Orange County Maternal Death Attorney 

Advocating for Justice After Maternal Mortality

Although complications can often occur during pregnancy and childbirth, the attending obstetrician or surgeon should be careful to prevent these complications from resulting in maternal death. Tragically, the United States has a higher maternal mortality rate than any other developed country on Earth, and there are signs that this trend will continue to increase unless doctors take more accountability.

At the Law Office of Marshall Silberberg, our compassionate Orange County maternal death attorneys are committed to fighting for justice when you’ve suffered the loss of a loved one during pregnancy or childbirth. We want to ensure that the problem of maternal mortality does not continue to grow, by holding negligent physicians liable for your losses in a court of law.  

Do you need to speak with our skilled legal team? Call (949) 565-4281 for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Why Do Maternal Deaths Happen?

It may seem improbable that maternal death rates could be so high here in the United States, where many women benefit from life-saving advances in the medical field. In spite of these advances, the CDC estimates that 7,208 mothers died within a year of pregnancy between 2011 and 2014, and that there were 18 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2014 alone. According to the CDC Foundation, almost 60% of these deaths were considered to be preventable.

There’s no one single explanation for these staggering mortality rates, but some maternal health advocates have pointed to the overuse of unnecessary C-sections, as well as a systemic tendency to focus on the baby rather than the mother during labor and post-partum. Other experts have suggested that higher rates of chronic health conditions among mothers, as well as severe disparities in healthcare access for impoverished women, have contributed to the rising rates.

Here are some of the other factors that may be involved in maternal deaths:

• Lack of proper maternal care training. Even in recent years, prospective ob-gyns were not required to spend much training time on the mothers in labor, instead focusing nearly all their attention on the infant’s health. Many doctors still do not have the focused experience and training to handle basic maternal emergencies, even in facilities with an NICU.
• Unnecessary C-sections. The Joint Commission, an accrediting organization for more than 20,000 U.S. health care institutions, has recently made it a priority to lower the C-section rates at hospitals. In spite of the risks associated with this surgery, over a third of all U.S. births now include a Cesarean section surgery, and the global C-section rate has doubled since 2000. Many of these surgeries cause fatal complications and expose pregnant women to undue risk.
• Preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a common pregnancy-specific condition marked by high blood pressure, and although it’s entirely preventable, it can lead to seizures, placental abruption, and ultimately death. However, many physicians are not always trained to spot the signs of this condition, or required to assess a maternal patient for preeclampsia. While the U.K. has now reduced preeclampsia deaths down to only 1 per year, the U.S. lags behind here as well, with 8% of all maternal deaths caused by this condition.

Providing Thorough Investigation for Your Case

No matter what happened in the hours and days before your loved one’s death, our attorneys at the Law Office of Marshall Silberberg won’t rest until we can get answers for you and your family. With decades of experience in medical malpractice and birth injury cases, we know how to investigate the true cause of maternal death, applying scientific reasoning to everything we do. Our team is dedicated to ensuring that no one else has to suffer from needless, preventable complications during pregnancy, and we can help you seek financial recovery from the negligent party.

Contact (949) 565-4281 today for more information. Because we work on contingency fees, you won’t pay anything unless we can win for you.