Malpractice- When your loved one is a money machine!

Yes, when you look into suing after the death of a baby, all you want is money to make yourself feel better. It'll make you soooo happy, too. Amiright??

WRONG!!! Why should bereaved parents or bereaved people in general be reimbursed when a loved one has died a preventable death at the hand of a negligent individual??

A. To help cover medical costs of the loved one. We all know medical costs are insane. It sucks, but it's life. These can either be costs already incurred or costs that will be incurred due to an error that resulted in injury. This can mean constant doctor appointments, hospitalizations, surgeries, medications, and therapies. What if a 24 hour nurse is needed??

B. Lost wages. Parents have to take off work, that's if they even have the option. Not all employers offer 3 days of bereavement pay. My husband was given it, but he was still asked to come into work the next day. Loved ones normally don't get paid if they have to spend days out of work. Now, if this is a spouse whose wages went into the family budget, that's totally gone leaving the surviving spouse struggling alone. Add in dependent children and their life will be drastically altered. Can that single mom making $10 an hour survive with three kids under 5?? What about it being a single mom that has died and now her parents are having to care for her two children while retired and on Social security?? What if there is an injured child and a parent has to stop working so they can care for this child? Or if a spouse or parent becomes disabled and people have to quit working to become caregivers??

C. Funeral costs. For an infant, costs can be quite low if parents find a funeral home offering free services and a cemetary offing a free burial, but that still costs something. Over 18 months, they get even more expensive. It took my mom years to pay off my sisters services and she was cremated. Burial plots can be up there. Ours was the cheapest around and was still $600. I've seen places here charging up to $2500 for one plot. This reminds me, we still have to hurry up and pay for our plot so nobody else can be beside our daughter.

D. Injuries/Disability- I touched on future medical costs and lost wages. What about having to move to a house that the disabled person can get around in easier?? What if you have to have medical equipment in the home?? What if a home has to be modified for the individual?? What about the costs of a wheelchair/scooter?? What about vehicle modifications or if modifications cannot be done and a special vehicle has to be purchased. Once a child gets big enough, you have to also have a special car seat in your vehicle. Some families can get assistance or help securing these, but what about those who can't??

So, suing for malpractice does not mean you are out for money. It means you are trying to keep your head above water and help reimburse you for expenses that should not of/should not be occurring. How anyone can accuse people of using their loved one as a money maker when suing for malpractice is beyond me. I guess until you are in those shoes, you cannot fathom suing and for that, be glad you don't understand. I use to think suing wouldn't bring someone back so why do it. Then I learned how expensive it can be when someone is suddenly dead because of malpractice. Money doesn't magically make pain go away. For those who think like the image above, I have to wonder if they think it's ok to sue for doctor injuries/negligence or if it's midwifery injuries/negligence that nobody should be able to sue for as that comment was directed to people who were saying CPM's should be carrying malpractice insurance and I was the only one with a dead baby.

Malpractice- When your loved one is a money machine!

Yes, when you look into suing after the death of a baby, all you want is money to make yourself feel better. It'll make you soooo happy, too. Amiright??

WRONG!!! Why should bereaved parents or bereaved people in general be reimbursed when a loved one has died a preventable death at the hand of a negligent individual??

A. To help cover medical costs of the loved one. We all know medical costs are insane. It sucks, but it's life. These can either be costs already incurred or costs that will be incurred due to an error that resulted in injury. This can mean constant doctor appointments, hospitalizations, surgeries, medications, and therapies. What if a 24 hour nurse is needed??

B. Lost wages. Parents have to take off work, that's if they even have the option. Not all employers offer 3 days of bereavement pay. My husband was given it, but he was still asked to come into work the next day. Loved ones normally don't get paid if they have to spend days out of work. Now, if this is a spouse whose wages went into the family budget, that's totally gone leaving the surviving spouse struggling alone. Add in dependent children and their life will be drastically altered. Can that single mom making $10 an hour survive with three kids under 5?? What about it being a single mom that has died and now her parents are having to care for her two children while retired and on Social security?? What if there is an injured child and a parent has to stop working so they can care for this child? Or if a spouse or parent becomes disabled and people have to quit working to become caregivers??

C. Funeral costs. For an infant, costs can be quite low if parents find a funeral home offering free services and a cemetary offing a free burial, but that still costs something. Over 18 months, they get even more expensive. It took my mom years to pay off my sisters services and she was cremated. Burial plots can be up there. Ours was the cheapest around and was still $600. I've seen places here charging up to $2500 for one plot. This reminds me, we still have to hurry up and pay for our plot so nobody else can be beside our daughter.

