The Phone Call That Turned Into a Stroke
A severe postpartum headache was labeled a spinal headache. Hours later she seized with a blood pressure of 200/130. What was missed is exactly what this series will teach you to recognize ..
It is late afternoon. A husband calls the obstetrics office six days after delivery. His wife has a severe headache. She had an epidural during labor. The pain is worse when she sits up and better when she lies down. The nurse relays the message. The obstetric office contacts anesthesia. The working assumption becomes a spinal headache. The husband is told this is common and uncomfortable but not dangerous. They are reassured.
That night she collapses at home.
Paramedics arrive to find a generalized seizure. Her blood pressure is 200/130. In the emergency department she is post-ictal. A CT scan shows an intracranial hemorrhage. The diagnosis is postpartum eclampsia.
The question in court will not be whether eclampsia exists. It will be why no one recognized risk before the seizure.
What follows will likely change how you view postpartum care.
If you want to understand why some obstetric cases become lawsuits while others with similar outcomes never do, the answer is in the next section.
