Doctors Failure to Monitor Pregnancy: Medical Negligence?

During a pregnancy, the expectant mother has several medical professionals whose concern is the care of the mother and the ultimate safe delivery of the child. The process may involve trained mid wives as well as birthing coaches, the family physician and obstetricians. Various nurses and other related medical staff are part of the overall process. If, during the pregnancy, a doctor or other medical professional fails to monitor the pregnancy, there is possibility the individual and/or her family may launch a case of medical negligence.

In law, negligence is the omission of performing or doing something a reasonable individual would do, or actually doing something a reasonable person would not do. It is the absence of due care that is the duty of an individual to apply in the situation or circumstance. Medical negligence occurs when a doctor or other qualified medical professional neglects to provide someone with a specific degree of care that is the normal practice of any other physician in a similar situation. In other words, the doctor fails to provide the right treatment or observation or related matters that another physician would supply if he or she had charge of the case.

Medical negligence is not deliberate. It is not, as the law would state, a ?opurposeful act.  It occurs when a medical professional

• Forgets something regarding the case
• Neglects to take preventive measures
• Does not diagnose correctly or fails to diagnose a specific problem based on the indications e.g. symptoms

A doctor may prove to be negligent for failing to monitor a pregnancy. This is particularly true if the medical professionals do not watch the patient for indications of some of the more common medical issues occurring during a pregnancy. These include, but are not restricted to

• Gestational diabetes
• Maternal diabetes
• Pre-eclampsia
• Placental-abruption
• Uterine- rupture

Medical negligence can arise because of failure to exercise normal procedure at any point of the pregnancy from conception to delivery. This can result in death of the pregnant individual and/or the baby. It can also result in various physical and emotional damages or scarring.

The field of medical negligence law is complex. It is up to the plaintiff to establish the medical professional (s) was (were) negligent. The plaintiff must convince the judge and jury the persons involved did not treat the patient according to the established medical standards. This is difficult without the help of a qualified personal injury attorney.