A Lawsuit is Filed Over Abuse During Birth

Catherine Skol, a former police officer, gave birth to her fifth child nine months ago.? She was treated in an abusive manner by the doctor on call and has filed a civil suit against him.? You can read about her story and the lawsuit she has filed here, here, and here.

Catherine Skol was the victim of abuse and harsh mistreatment.? Unfortunately others have also endured this type of treatment when giving birth.? Her case is particularly horrific, and I am sure she is suffering from the effects of this trauma in her life.? I personally am thrilled that she has brought a lawsuit in order to try to bring this doctor to justice.

The fact that Catherine Skol secured a lawyer and was able to actually sue her abusive doctor is perplexing.? I have heard many stories of trauma over the last few years, and there are many other women who have had similar experiences.? I have only ever heard of one other woman being able to bring a legal case over this type of treatment at a birth, and there were unique extenuating circumstances that made retaining a lawyer and getting a settlement possible for her.? I have never heard of any other woman being able to get a lawyer to even talk with them about a birth experience where they were abused or mistreated.? As an example, I myself called several lawyers about my birth experience and was unable to even get past the receptionist.? This is quite common, no matter the severity of the experience, if there are no physical damages it is pretty much unheard of that you will be able to retain a lawyer to file a suit.

I speculate that there are three reasons that Catherine Skol was able to retain a lawyer and file a civil suit.? First and foremost, she is a former police officer.? If there is one job where people (particularly men) will take what you say seriously, it is probably this one.? People would feel that surely a police officer wouldn?t be lying, or blowing things out of proportion, or not have been tough enough to handle the situation.? They would reason that surely a police officer deserves to be listened to.? Second, she was a seasoned mother and this was her fifth baby.? I?m sure it was thought that of course she knew what to expect, and how things should go, and was able to decipher that things were not going as they should because she had been through this experience four times already.? Third, she was denied pain medication.? There is a difference between not wanting pain medications or other standard treatments and being mistreated for your choices, and wanting pain medication or other standard treatments and not being allowed to have them.? I think either situation can induce trauma for a woman, but a lawyer would be much more sympathetic to a woman who wanted the standard pain medications and was denied it.? Both acts can be a form of mistreatment or abuse, but being denied what is considered to be standard medical care in that situation garners much more sympathy from most people.

No matter how Catherine Skol was able to retain a lawyer, I feel that this is an important case that could possibly set a precedence for other women who are abused while giving birth.? If Catherine Skol wins her case, women who have had similar experiences would then have a leg to stand on legally.? There would be a case they could show a potential lawyer in order to persuade him to take their case.? I am glad that she has gone public with this case so that providers and institutions as well as other women who have been mistreated are made aware of it.

I have read of some people expressing concern over why this woman would sue.? Many are very concerned about lawsuits being brought up in any form concerning maternity care.? Some say that lawsuits have caused the current atmosphere in the maternity ward, and how can more lawsuits possibly help the situation?? What will Catherine Skol, or women like her gain from a lawsuit?

There are a few things that can be gained from lawsuits of this type.? First, there are monetary damages.? Being traumatized is quite expensive.? Severe trauma may take years of various types of treatment to overcome.? Many people are not adequately covered by health insurance when it comes to mental health treatment.? Most people are either not covered or their coverage is limited in some way.? This means there will be extensive out of pocket expenses for months or years, which can add up to thousands of dollars.? Second, when a person is mistreated, in order to protect others from the same type of mistreatment, that person will desire to take some type of action.? They will also be looking for some type of closure for themselves.? In the hospital system that fears litigation, there is no room for debriefing sessions with staff members or providers who participated in the event, and there can never be an apology or an admittance of making a mistake.? Some women will never have the opportunity to see their providers again, and others will see them once at six weeks postpartum, but will generally not be given the time they need to even begin to process the experience with their providers.? This situation is bad for both the women and the providers.? If this scenario was possible, the woman could possibly gain some kind of healing knowing she has made her grievances known and that she has been heard, and a provider could possibly gain some understanding and compassion, and use the situation as a learning experience.? If there were adequate health care coverage in this country, and not such fear of litigation that provisions were made to allow a patient?s grievances to be heard and acknowledged, then there would be no reason to sue.? Since women who have been mistreated during their birth experiences do not have that, then they must sue to be heard by the provider, and to gain monetary damages.

The other reason it is important to file a lawsuit over abusive treatment is to try to change the type of maternity care that women routinely receive.? If it is possible for a care provider to be sued over this type of treatment, then care providers will begin to take notice when women complain over it.? It gives women power to be given the opportunity to voice their grievances, and since this is the working system in the country to do so, it is high time that women were able to use this system in this regard.? Not being able to even get a lawyer to consult with on a case like this leaves women damaged and powerless.? Powerless to get compensation for her own suffering, and powerless to prevent it from happening to anyone else.

Thank you Catherine Skol for having the courage to take advantage of your unique position and filing a precedent setting civil suit.? I hope you pave the way for women after you to also have the power to file a lawsuit, and I know that your even filing one has made a difference to this doctor and other care providers who have undoubtedly read about the case.