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Couple Suing Palmetto Hospital For Premature Birth Of Daughter

HIALEAH (CBS4) - A South Florida mother is suing a local hospital surrounding the birth of her child. She claims the hospital did not give her basic care.

Last August, Yasnai Deya says she woke up at 3 a.m. to a bloody discharge.

She and her husband say they rushed to Palmetto General Hospital.

"What were you telling the people at the hospital?" asked CBS4's Gio Benitez.

"That I was in pain and also what I found in my underwear," said Deya.

Deya says she was told it was normal.

"And no doctor came, they never checked me down there, nothing," she said.

The hospital says it called her doctor, but Deya says only a nurse came.

"I trusted that she knew what she was doing," she said.

A medical document obtained by a lawyer says Deya had "no vaginal exam." The same documents say that four hours later, Deya was sent home.

"We got home, her pain increased, so we said, there's something wrong," says Deya's husband, Duniel Deya.

Deya was in labor 26 weeks pregnant.

The Deyas say they went back to Palmetto General.

"We get back and the first thing they say is, oh, you're back," said Duniel Deya.

Little Ashlee was born and Dey says she was told the child was bleeding in her brain.

"The worst bleed, on both sides," she said.

A year later, she says Ashlee has special needs.

"She's not walking, she doesn't sit by herself. she doesn't grab things with her [right] hand. The brain bleed affected her more on [the right] side," she said.

"I don't care if they pull a doctor from the emergency room, some doctor needs to see this woman at 26 weeks pregnant, before she's released from the hospital," said Spencer Aronfeld, the attorney representing the family.

They are suing the hospital, her doctor, and the nurse because, they say, Ashlee's premature birth and injury were a result of the hospital's negligence.

"If a baby is going to be born way before it's supposed to be, there are certain things that have to be done," said Aronfeld.

The hospital says in a statement: "Our procedure for any Labor & Delivery patient discharge is based upon the private obstetrician or their subordinate's medical determination that the patient no longer requires inpatient treatment and can be safely released from the hospital with appropriate discharge instructions for any needed follow-up care. Palmetto General Hospital believes that all healthcare providers provided appropriate care and treatment to Mrs. Deya. Throughout her visit to the Palmetto's Labor & Delivery department, staff was in contact with Ms. Deya's private OB/GYN's staff and closely followed all orders given.  Her daughter's premature birth was unpredictable and unpreventable. We are thankful that her daughter appears to be doing well at this time."

CBS4 News left a message with the doctor's office and as of Friday night, we had not heard back.

Meanwhile, Ashlee's parents say she will undergo several surgeries over the next few years, along with weekly therapy.

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