Derrick and Monique Rodgers were excited and nervous when the day arrived for Monique to deliver her babies – two lovely little twin girls.
But the day took a horrifying turn when a doctor dropped one of the newborn babies on her head.
The couple, who hails from Chandler, Arizona, arrived at the Chandler Regional Medical Center on Valentine’s Day.
The babies were born prematurely, which already put them at risk at the time.
Derrick happened to be recording as the babies were born, and he caught this shocking and unacceptable mishap on video.
A doctor, unidentified, was carrying the babies when he accidentally dropped one of them, named Morgan, causing her head to hit the table.
Luckily, a nearby nurse was able to grab her so she didn’t fall off from that table as well.
This happened over the span of just a few seconds, but a horrified Derrick, whose phone recorded the incident, felt like it was going on for ages.
Derrick was furious and later spoke to the doctor about his negligence. He asked how the doctor had been able to mess up that way, but the doctor appeared entirely indifferent.
Derrick showed him the video he had on his phone, and the doctor fell silent and didn’t have any more replies for him.
When Monique eventually watched the video, she knew she could never watch it again. She felt that her daughter had been tossed around uncaringly.
Morgan was then kept in the NICU for 12 days.
When it was time for her to come home, the new parents were very excited – but then, Monique realized that her daughter was exhibiting strange symptoms, such as becoming tense and even shaking uncontrollably.
So, Monique brought her to see a new, different doctor.
The new doctor checked Morgan’s chart and found out that, 5 days after she had been born, little Monique had undergone an ultrasound – a common procedure in babies with low weights at birth.
But the ultrasound revealed something: a grade 1 brain hemorrhage that had not been reported to either of her parents.
It is common procedure for doctors to keep parents in the loop about even minor issues with the babies in their care – and Monique definitely believes she should have been notified.
She and her husband believe that the fact that the hospital didn’t tell them and has thus far remained silent and unapologetic towards them indicates that the hemorrhage was caused by the fall.
According to Dr. Greg Marchand, who is an OBGYN and was not among those treating Morgan, it’s not uncommon for newborns who were born prematurely to have some form of hemorrhaging, even without a fall.
However, he is disturbed by the video and believes that the hospital has acted badly by not informing the parents and communicating with them about what happened.
Full disclosure should have been given.
Now, Derrick and Monique are hoping to get a response from the hospital, which has yet to reply at all – even after the video of the initial dropping incident went viral.
A statement by the hospital states that they are reviewing the situation but cannot release any patient information publicly. Morgan will be seeing a neurologist in the near future.
