A Birmingham, Alabama mohter of four children recovered $16 million after a Jefferson County, Alabama, jury reached a verdict against Brookwood Medical Center, according to WBRC.
Caroline and J.T. Malatesta sued for medical negligence and reckless fraud over the hospital’s natural birth advertising campaign.
According to the plaintiffs' attorney Rip Andrews of Marsh Rickard Bryan, Caroline became pregnant with her fourth child in 2011. Her desire for a natural birth attracted her to Brookwood.
During labor, Caroline says she was restrained, forced to lay on her back, rather than rest on her hands and knees. A nurse applied pressure to the baby’s head to delay delivery, the complaint states.
She sustained nerve damage and has been diagnosed with Pudendal Neuralgia. “It is catastrophic. It’s debilitating. It’s also very difficult to deal with emotionally because it is silent pain,” Andrews says. “If you see someone at the grocery store, if you smile for a family photo, people can’t see that you’re in pain. Sometimes they don’t believe you’re in pain. That’s one of the hardest things to deal with. And it is a constant pain that she deals with.”
