A two-week civil trial in Butler County Common Pleas Court ended last week when a jury found Butler Memorial Hospital was negligent in a 2014 birth that left a baby with permanent disabilities.

The jury awarded $1.1 million to Krista and Eric Stalker, of Venango Township, due to the hospital’s negligence in the birth of their child on Feb. 22, 2014, and found Dr. Marydonna Ravasio and Advanced OB/GYN Associates of Butler were not negligent in their managing of prenatal care and the delivery.

Both sides produced medical expert testimony from numerous witnesses in the trial, which began Nov. 2 after the jury was selected.

Stalker was 26 in 2013 when she became pregnant with her first child. During the pregnancy, she was considered to be experiencing “borderline preeclampsia,” as her blood pressure became elevated and she occasionally had elevated protein levels, according to the suit.

When nonstress tests performed twice a week beginning in January 2014 were nonreactive, Stalker, who also had edema, or swelling related to fluids trapped in the body tissue, would go to the hospital for repeat tests, according to the suit.

These tests continued through her due date of Feb. 17, 2014, when she was scheduled to be induced on Feb. 24.

On Feb. 21 and 22, Stalker called the hospital with concerns about leakage, contractions and fetal movement, but, according to the suit, she was told to wait until contractions were five minutes apart or the rupture of membranes occurred before coming to the hospital.

She went to the hospital for observation in Feb. 22 and was assessed by the nursing staff, but the status of her amniotic membranes was not documented, according to the suit.

By 9:10 a.m. that day, the fetal heart rate was 140-150 and contractions occurred every five to six minutes with variable decelerations — or temporary decreases in the fetal heart rate — and a fetal heart rate not tracing for several minutes.

Ravasio performed an exam and ordered an epidural around 11 a.m., but the status of the amniotic membranes was not documented, according to the suit.

Shortly after 1 p.m., Ravasio attempted to perform an amniotomy, or an artificial rupture of membrane, but couldn’t feel any membranes. She asked Stalker about the membranes and discovered they had ruptured at 7 p.m. Feb. 21. Ravasio then inserted an intrauterine pressure catheter, according to the suit.

A nurse’s notes revealed Ravasio was notified when a prolonged deceleration was documented at 1:26 p.m., according to the suit. Stalker was in labor throughout the afternoon and nurses monitored her progress, but did not make note of it even though there were ominous signs of labor and Pitocin, a labor-inducing drug, “continued to run,” according to the suit.

At 4 p.m., nurses notified a pediatrician after meconium fluid was found and, 45 minutes later, nurses noted concerns with the fetal heart rate, irregular contractions and the meconium fluid and updated Ravasio on Stalker’s condition, according to the suit.

Hospital records revealed prolonged decelerations and contractions tripled at 5:45 p.m. Ravasio noted Stalker was completely dilated and pushing could begin, according to the suit.

After being notified about prolonged decelerations and late decelerations without contractions or pushing, Ravasio used a fetal scalp electrode to record a fetal heart rate of 105-120 with variable late decelerations, according to the suit.

A fetal monitor strip found signs, including decelerations and late and early decelerations, reflective of fetal compromise beginning at the time Stalker was admitted to the hospital, according to the suit.

She was sent to have an emergency cesarean section at 6:31 p.m., surgery began at 6:40 p.m. and the baby was born at 6:44 p.m.

The baby was suctioned and intubated, and his heart rate was around 30 beats per minute before he was resuscitated with chest compressions and artificial ventilation, and his heart rate improved, according to the suit.

The first venous blood gas test taken at 46 minutes of life showed a pH of 6.89, a partial pressure of carbon dioxide reading of 62, a bicarbonate reading of 13 and a base deficit of 19.5, according to the suit.

After the West Penn Hospital Neonatal Transport Team was called, an arterial blood gas test taken when the baby was one hour and 16 minutes old showed a pH of 7.11 and base deficit of 13 before the baby was transferred to West Penn’s neonatal intensive care unit, according to the suit.

At West Penn, an umbilical catheter insertion was attempted, an umbilical venous line was placed, but an umbilical arterial line was unsuccessful.

The baby sustained hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and ultimately necrotizing enterocolitis, according to the suit. The National Library of Medicine defines hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy as brain dysfunction caused by a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the brain and necrotizing enterocolitis as a life-threatening illness with a mortality rate as high as 50 percent.

The baby was placed on a cooling blanket secondary to concern for posturing and a low blood pH. He underwent an ileostomy, which involves an opening in the stomach for feeding intolerance, the suit said.

The baby remained at West Penn until March 28 and was then transferred to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to undergo further medical procedures before he was discharged April 20, according to the suit.

The suit claims each of the defendants negligently failed to stop administering Pitocin when there were signs of nonreassuring fetal heart monitor tracings and delayed in performing the C-section.

In addition, the suit argues that the defendants failed to enforce rules and standards to ensure doctors and nurses have the skill to interpret fetal heart monitor tracings to recognize and diagnose abnormal heart monitor findings, according to the suit.

The baby suffered distress, chest compressions and brain dysfunction as a result of the delay in discontinuing Pitocin and the delay in performing the C-section among other actions, according to the suit.

The suit said the baby has and will suffer from a brain injury, neurological deficits, development delays, a blood disorder called hemolytic disease, delayed motor skills, delayed cognitive skills, gastrointestinal problems, pain and suffering, and permanent disability.

The jury awarded $600,000 in damages for future loss of earnings and lost earning capacity and $500,000 for past and future noneconomic damages.

The hospital, which is now part of the Independence Health System, declined to comment. Ravasio could not be reached for comment. Stalker referred questions to her attorney Harry S. Cohen, who said he and the Stalkers respect the jury’s verdict.