this event.

[klone, MSN, RN]

First, I would question the facts as we're hearing only one side of the story; the side designed to make the mother look as good as possible. We don't know how long the nurse was out of the room -- five minutes? Ten? Or how long the mother waited for the call bell to be answered -- 5 seconds? If she was that groggy, was she actually pushing the call bell? Did she wait for someone to answer, or just immediately run out into the hall? If she didn't wait for someone to answer the call bell, it changes the story somewhat, doesn't it?

In the article, it stated that the infant was in the room with the mother for about an hour. In that hour, the mother had apparently dozed off and suffocated the infant.

And how long she waited after pushing the call button seems kind of irrelevant to the case and the outcome, but I feel like it was mentioned in trying to paint the picture that the staff were not attentive. The impression I got was that it was probably less than a minute between when she pushed the call button and when she took the baby out into the hall to ask for help.

[klone, MSN, RN]

It seems that Postpartum nurses are being held to an almost impossible standard. First they are very heavily pushed to encourage breastfeeding to the point that offering a bottle is a fire-able offense. .

Not sure if this was hyperbole - I have never heard of a nurse being fired simply for giving a bottle of formula.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

It seems that Postpartum nurses are being held to an almost impossible standard. First they are very heavily pushed to encourage breastfeeding to the point that offering a bottle is a fire-able offense. Then the nurses are given several couplets to watch over and have no nursery to take the baby to if it is needed. The nurse cannot be in all rooms at all times it's impossible. And does it really matter if the nurse was out of the room for 5 minutes or 15 minutes? Brain death from suffocation happens quicker than that. The only way to prevent this is that mother's on mind-altering medication CANNOT room-in with or feed their babies without a nurse in constant attendance and therefore healthy baby nurseries will have to be rebuilt.[/quote']

Not a PP nurse, coming from my birth experiences only!

When I delivered my two boys the nurses knew what medications I was on & didn't allow me to breast feed & didn't push it. Maybe that's not the norm, maybe it's just at the hospital I delivered at but no doctor or nurse forced me to breast feed.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I don't see Dream'n suggest anywhere that women were being forced to breastfeed.

[Skippingtowork]

Not sure if this was hyperbole - I have never heard of a nurse being fired simply for giving a bottle of formula.

But they've been written up.

[Emergent, RN]

But they've been written up.

And they should be written up if they went against the parents wishes.

This is why I had homebirths, so I didn't have to fight with arrogant nurses who thought they knew better.

But I still maintain, that women on painkillers and sleeping pills should not sleep with their babies. On the other hand, women who can make it through childbirth without any medication should be able to make their own decisions.

[Skippingtowork]

And they should be written up if they went against the parents wishes.

This is why I had homebirths, so I didn't have to fight with arrogant nurses who thought they knew better.

But I still maintain, that women on painkillers and sleeping pills should not sleep with their babies. On the other hand, women who can make it through childbirth without any medication should be able to make their own decisions.

They were written up for going against the hospital mandate of no formula, not because they're going against parents wishes. Nurses are not arrogant for wanting babies to be safe.

As far as parents doing whatever they want, that's sound pretty selfish. We have rules against certain actions by parents because some wanted to make their own decisions and it did not work out so well for the baby.

Being your infant's advocate and parent is different from mindlessly putting them in danger. The suffocated babies I have taken care of did not have mothers who were under the influence of medicaations.

[klone, MSN, RN]

They were written up for going against the hospital mandate of no formula, not because they're going against parents wishes. .

I would LOVE to hear more about this. I am highly suspect of the veracity of any story about a hospital that has a mandate against formula. It just doesn't happen. Not in the US (and I would venture to guess, not anywhere). I call BS.

How do the nurses/parents feed the baby in the case of a woman who has no breasts (I've seen it, they were burnt off in a housefire when she was a teen), or the woman who is on medication that's contraindicated, or adoptive parents, or delayed lactogenesis and the baby has lost 10% of their birthweight? Or...she JUST DOESN'T WANT TO BREASTFEED?

[Skippingtowork]

I would LOVE to hear more about this. I am highly suspect of the veracity of any story about a hospital that has a mandate against formula. It just doesn't happen. Not in the US (and I would venture to guess, not anywhere). I call BS.

How do the nurses/parents feed the baby in the case of a woman who has no breasts (I've seen it, they were burnt off in a housefire when she was a teen), or the woman who is on medication that's contraindicated, or adoptive parents, or delayed lactogenesis and the baby has lost 10% of their birthweight? Or...she JUST DOESN'T WANT TO BREASTFEED?

Those are medical exceptions. In many hospitals, parents have to sign a form to say baby can have formula and doctor orders it. In some ways breastfeeding has gone way up. In other situations, baby is rehospitalized because of jaundice and dehydration. This is the US. and yes nurses have been written up for doing what is logical.

My comment was a follow-up response to the "arrogant nurses" comment. Baby Friendly, couplet care, skin-to-skin are all good, but each comes with issues that need to be addressed thoughtfully.