Would you sue or is it even worth it?

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. So I had to have a c-section which is nobody’s fault however I had to be put under which was the hospitals fault. My daughter is 16m so this happened back in 2023 but still bothers me. A little before 3pm they came to talk about options because I wasn’t dilating more and it was time to get her out. We agreed that a C-section would be the safest way because I obviously was not having her vaginally. They said that right before they take me back they would cut my epidural for all of 10 minutes and when I got back to the OR they would give me a big shot of it. They did mention that they might have to take another Mom before me which wasn’t a big deal. She was having twins. However, they never told me when exactly I was supposed to be taken back. They did say they would let me know and tell me before they cut the epidural. Fast-forward a couple hours around 7 PM. I start feeling excruciating pain and my epidural button to get more of it was not working. Come to find out that they cut it because they were going to take me back at three and never did. Nobody communicated anything with me. Around 8 PM they finally took me back to the OR and because my epidural had been stopped for around five hours. They said they would just have to give me something else to numb me. The other meds they gave me did not work so because of that I had to get put under which meant I did not get to see herbe born. I could not feel anything with that epidural so I know if they never cut it. I would’ve been fine to be awake during the C-section. Because of them I had to be put under and because of that I didn’t get to hold her until like a day later, and I didn’t get to do my skin to skin or breast-feed. I had no idea you could sue for something like this until someone mentioned it to me a couple weeks ago. It’s definitely something that eats me up inside and makes me feel like a failure of a mom even though I know I’m not. I just wanted to know if anyone had similar experiences and what they did?

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They put me to sleep because the epidural didn’t work to make me not feel the pain of them cutting in me and didn’t let my husband cut the ambilic cord I woke up awhile later and didn’t know anything and was in to much pain to hold my baby

this is so upsetting and i’m sorry you still think about this moment and how it should’ve happened,, have you spoke to the doctor that did your c section and asked them what had happened to cause this to happen? i asked my doctor all the time why and i also didn’t get to hold my son right away only a kiss that was it,, sueing might just cost you more that it’s worth yah know,, i tried to sue my doctor for giving me a vaccine way to late for it and i ended up getting 100$ out of a 10,000$ settle soooo i would just talk to your doctor about the c section because the pp hormones have left and you had time to reflect

Every time I had a contraction her heart rate would slow down but it still doesn’t explain why they couldn’t wait till the epidural they was redoing worked and why I was put to sleep

It also doesn’t explain why they wouldn’t let my husband cut the cord

@Angie I have no idea who the doctor even was every time I went in for an appointment. It was a different person I saw, and while I was in the hospital, it was a different person every single day. I know why it happened. They cut my epidural way too soon and neglected to take me back back so they had to give me a different numbing medicine that did not work. They were actually gonna take me around 7 PM but shift change was at 8 o’clock and they told me to just wait an hour so that way they could get the new staff in. I was prepared to go into a surgery with an amazing nurse who had been taking good care of me just to be told i had to wait

The fact of them pushing one hour cause of staff change was bs and them being lazy

I'm assuming you're American? In the UK, this kinda law suit would just sink so if you are in the UK I would recommend going with the lawyers that only charge if you win. Honestly, I was messed about so much with my birth, I was told that I was ready to have my waters broken & 30 HOURS later when they took me down to do it, that wasn't the case at all. I was a failed induction, that led to an emergency C section and even that I was delayed having. Whilst having my op, my partner noticed there was air in my IV line, no one else, and then I couldn't hold my baby for an hour because the surgeon "needed to use my chest as an arm rest" 🙃 they then left my catheter in for too long and I was the one to remind them to take it out as it had been over 12 hours. I have no grounds to sue apparently 🥲 If there's a way to speak to someone & get legal advice on your chances of winning etc., I'd do that tbh

If you have MyChart or can see your bill, that information is on there.

@Melissa it's actually a safety precaution to not do procedures (unless truly emergent- life or death) at shift change because we get patient report and there are less eyes on the unit as a whole. A vast majority of hospitals have this kind of policy for the safety of the patients. It's not laziness, it's a dedication to quality patient care. OPs case obviously had extenuating circumstances, but not taking her back during shift change is probably because research has proven that errors increase if procedures are done during shift change due to incomplete report between the two shifts.

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