Baltimore Medical Malpractice Lawyers: Hospitals Can Make Childbirth Safer
January 3, 2017
The childbirth process can be one of the happiest, most joyful moments for parents, assuming everything goes smoothly. But the childbirth process can also be extremely unpredictable, and problems can quickly arise that may jeopardize the health and safety of the mother and her baby. For this reason, obstetricians are sued for medical malpractice more than almost any other specialist. Medical errors are responsible for over 25,000 infant birth injuries each year.
According to researchers at the Yale School of Medicine, when the Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut standardized their obstetric care, made improvements to their communication and teamwork, and optimized quality reviews, their medical malpractice claims decreased by 50 percent. As a result, the hospital’s malpractice payments were significantly reduced from $50 million to approximately $3 million within five years of implementing the program.
How Hospitals Can Make Childbirth Safer
- Electronic Charting: Electronic Health Records (EHRs) help streamline a patient’s medical information and reduce the incidence of medical errors. EHRs also help reduce medical errors by alerting the physicians about things like medication interactions or allergies.
- Dedicated On-Call Attending Physician: When there is a senior physician in charge of overseeing the labor and delivery floor, it can increase patient safety.
- Standardized Protocols: When hospitals have standardized protocols for common labor and delivery scenarios, their safety record reflects that. For example, hospitals that have standard protocols for the administration of oxytocin (Pitocin) are better able to identify specific factors that could be harmful to the baby or the mother.
- Color-Coded Safety Labeling: Using a color-coding system for pre-mixed drugs can help avoid dangerous interactions or overdoses. This process can help avoid confusion with other medications, or misreading a physician’s handwriting. Color-coding also helps reduce the incidence of drug errors.
- Electronic Fetal Heart Monitoring: Using a fetal heart monitor can detect signs of distress early on, helping nurses and obstetricians address the issue quickly and protect the safety of the baby.
Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyers at LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton Represent Victims of Birth Injuries
If your baby has been injured during childbirth, the Maryland birth injury lawyers at LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton understand how devastating this can be. If your baby’s injury is the result of a medical error, we will aggressively pursue the negligent parties and hold them responsible for their actions. We will seek the maximum financial compensation so that you can focus on the health and safety of your child. For a free consultation, call us today at 800-547-4LAW (4529) or contact us online.
Our offices are located in Baltimore, Columbia, Glen Burnie, and Towson, allowing us to represent victims of medical malpractice throughout Maryland, including those in Anne Arundel County, Carroll County, Harford County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Maryland’s Western Counties, Southern Maryland, and the Eastern Shore, as well as the communities of Catonsville, Essex, Halethorpe, Middle River, Rosedale, Gwynn Oak, Brooklandville, Dundalk, Pikesville, Parkville, Nottingham, Windsor Mill, Lutherville, Timonium, Sparrows Point, Ridgewood, and Elkridge.
