Family Wants Apology After Baby Injured During Birth at Tennessee Hospital

After their baby’s head was injured during birth at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a new mom took her case to social media to warn others. Cecily Dantam posted photos of scratches and gouges on the top of her newborn’s head and said the baby also suffered hypothermia due to the actions of her nurse midwife during and after the birthing process.

According to a now-deleted Facebook post, during the baby’s birth in late November 2017, the midwife used an amniotic hook to break Dantam’s water. She spent several minutes breaking the amniotic sack, allegedly commenting that it was very difficult, and scraping around in an attempt to rupture it. It later turned out the midwife was scraping the crown of the baby’s head. After the baby was delivered, Dantam said the child was rushed off to be given a bath and quickly developed hypothermia, ending up in the NICU with low oxygen levels.

The family has been unsuccessfully trying to get an apology from the hospital. However, the resulting publicity from the social media uproar has prompted the medical center to re-open the Dantam’s case.

When should a hospital apologize?

This incident brings up an interesting discussion about hospital error and apologies. While this particular case likely isn’t technically medical malpractice—the hospital explained that, although uncommon, this type of birth injury sometimes occurs and is not considered poor care—it does beg the question of when it’s appropriate for a hospital to apologize for its mistake.

Over the past few years, some hospitals and medical centers have tried a new approach for dealing with medical errors. Traditionally, most hospitals never talk to patients about mistakes, and because of this, valuable information about patient safety and error prevention is lost. Hospitals will deny any wrongdoing and refuse to share any information.

However, with this new disclosure model, hospitals will tell the patient exactly what went wrong, apologize for the error, and provide (usually undisclosed) compensation. These types of programs, although still rare, are becoming more popular, as they speed up the process for the patient and the hospital, allow the hospital to drive better patient safety initiatives, and, importantly, learn from mistakes.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the disclosure and transparency model will become widespread and the new way of doing things. A 2015 Medscape survey of physicians showed that 81% of doctors believed that apologizing for a medical mistake would make no difference in whether or not they were sued for malpractice.

If you suspect that your child’s birth injury resulted from the negligent actions of your physician, turn to Bailey & Greer, PLLC for legal assistance you can trust. We proudly serve the residents of Memphis, Jackson, and West Tennessee. Call us today at 901-680-9777 or complete our contact form to schedule a consultation.