The Minnesota birth injury lawyers at Goldenberg Lauricella secured a $29 million verdict in St. Croix County, Wisconsin for a family whose child was born with cerebral palsy due to the negligence of a certified nurse midwife. The verdict was announced on March 6, 2025. It is the largest verdict in St. Croix County history.
The case involved a certified nurse midwife tasked with monitoring the labor and delivery of our client who overlooked the signs and symptoms of a continued deterioration of the baby’s fetal heart monitoring. Despite the baby’s heart rate plummeting from the 150s to the 60s, the midwife failed to contact the on-call OB/GYN until it was far too late. We successfully argued that the standard of care required a call to the OB/GYN when his heart rate first dropped and evidenced impending danger.
With regard to causation, we successfully argued that the result of the midwife’s failure to call was the baby developing terminal bradycardia, a severe and prolonged decrease in fetal heart rate, which cut off oxygen to his brain. There was no one in the hospital that could perform an emergency delivery, making it essential for the nurse midwife to have called the on-call OB/GYN when the heart rate initially plummeted in order to avoid just such an outcome.
Sadly, the baby was born nearly an hour after the standard of care required a call, with Apgar scores of 0,0, and 0 for the first 10 minutes of his life. He was eventually resuscitated and sent to the NICU for 17 days and released. Over the course of the next year, he evidenced significant injuries and was eventually diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Today he is limited in his movements, takes nutrition through a G-tube, and cannot speak. He requires lifetime supervised care.
The trial team from Goldenberg Lauricella consisted of Partners Noah Lauricella and Stuart Goldenberg, Associate Attorney Ethan Adams, and Paralegal Cyle Hartwig. Our team employed nine top experts to walk the jury through liability, causation, and damages.
The defense brought in eight top experts of their own who testified the strips did not show the midwife needed to call and that the bradycardia happened so late that nothing could have been done to prevent it. Ultimately, the jury agreed that the certified nurse midwife violated the standard of care and that her inaction directly led to an acute anoxic brain injury which resulted in the development of cerebral palsy.
"We are exceedingly grateful to this family for allowing us to tell their story. Their strength and love for one another motivated us to fight for justice on their behalf, and we are forever grateful for the trust they placed in us to be their advocates."
We are honored to represent such a strong, loving family in this case. They endured a great tragedy but have persevered with incredible grace and a profound determination to give their child the best life possible. They will now be able to outfit their home with the equipment necessary to better adapt their environment to their son’s needs and ensure he has the significant care needed for the rest of his life.
The breakdown of the verdict is below.
- Past Medical and Care Expenses $500,000.00
- Future Medical and Care Expenses $14,000,000.00
- Future Loss of Earning Capacity $1,320,051.00
- Past Pain, Suffering, Disability, and Disfigurement $1,250,000.00
- Future Pain, Suffering, Disability, and Disfigurement $10,000,000.00
- Past and Future Loss of Society and Companionship $2,000,000.00
- TOTAL VERDICT $29,070,051.00
We at Goldenberg Lauricella are truly honored to have represented this incredible family.
As Partner Noah Lauricella commented, “We are exceedingly grateful to this family for allowing us to tell their story. Their strength and love for one another motivated us to fight for justice on their behalf, and we are forever grateful for the trust they placed in us to be their advocates.”
The case is Jennings, et al. v. Cox, et al. Case No. 2021-CV-000223.