By Joe Gould
Photo courtesy Facebook
An opera singer and Army wife claims in a lawsuit her career is threatened by damage to her digestive and reproductive systems after an Army nurse allegedly botched a childbirth operation.
Amy Herbst and her husband, Staff Sgt. James Herbst, filed a lawsuit against the government Monday in a Cincinnati federal court. The lawsuit seeks $2.5 million for negligence, as well as pain and suffering, embarrassment and loss of income.
“She is suffering though a very embarrassing and very significant injury, and frankly, the prognosis of a fully successful repair is pretty low,” her attorney, Charles Allen, told Army Times on Wednesday.
Amy Herbst claims a nurse-midwife at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Ky., caused her injuries during the birth of her son in February 2012 when the nurse performed an episiotomy.
An episiotomy is a cut the doctor or midwife makes in the perineum, which is the area between the vagina and anus. It is done to help deliver the baby or to help prevent the muscles and skin from tearing. They are typically recommended only when the baby is in distress.
The lawsuit claims the nurse made an incision for an episiotomy during the second stage of Herbst’s labor, without informing Herbst or getting her consent. The nurse reported repairing the episiotomy with sutures.
According to Allen, Herbst’ medical records indicate her baby’s shoulder had been impeding delivery, which he expects the government to assert necessitated the episiotomy. However, there are safer alternatives to the episiotomy that hospital staff never tried, Allen said.