Lawsuit: Hospital insisted on vaginal birth — and caused cerebral palsy

A medical malpractice lawsuit was recently filed in the Haifa District Court, in which parents claim that the insistence of the Ziv Medical Center in Safed on a vaginal birth left the mother and daughter, now 3.5 years old, with significant disabilities. The lawsuit, filed by Adv. Tali Treiband, was titled as a "chain of medical negligence that occurred during an attempted vaginal birth," several years after the mother had delivered a healthy daughter via cesarean section.

Among other things, it is claimed that during the second birth, the hospital staff preferred to perform failed vacuum attempts instead of rushing the mother to a cesarean section, in a way that led to severe damages such as a full uterine rupture, placental abruption, and the fetus exiting into the abdominal cavity. The lawsuit attacks the hospital's decision to place an "intern, and especially a midwife" to manage a birth for a woman at increased risk of uterine rupture, while treating with "Pitocin," which is claimed to only increase the risk of rupture.

According to the parents, only after the mother was on the verge of fainting and the fetus showed drops in heart rate, was it decided to finally transfer her to a cesarean section — but then the staff was told: there is no available operating room, and she is close to giving birth anyway. Under these circumstances, it was decided to perform a vacuum birth. The plaintiffs clarify that although the medical documentation supposedly shows one vacuum extraction attempt, in practice two attempts were performed, despite the mother expressing opposition. According to an expert on behalf of the plaintiffs, the decision to perform a vacuum in the described circumstances "was out of place and caused a waste of precious time."

According to the lawsuit, when all options were exhausted, the mother was transferred to a cesarean section and her daughter came into the world weighing 3.3 kg, but with a low Apgar score, not breathing or responding to stimuli, and with a slow heart rate. She was taken to the NICU while on a ventilator, where she underwent resuscitation until two hours after birth she began to convulse. Due to her condition, it was decided to hospitalize her for about 20 days, and she was finally discharged with a recommendation for neurological and developmental follow-up.

According to the plaintiffs, the toddler was diagnosed with a multi-disciplinary developmental delay and a clinical picture consistent with cerebral palsy. An additional examination performed showed epileptic activity in her. The parents of the minor - who attends a rehabilitative daycare center - note that as of today she does not walk or sit independently, and does not communicate verbally. She also suffers from constant drooling and incontinence, and requires close supervision.

It is also claimed that the mother has been in a difficult mental state since the birth, and suffers from "actual psychiatric disability." According to her, due to the rupture that occurred in her uterus, severe adhesions were caused, for which she was recommended to undergo surgery to alleviate her suffering. The plaintiffs conclude that "the birth hospitalization described above was negligent, failed, and full of errors," and that it was done contrary to everything reasonable and accepted and deviated from the medical standard. The lawsuit was set at more than 2.5 million shekels, at the court's discretion, for the damages that have already materialized, alongside "general damage" such as violation of autonomy, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.

The lawsuit was filed against the state as the owner of the Ziv Medical Center, and the Ministry of Health stated: "The statement of claim was received at the Ministry of Health, the ministry's response will be given in court as is customary."

• The article is in collaboration with the Israeli legal website PsakDin

• Counsel for the plaintiffs: Adv. Tali Treiband

• ynet is a partner of the PsakDin website