After months of pregnancy, mothers in Prince Georges County can only wish for one thing-safe delivery. Giving birth is a very delicate process. One wrong move can cost the life of the mother or the child. In some cases, a baby suffers from an injury that could be either temporary or permanent. There are also incidents of babies who suffered from asphyxiation that leads to death because of errors during delivery. These incidents are emotionally wrenching for the parents. Moreover, these sad stories are sometimes preventable.
Laurel health care professionals may soon follow a trend in Kansas City that aims to keep babies and mothers safer during delivery. University of Kansas Hospital recently made the headlines after a groundbreaking training technique was adopted there.
Compared to traditional simulation training, this newer form of training offers a unique approach, making it completely different from its predecessors. One doctor demonstrated the process of properly pulling out of a baby who was stuck on the pubic bone. If the wrong method is used, a sensor goes off, alerting the medical practitioner that the baby's neck has been twisted, which can cause permanent nerve damage.
The breakthrough training is called Practical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training, or PROMPT, and it was first developed in the U.K. in 2000. This training involves an interdisciplinary team of anesthesiologists, obstetricians, nurses and other medical professionals frequently involved in deliveries. As a team, they learn how to properly handle different situations depending on the severity of the circumstances.
After PROMPT was launched in Kansas, the incidence of caesarean-section births dropped. Brain injuries and nerve damage stemming from birth injuries to newborns were also reduced.
Even with all the proper training, doctors are still humans and subject to making errors. Medical errors that result in birth injury may be compensable if they are the result of negligence by a medical professional. Here in Laurel, parents who experienced birth injury may be eligible to recover compensation for the future of the injured child.