Daniel E. Holloway
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Wellstar Douglas Hospital complaint alleges delayed delivery amid fetal heart concerns before a newborn’s brain injury

The complaint alleges that Wellstar Douglas Hospital nurses raised Pitocin doses while recording late decelerations in the fetal heart rate, and kept raising them overnight. The mother’s cervix stayed at 9 to 9.5 centimeters for about eleven hours before full dilation. The newborn was delivered vaginally in nonvigorous condition and needed resuscitation for a heart rate below 60. He was not intubated until seven to nine minutes of life, and a later MRI showed findings consistent with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. A CHOA Egleston Children’s Hospital transport team allegedly rewarmed him during the transfer to Northside Hospital, instead of keeping him passively cooled for therapeutic hypothermia.

System
Wellstar Health System, Inc.
Facility
Wellstar Douglas Hospital
Providers involved
Kendy Verpile, M.D. / Center for Women’s Health and Aesthetics LLC / Kristine Marie Raynard, CNM / Natalie Ronnette Brathwaite, M.D. / Wellstar Medical Group, LLC d/b/a Wellstar North Douglas OB/GYN / Douglas Hospital, Inc. d/b/a Wellstar Douglas Hospital / Wellstar Health System, Inc. / Egleston Children’s Hospital at Emory University, Inc. d/b/a CHOA Egleston Children’s Hospital
Pattern
Alleged failure to respond to a nonreassuring fetal heart rate during a Pitocin-augmented induction, delaying delivery
Harm
Alleged hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy after resuscitation at birth and rewarming during a transfer for cooling

Overview

This page concerns a complaint alleging that Wellstar Douglas Hospital providers did not properly assess and respond to a nonreassuring fetal heart rate. It alleges this delayed delivery. A transport team then allegedly rewarmed the newborn instead of keeping him cooled during his transfer.

Chronology

The complaint alleges as follows:

  1. The mother was admitted to Wellstar Douglas Hospital in March 2021 at 39 weeks for induction of labor. The obstetrician ordered Cervidil, which was placed at 7:45 p.m.
  2. The obstetrician ordered Pitocin the next afternoon. A nurse started it at 4:15 p.m. and raised it twice by 6:15 p.m. while noting late decelerations. Nurses kept raising it overnight, reaching 20 mu/min by 11:41 a.m.
  3. From about 2:58 a.m. to 1:05 p.m. the next day, the cervix remained 9 to 9.5 centimeters dilated while Pitocin doses increased.
  4. At 2:00 p.m. the nurse midwife found full dilation. The newborn was delivered vaginally at 5:12 p.m., nonvigorous, with an Apgar score of 1 at one minute.
  5. Resuscitation included chest compressions, and the records place intubation at either 5:19 or 5:21 p.m., about seven to nine minutes after delivery.
  6. The newborn was diagnosed with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. A CHOA Egleston transport team rewarmed him during the transfer to Northside Hospital instead of keeping him passively cooled.
  7. Cooling began at Northside Hospital that night, and a post-cooling MRI on March 22, 2021 showed findings consistent with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Alleged failures

The complaint alleges the following failures:

  • The obstetricians, the nurse midwife, and the labor and delivery nurses did not properly assess and respond to the fetal heart rate pattern.
  • They did not appropriately monitor the administration of Pitocin, and the nurses did not appropriately administer and titrate it.
  • The delivery team did not ensure a resuscitation team capable of immediate intubation was present given the nonreassuring tracing.
  • The filing alleges that the transport team’s warming, instead of continued cooling, contributed to the newborn’s neurologic injuries.
  • The complaint pleads professional negligence, ordinary negligence, and gross negligence. It pleads negligent hiring, training, and supervision, and vicarious liability. It attaches two expert affidavits under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1.

Entities and tags

Wellstar Douglas HospitalWellstar Health System, Inc.Wellstar Medical Group, LLCCHOA Egleston Children’s HospitalNorthside HospitalHypoxic ischemic encephalopathyPitocinTherapeutic hypothermiaDeKalb CountyBirth injuryFailure to monitorDelayed treatmentObstetricsNurse-midwiferyNeonatology