Waco Birth Injury Lawsuit: Ascension Providence Accused of Negligence

Madeleine Herritage and Hogan Herritage of Waco, Texas have brought forth a lawsuit towards Ascension Providence. They have accused the medical facility of causing their child to have “neurologic injuries/brain damage," per legal documents. Here's what is known at the time of writing.

What Happened That Caused The Lawsuit?

As reported by KWTX, Madeleine was admitted to Ascension Providence on the date of October 6th, 2023. The reasoning for Madeleine going to the healthcare facility was for to start labor “secondary to fetal growth restriction and abnormal dopplers.” However, problems were alleged to have begun shortly afterward.

On October 4th, 2023, the next Madeleine was at the hospital, court documents state around the times of 1:20 PM until 3:40 PM that fetal monitoring strips were not working properly. In addition to this purported issue, there were also alleged issues with the baby's heartbeat:

“The labor and delivery team documented that fetal heart tones were in the 70, 80, and 90s during the pushing phase of labor but did not initiate internal monitoring to further evaluate the fetal state...Fetal growth restricted babies have higher risk of fetal intolerance in labor. The poor fetal tolerance can lead to increased operative deliveries and cesarean sections. Continuous fetal monitoring during labor is prudent, especially in growth restricted babies.”

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What Happened When The Child Was Born?

KWTX reports that following the child being born, they were taken to Dell Children’s Hospital for reported "brain cooling." This was done to help the temperature of child, and would assist in stopping any "long-term neurodevelopmental handicaps," as revealed by the news organization.

The lawsuit also stated that Ascension "was negligent in failing to adequately respond with interventions based on the fetal monitoring hours before delivery; and failing to emergently deliver the child." The Herritage family is seeking $2 Million in damages from the hospital.

At the time of writing, Ascension has not responded to the lawsuit. As this is a developing story, we will have more information when it becomes available.