Pregnancy Complications Malpractice

High-risk pregnancies need close attention. When they don't get it, the harm is preventable — and actionable.

Most pregnancy complications are well understood and well managed. Obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists are trained to screen for them, recognize them early, and treat them before they harm mother or baby. When that doesn't happen — when a clear warning sign is dismissed, a high-risk patient isn't referred, or a known condition is mismanaged — the consequences can be catastrophic and lifelong.

Gilman & Bedigian represents families across the country in high-stakes pregnancy-complication malpractice cases. Every claim is screened by our in-house board-certified physician before we file.

Complications that should never be missed

Preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome — high blood pressure with end-organ involvement. Untreated, it can progress to eclampsia (seizures), stroke, liver rupture, or maternal death.
Gestational diabetes — uncontrolled blood sugar increases the risk of macrosomia, shoulder dystocia, stillbirth, and neonatal hypoglycemia.
Placental abruption — the placenta separates from the uterine wall, depriving the baby of oxygen and putting the mother at risk of hemorrhage.
Placenta previa and placenta accreta — abnormal placental position or attachment, often requiring planned cesarean and sometimes hysterectomy.
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) — a baby falling off the growth curve is a sign of placental insufficiency and demands closer surveillance and often earlier delivery.
Oligohydramnios and polyhydramnios — abnormally low or high amniotic fluid, both of which warrant evaluation.
Cholestasis of pregnancy — increases stillbirth risk; treatable when recognized.
Preterm labor — early recognition and tocolytic therapy can buy critical days for fetal lung development.
Multiple gestation complications — twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and other high-risk situations require specialist care.

How these cases go wrong

Missing or dismissing classic warning signs — sudden swelling, severe headache, vision changes, upper-abdominal pain, decreased fetal movement.
Failing to order routine screening tests (glucose tolerance, blood pressure monitoring, growth ultrasounds).
Not referring a high-risk patient to maternal-fetal medicine.
Inadequate frequency of prenatal visits for a known high-risk pregnancy.
Failure to admit a patient with worsening preeclampsia or other unstable condition.
Not delivering early when the risk to mother or baby outweighs the benefit of continued pregnancy.
Discharging patients home without proper return precautions or follow-up.

Injuries that can result

Maternal stroke, seizures, or death from untreated preeclampsia.
Stillbirth from undetected IUGR, cholestasis, or placental failure.
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and cerebral palsy from chronic in-utero hypoxia.
Preterm birth complications when labor wasn't recognized in time.
Emergency hysterectomy and loss of future fertility from mismanaged placental conditions.
Long-term developmental delays in babies whose growth restriction was missed.

Proving the case

Pregnancy-complication malpractice cases turn on the prenatal record: what was screened for, what was documented, what the patient reported, and what the provider did — or didn't do — in response. We work with obstetric and maternal-fetal medicine experts to demonstrate where the standard of care was breached and how earlier intervention would have changed the outcome.