Poor communication probably accounts for a fair number of arguments amongst my wife and myself. However, at the end of the day, our miscommunication usually accounts for nothing more than the wrong brand of bread retrieved from the the grocery store or perhaps a delayed dinner.

However, in the medical field basic miscommunication can have disastrous consequences for young and old patients alike.  In perhaps a medical communication breakdown for the record books, an English couple is blaming a communication meltdown between hospital staff for a significant delay in the delivery of a baby that resulted in serious injury to both the moth and infant.

Like many late-term mothers, Jennifer Kennedy arranged to go to her local hospital for a scheduled delivery where doctors would delivery the baby via cesarean section.  Forty weeks pregnant, Ms. Kennedy arrived at the hospital as was told the doctors would perform the procedure within two hours.

Soon after Ms. Kennedy's arrival, there was a shift change for her attending nurses and physicians.  Apparently, the game plan was not communicated to the fresh staff.  

Things turned drastically wrong after the the staff failed to timely perform the scheduled c-section.  More than twelve hours after the c-section was intended on being performed, Ms. Kennedy's babies heart stopped and her uterus had ruptured.

A crash cesarean was performed to save both mother and baby.  However, the delay in performing the c-section is believed to account for depriving the baby of oxygen for an extended period and for causing severe bleeding in mother.  After delivering the baby, doctors had to resuscitate the baby in order to get its heart beating.

The failure to timely perform the c-section is believe to have caused the oxygen deprivation in the baby and resulting brain damage.  According to Ms. Kennedy,

The worst thing about all this is that he was a perfect little baby until that day in the hospital.  Now he has brain damage and will need constant care.  He doesn't deserve that.  We did all that was asked of us and we were let down by the people you're meant to trust.  It's hard to deal with.

While the above may have occurred overseas, the scary fact remains that similar delivery horror stories still happen in the United States.  Therefore, as a lawyer who represents families in matters relating to birth injuries, I feel strongly about taking the depositions of all medical personnel associated with the event.  In many circumstances we learn that simple communication breakdown is at the heart of the problem.