Valley hospital sued over newborn’s brain injury allegedly suffered during delivery

PHOENIX — A Valley hospital is being sued after a newborn allegedly sustained a brain injury while being delivered.

Mignonette Aleta Reyes and Nestor Aguilar filed the lawsuit on Oct. 31 on behalf of their son who was born at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, which is located near 55th Avenue and Thunderbird Road, on Dec. 28, 2023. They are represented by attorney Adrian Vega.

Mercle Reyes Complaint by kwerner

The suit alleges that Reyes’ labor and delivery was mismanaged resulting in “severe, debilitating and permanent injuries” to her newborn.

Why is the Valley hospital being sued for the baby’s delivery?

According to the lawsuit, Reyes was admitted to the Valley hospital on Dec. 28 in order to induce labor at 39 weeks.

It noted that during her prenatal care, Reyes was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and that due to that Dr. Diana-Brooks of Phoenix Obstetrics and Gynecology Inc. and hospital staff knew she faced complications. Those complications included the possibility of Reyes giving birth to a macrosomic baby, which is a newborn who is larger than normal for their gestational age.

Despite the risk, Reyes allegedly went through hours of Pitocin-induced labor before attempting a vaginal delivery.

Vega said that around 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 29, the baby started experiencing fetal heart rate decelerations, also known as distinct decreases of the fetal heart rate, but that Dr. Diana-Brooks wasn’t notified until almost 40 minutes later.

Less than an hour later, the doctor reportedly instructed Reyes to start pushing and the baby’s head was delivered at 3:53 a.m., but his shoulder got stuck, which caused shoulder dystocia that the doctor was unable to resolve herself.

According to the suit, five minutes had passed before another physician resolved the shoulder dysotcia and the baby, who weighed 9 pounds and 9 ounces, was delivered.

Vega said that due to Reyes’ “mismanaged labor and delivery,” the newborn had to be intubated at four minutes of age and was born with severe facial bruising, nerve damage to his arm and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy — a brain injury due to oxygen deprivation that left the baby permanently disabled.

The attorney noted that the hospital’s NICU confirmed the brachial plexus injury as well as the hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

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