I wish I had listened to my gut

@gakelley I am a lawyer who used to do medmal in Texas (I no longer live in Texas). You’re correct, ER cases are extremely difficult but, if I remember correctly, the pivotal issue will be if you were truly emergent when you walked in and if the docs and staff treated you as emergent. Try Barcus Arenas law firm in Houston. I know Aaron Arenas, if he thinks you have a case, he will truly fight tooth and nail for you. I’m sorry you had to suffer such a traumatic experience and loss. Good luck.
 
@gakelley If for any reason that firm doesn't work out, try reaching out to Powers Taylor law firm in Dallas. I live in the Houston area but Mark Taylor handled a case for my mother and he was a great advocate for us. highly recommend
 
@ziggomatic Complying with EMTALA is completely separate from complying with the standard of care of the practice of medicine for a medical negligence case. EMTALA has no bearing on whether medical negligence has occurred from a civil lawsuit perspective.
 
@gakelley I’m sorry this happened to you.
Having your water break this early is tragic. Even if the ER had identified it that first time, likely you would
have had the same outcome. We call this ‘previable rupture of membranes’ and things rarely go well, even in patients who make it to 23 weeks. I’m not sure if that makes you feel better but it might. In other states outside of the south, previable PPROM is a reason to offer early induction or delivery.
As an OBGYN, I always advise my patients to see mfm after a loss like this. Sometimes, we can do things differently in the next pregnancy, like start vaginal progesterone or offer a cerclage.
 
@scottkjohnson i appreciate that you wanted to try to comfort me with that, but (and, like you, i mean this in the nicest, most genuine trying-to-help way possible) please don’t say something like that if a patient comes to you with the same situation. it really is not helpful. with the situation at hand, i wasn’t even given the chance to try to help him. he was never given the chance to be one of the ones where it ‘went well’. besides that, it would have been better to be able to better prepare myself for the potential loss. i do appreciate your advice at the end, though.
 
@gakelley I’m so sorry for your loss. This is not your fault, we expect that we can trust the people that are meant to be there to help us.

Your baby’s DNA is now forever floating in you. While it isn’t what any of us would wish for you, I hope it helps knowing he’s with you forever.
 
@gakelley this is heart wrenching. i am so sorry. it must be impossible not to imagine if only what you could have done differently.. and yet this is how it is. i am so sorry. i hope you have people holding you through this time. my heart is with you. thank you for sharing his story.
 
@gakelley So sorry for your loss ❤️ this is heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing, maybe your story can help someone here. It is brave of you to share this with us. I can't imagine what you and your family are going through. Big hug 🫂
 
@egmiller that’s my main hope in posting this. there needs to be more awareness and research about PPROM so moms know when and how to advocate for themselves.
 
@gakelley I am so so sorry for your loss. It’s so overwhelming at times and you don’t want to be an anxious squeaky wheel so you put your trust in the people who are supposed to know more. You did everything you could with the information you were given in each moment. I’m so sorry
 
@gakelley OB sonographer here-Firstly, I am so sorry for your loss and what you are going through. Do you mind if I ask you for more details?

When you first went to the ER and had an ultrasound, did they do a transvaginal and evaluate the length of your cervix? When you went to L&D did they check the cervical length via transvaginal ultrasound then? Things can change quickly, but they should have looked at your cervix to make sure it wasn't short and or funneling and if so they should have offered you the choice to get a cerclage (provided your cervix still had enough length for it to be possible).
 
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