Hospital Staff Drops Newborn

[CityofAngelsRN]

A new father was filming in the hospital delivery room after the birth of his twin girls and he catches the doctor dropping one of the girls on a table.

I recently watched a video I found on Facebook of a newborn baby being dropped on a table right after delivery. A young father had apparently been given permission to film in the operating room after the birth of his preemie twin girls. In the video you can see one of the baby girls being dropped onto a table right after birth with no acknowledgement of the fall from the doctor or nurses that were present. Once the baby was home, the parents took her to an outside pediatrician who looked over her paperwork and noticed an ultrasound was done that showed a grade one brain hemorrhage. An OBGYN doctor not affiliated with this case has stated that this type of hemorrhage could have happened with or without the fall.

I found the comments online to be very interesting, many people of course supporting the family, but also many supporting the doctor and nurses. I would love to get opinions from the nursing community (especially L&D nurses) on how you all think this was handled. Here is a link to the video. http://fox2now.com/2019/05/03/shocking-parents-share-video-of-medical-staff-dropping-newborn-baby-on-table-demand-apology/

[KCMnurse, BSN, MSN, RN]

Interesting and sad that this happened and (according to the report) no acknowledgment from the hospital. As a former L&D nurse I do not think that this hospital handled the situation well. If the hemorrhage is unrelated to the fall, it just looks bad that they had to take their infant to another provider to find out that it was there at all. Yes, newborns are slippery and wriggly but there is no excuse for not acknowledging that the baby was dropped.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

A Grade I IVH is common among our lady partslly delivered babies due to the birth process. If they didn't have any other issues and were sent to newborn nursery instead of the NICU, the head US would not have been done. I surmise that many Grade I IVHs go undetected due to an uneventful newborn nursery stay in the hospital.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

On 5/18/2019 at 8:39 AM, NICU Guy said:

A Grade I IVH is common among our lady partslly delivered babies due to the birth process. If they didn't have any other issues and were sent to newborn nursery instead of the NICU, the head US would not have been done. I surmise that many Grade I IVHs go undetected due to an uneventful newborn nursery stay in the hospital.

I was thinking this too, but at the same time I would think that a baby being dropped would warrant a CT or whatever the protocol for newborns is? Correct me if I’m wrong... I don’t do kids (professionally anyway!)

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

When I worked L&D it wasn't unusual to drop a infant in the birthing process, but there was a table 4-5" below the woman's perineum. Not far enough to cause an injury, but it would be visible to parents,.

[klone, MSN, RN]

One of the first things a labor nurse learns is that you do not break down the bed until the OB provider is gowned and gloved and ready to sit down. If it's going to be an RN-delivery, you don't break down the bed, instead you just lower the foot of the bed several inches. Babies are really freaking slippery. It's always been a nightmare of mine that I would drop a baby. The dropping is unfortunate, but the real issue is the hospital should have acknowledged it, though, and provided full transparency instead of the appearance of trying to cover it up.

[protos frontida 9, BSN]

Whoa,

What a horrible situation.