Very Difficult Delivery

[explawuser]

My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: New Jersey

Hi,

My wife gave birth to our son last year. She had a very difficult delivery (4th degree lacerations) and it seems it could have been avoided had the doctor taken more care. I was posting this question to see if I can sue her.

What happened was, my wife was having pains around 2 days before the due date and so we went to the hospital to get it checked out and they did an ultrasound which revealed the lack of fluids and the baby was, in medical terms, an IUGR baby. The doctor decided to admit her and deliver the baby that night itself. After my wife had started pushing (a nurse and I were helping her), the doctor came in and checked my wife and she said pointing to the nurses ( by that time there were 2 nurses in the room) that my wife had already suffered 2nd degree lacerations even before the doctor had come in. Was this the nurses' fault? Should they have checked earlier and called the doctor earlier? Then the doctor had to use vacuum to pull out our baby and I don't know if due to that or what, my wife suffered 4th degree lacerations. The baby also had to be admitted to NICU for 5-6 days for extra monitoring.

Is this something that the doctor could have handled better because i was reading and based on the statistics, 4th degree lacerations are very rare. Now she has to undergo reconstructive surgery to fix the scar tissue because she's having problems associated with 4th degree tear.

All suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[LawResearcherMissy]

You don't have standing to sue. Your wife would, if medical malpractice were involved, but not you.

Medical malpractice suits are not based on a layman's reading of statistics. They're based on actual malpractice. I'm not seeing any actual malpractice, here.

Fourth degree lacerations, while not prevalent, are not impossible. They are much more likely if you have an assisted delivery (forceps or vacuum extraction), as well as if it's your first delivery or if your perineum is narrower than average.

Some deliveries are just difficult, and there's nothing the doc can do for it.