D. Injuries/Disability- I touched on future medical costs and lost wages. What about having to move to a house that the disabled person can get around in easier?? What if you have to have medical equipment in the home?? What if a home has to be modified for the individual?? What about the costs of a wheelchair/scooter?? What about vehicle modifications or if modifications cannot be done and a special vehicle has to be purchased. Once a child gets big enough, you have to also have a special car seat in your vehicle. Some families can get assistance or help securing these, but what about those who can't??

So, suing for malpractice does not mean you are out for money. It means you are trying to keep your head above water and help reimburse you for expenses that should not of/should not be occurring. How anyone can accuse people of using their loved one as a money maker when suing for malpractice is beyond me. I guess until you are in those shoes, you cannot fathom suing and for that, be glad you don't understand. I use to think suing wouldn't bring someone back so why do it. Then I learned how expensive it can be when someone is suddenly dead because of malpractice. Money doesn't magically make pain go away. For those who think like the image above, I have to wonder if they think it's ok to sue for doctor injuries/negligence or if it's midwifery injuries/negligence that nobody should be able to sue for as that comment was directed to people who were saying CPM's should be carrying malpractice insurance and I was the only one with a dead baby.

A note about homebirth

I know alot of people go on and on about how horrible hospital births are because of this or that. Be darned if I wasn't one of them!! We talk about how safe homebirth is and poo poo those who don't agree with us or support us. We warn other moms about the horrors of hospital birth. You know when people would tell me that babies used to die because they were born at home, I had my "research and statistics" to back me up and prove they were wrong. Wanna know one thing I have learned now??? We don't hear about deaths after homebirths because of the stigma. Your baby dies in the hospital and people feel sorry for you. Your baby dies after a homebirth and people automatically blame you, even if it wasn't your fault. Because you made the choice to birth at home, you don't really have a right to grieve. I have read so many stories of loss and there are actually groups just for homebirth loss. If homebirth was so much safer than the hospital, we wouldn't need those groups would we??? We talk about how if your low risk home is much safer. I have NEVER been high risk before yet home was the worst place my daughter could of been after her birth. Please, please think about how you promote homebirth as being so safe and wonderful. My daughter is dead because of homebirth. You don't want to be a number or a statistic.

If you want to promote homebirth, fine but please encourage the people to do their homework. There is more to homebirth than just labor and birth itself. There can be problems in the newborn. Make sure your midwife has no birth injuries, deaths, or stillbirths under her belt. Stillbirth can strike anyone, but please be concerned if someone has mulitiple ones. We do our research n the c-section rate of a hospital or doctor, but do you do the research on mortality rates in the midwife you are using??? Do they know anything about newborns?? Have you found out why a baby was injured or died from the parents and not just taken the midife's word??

My 4 hospital babies are here and healthy. Out of my two homebirth babies one is here and healthy while the other is in a cemetary. She is proof that homebirth isn't as safe as we all think.

A note about homebirth

I know alot of people go on and on about how horrible hospital births are because of this or that. Be darned if I wasn't one of them!! We talk about how safe homebirth is and poo poo those who don't agree with us or support us. We warn other moms about the horrors of hospital birth. You know when people would tell me that babies used to die because they were born at home, I had my "research and statistics" to back me up and prove they were wrong. Wanna know one thing I have learned now??? We don't hear about deaths after homebirths because of the stigma. Your baby dies in the hospital and people feel sorry for you. Your baby dies after a homebirth and people automatically blame you, even if it wasn't your fault. Because you made the choice to birth at home, you don't really have a right to grieve. I have read so many stories of loss and there are actually groups just for homebirth loss. If homebirth was so much safer than the hospital, we wouldn't need those groups would we??? We talk about how if your low risk home is much safer. I have NEVER been high risk before yet home was the worst place my daughter could of been after her birth. Please, please think about how you promote homebirth as being so safe and wonderful. My daughter is dead because of homebirth. You don't want to be a number or a statistic.

If you want to promote homebirth, fine but please encourage the people to do their homework. There is more to homebirth than just labor and birth itself. There can be problems in the newborn. Make sure your midwife has no birth injuries, deaths, or stillbirths under her belt. Stillbirth can strike anyone, but please be concerned if someone has mulitiple ones. We do our research n the c-section rate of a hospital or doctor, but do you do the research on mortality rates in the midwife you are using??? Do they know anything about newborns?? Have you found out why a baby was injured or died from the parents and not just taken the midife's word??

My 4 hospital babies are here and healthy. Out of my two homebirth babies one is here and healthy while the other is in a cemetary. She is proof that homebirth isn't as safe as we all think.