A woman who had been struggling with hypertension for numerous years decides that she and her husband want to have a baby. After she got pregnant, she met with her primary care physician who sent her to an obstetrician. After discussing her problems with hypertension with her obstetrician, the doctor decides to take her off her hypertension medication due to fear about the effects it could have on her unborn child. Her obstetrician therefore chooses to control her hypertension through diet and manages to maintain her blood pressure for awhile. However, after a few weeks diet by itself was no longer could not control her hypertension and the obstetrician prescribes that she take half her normal dose from before her pregnancy.

Throughout the mother's pregnancy she begins to suffer from episodes of headaches, nausea, vomiting and blurred vision. In an effort to stay healthy and determine what is wrong, the mother sets up appointments immediately after being sick.

As she got further into her pregnancy these symptoms seemed to happen more frequently and the obstetrician observed that she started to leak amniotic fluid, which could be seen through the amount of protein that was found in her urine. Moreover the obstetrician documented that calcifications were on the placenta, which indicated that portions of the placenta did not get enough oxygen and had died off.

Following the ultrasound, the obstetrician told the woman that the leakage was not significant and she shouldn't worry. He did not tell her that the nutritional levels in her womb had decreased and that it could have an effect on her baby. The doctor failed to inform her that her child had a heightened risk to expeience problems related to fetal hypoxia (lacking a sufficient oxygen supply). And, moreover, the doctor failed to perform any tests on the unborn child to determine how the child was doing.

After this visit the mother is still suffering from sever headaches, starts to have some sinus problems in her ears and is concerned as she notices her unborn child is not moving as much. At the next appointment tells her obstetrician, who determines he needs to induce labor the following week. despite her concerns about delaying so long, the obstetrician downplays the mother's fears and sets up an appointment for her for the following week.

The next week the woman , accompanied by her family, went to her appointment thinking she would go home with her newborn baby. But, after her ultrasound she realized something was wrong. A nurse took her into a small non-examination room and had her sit down on a sofa and wait for her obstetrician. The physician then came in and informed her that her baby has no heartbeat. A trip to the hospital confirmed that the baby had died. Her doctor then tells her that she had to go into labor right then and there as to prevent any harm to herself. Having already endured the death of her baby the mother was forced to suffer the pain of going through labor to deliver a stillborn baby. After this event the mother and her husband filed a malpractice case against the doctor, asking for damages fro the loss of their baby, including emotional distress. After filing the case against the doctor, the law firm handling the case reported that they were successful in reaching a settlement, obtaining $650,000 on behalf of the couple for the death of their child and the emotional distress they suffered.