Miami Childbirth Stroke Lawyer: Sean M. Cleary

Common Forms of Medical Negligence in Childbirth Stroke Cases

Many types of medical negligence can lead to a childbirth stroke in Florida, including:

• Failure to Monitor High-Risk Pregnancies: Pregnant women with preeclampsia, hypertension, thrombophilia, or advanced maternal age must be closely monitored by healthcare providers during pregnancy. Disregarding abnormal blood pressure readings or proteinuria indicative of preeclampsia constitutes a breach of the standard of care.
• Delayed Treatment During Delivery: If mothers show signs of distress that indicate an urgent delivery, cesarean sections should be performed in a timely manner. When blood pressure is not managed properly, hypertensive crises can occur resulting in hemorrhagic strokes.
• Medication Errors: Prescribing anticoagulants or other medications that elevate hemorrhagic risk, or failing to administer indicated antihypertensive therapy, represents actionable negligence.
• Dismissing Stroke Symptoms: Healthcare providers who attribute severe headaches, altered mental status, or speech difficulties to routine postpartum fatigue or hormonal fluctuations rather than investigating cerebrovascular events breach their duty of care.
• Failure to Order Diagnostic Imaging: When postpartum mothers report severe headaches, neurological changes, or other warning signs, medical staff who attribute these to normal postpartum experiences rather than ordering brain imaging delay life-saving interventions.

Healthcare providers must take symptoms such as sudden severe headaches, facial drooping, arm or leg weakness, difficulty speaking, vision changes, confusion, seizures, and loss of coordination seriously in postpartum women. Symptoms of postpartum should trigger urgent evaluation rather than reassurance that they are normal during this high-risk time.

Damages Available to Childbirth Stroke Malpractice Victims

During pregnancy and after delivery, the body undergoes dramatic changes that increase stroke risk. Clotting occurs more frequently during this period, a method of preventing excessive bleeding during childbirth, but it also increases the likelihood of clots entering the brain. Further contributing factors to stroke vulnerability are changes in blood volume, cardiac output, and blood pressure around delivery. A stroke during this period can be ischemic, hemorrhagic, or cerebral venous thrombosis, which is caused by blood clots that block blood vessels in the brain. Victims who suffered a childbirth stroke as a result of negligent obstetric care may be eligible to recover substantial compensation in Florida:

• Medical costs
• Lost income and reduced earning capacity
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of consortium
• Wrongful death

Proving Your Childbirth Stroke Claim

If a healthcare provider fails to monitor maternal risk factors, recognize stroke symptoms, or provide timely treatment, it is considered medical malpractice. The blame may lie with obstetricians who ignore warning signs of preeclampsia, labor and delivery nurses who ignore neurological complaints, anesthesiologists who mismanage blood pressure, and hospitals that do not follow postpartum protocols. Having your care analyzed by medical experts, such as maternal-fetal medicine specialists, neurologists, and stroke specialists, will allow you to identify failures in your care.

Medical malpractice claims in Florida must be filed within strict deadlines. There is generally a two-year statute of limitations from the date the injury was discovered or the negligent act occurred, and a maximum four-year time frame after the injury is discovered. Seeking the advice of an experienced lawyer as soon as possible is recommended to preserve evidence and ensure compliance with procedural requirements.