$30.55 Million Jury Verdict for Brain Damage Caused by Inadequate Fetal Monitoring

Kimberly Kirkwood-Boulter was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital to deliver her first baby. During labor and delivery, the nurse responsible for monitoring the baby’s heart rate had difficulty differentiating Kirkwood-Boulter’s heartbeat from her unborn baby’s. This occurred during the second stage of labor, which lasted about 6 hours.

In spite of all of this, Kirkwood-Boulter was encouraged to push, and the obstetrical team did not switch from intermittent fetal monitoring by way of a handheld device to continuous monitoring.
Kirkwood-Boulter’s baby boy was born severely acidotic and not breathing. The baby’s Apgar scores were one at one minute and three at five minutes, which are low scores for a newborn. Now the child is 6 years old and suffers from brain damage. He cannot walk, talk or feed himself.

Kirkwood-Boulter and her husband sued the hospital, members of its delivery team, and the employer of the attending nurse, Cross Country Staffing Inc. It was alleged in the lawsuit that these defendants chose not to provide continuous monitoring during the labor and delivery.

The Kirkwood-Boulter family alleged that even though the nurse had little to no information about the baby’s well-being during the last hour and a half of labor, the nurse continued to encourage Kirkwood-Boulter to push.

Given the awful damages to the newborn baby boy, the jury signed a verdict for $30.55 million, which provides for extended medical care on a daily basis for the duration of the life of this child.

The attorneys who successfully handled this tragic case were Benjamin R. Zimmermann and David P. McCormack.

At trial, the Kirkwood-Boulter family presented experts who testified in obstetrics and nursing. The defendants also presented experts in nursing and obstetrics.

Boulter v. Coleman, No. 1584 CV 02372 (Mass. Super. Ct. Suffolk County, May 14, 2019).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling birth trauma injury lawsuits, brain injury cases, cerebral palsy injury lawsuits, labor and delivery negligence lawsuits, obstetrics negligence lawsuits and hospital negligence cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Lincolnshire, Mettawa, Mundelein, Libertyville, Hoffman Estates, Crestwood, Forest Park, Glenview, Morton Grove, Winnetka, Western Springs, Countryside, Justice, Oak Lawn, Chicago Ridge, Palos Hills, Midlothian, Dixmoor, East Hazel Crest, Flossmoor, Glenwood, Steger, South Chicago Heights, Frankfort, Mokena, Dolton, Chicago (West Pullman, East Side, Wood Lawn, Kenwood, Douglas, McKinley Park, Little Village, Austin, Humboldt Park, Pilsen, Pullman, Uptown, Lakeview, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood Manor, Portage Park, Wrightwood Neighbors, Sheffield Neighbors, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Noble Square, Fulton River District, Streeterville, Printer’s Row, South Loop, Bridgeport, Canaryville, Englewood, West Garfield Park, Galewood), Elmwood Park, Bellwood, Hillside, Berkeley and Wood Dale, Ill.