Settlement:  $14 Million

The plaintiff mother was admitted to Prentice Women's Hospital at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for delivery of an uncomplicated pregnancy.  When the mother began pushing efforts, the external fetal monitor began capturing the mother's heart rate and not the baby's heart rate.  Plaintiff's counsel argued that the delivery team should have checked the mother's pulse rate and compared it to the heart rate seen on the monitor screen in between contractions.  The obstetrician and nurse failed to do so, and the baby was born in severe distress.  Despite resuscitation, the baby experienced cerebral palsy and related brain damage.