May 10, 2002 - Mom Awarded $8.5 Million

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A jury has awarded $8.5 million to a woman who claimed Rochester General Hospital caused irreparable damage to her baby by botching the delivery.

Angela Asproules of Rochester, 22, sued the hospital in state Supreme Court, alleging that doctors and midwives underestimated the size of her baby when they allowed her pregnancy to go beyond the 42-week gestation period. When the baby boy was born Oct, 1, 1997, the hospital should have known that he was too big to fit through the birth canal, but he was delivered that way anyway, the lawsuit claimed. He was deprived of oxygen and, as a result, the baby, Yakeim Donald, was born with severe brain damage. Now at 4 years old, he has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. He cannot speak or walk.

All the warning signs were there that this wasn't going to be a healthy delivery through the vagina," said the plaintiff's attorney. When the jury reached its verdict, it awarded much more than the $6.2 million requested by the plaintiff. Janine DeCook, a spokeswoman for Rochester General, said the hospital was disappointed with the jury's decision but declined further comment. The hospital is considering an appeal.

Asproules was 16 and not married when she became pregnant. She received prenatal care at a medical clinic operated by the hospital, and her pregnancy proceeded smoothly up until her due date of Sept. 14, 1997, he said. Her pregnancy was allowed continue beyond 42 weeks -- which is acceptable as long as the placenta continues to function properly -- but when Asproules finally went into labor, it progressed slowly. Evaluations conducted by the doctor and the midwife should have indicated that the fetus was too big to move through birth canal.