$13 million settlement in botched water-birth lawsuit

PORTLAND – The parents of a newborn boy deprived of oxygen during a bungled water birth attempt have settled a lawsuit against a Portland hospital for $13 million.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported the settlement with the Legacy Emanuel Medical Center is the largest in at least 10 years for a hospital birth malpractice case, court papers said.

The lawsuit says Amy Benton went to the hospital in December 2011, planning to give birth underwater. But documents say midwives missed a change in the baby’s fetal heart rate because she was in water. By the time she was taken out and the baby was delivered, he had been deprived of oxygen and blood, attorneys said.

The lawsuit faults the hospital for failing to perform an immediate C-section.

The hospital declined comment to the newspaper.