Washington Department of Health
The state Department of Health has suspended Lewis County midwife Laura A. Hamilton’s credentials as of this week, saying Hamilton put the health of mothers and their babies at risk by not meeting the proper standard of care.
Hamilton has had a license to practice as a midwife since 1983, according to the DOH.
A statement of charges from the DOH includes incidents dating back to 2014.
In the first incident, a patient of Hamilton’s reported she went into labor on April 9, 2014, and that Hamilton responded to her home that afternoon to help with the birth.
The infant reportedly “presented a difficult shoulder position” and required “maneuvers” from Hamilton to be delivered.
The infant was later diagnosed with shoulder dystocia at birth resulting in Erb’s Palsy, or paralysis of the arm caused by a nerve injury at birth.
Hamilton has been the subject of a number of medical malpractice lawsuits in recent years. In 2014 she was sued by the parents of a different boy with the same nerve injury who was born in 2010. In that trial, a jury ruled Hamilton was not negligent.
However, in the 2014 birth, the state Department of Health alleges that Hamilton failed to have a second attendant present at the birth, failed to obtain a full medical history of the mother, failed to treat the mother for gestational diabetes, failed to deliver the baby without injury and did not record accurate entries in the mother’s labor record.
In 2017, Hamilton was sued by two more sets of parents. One suit argued Hamilton’s negligence led to her baby’s death. The wrongful-death suit was dismissed after a partial summary judgement, and is the subject of the second case referenced by the DOH’s statement of charges.
In that case, a mother went into labor in December 2014 and passed blood clots. The baby was stillborn.
The DOH statement alleges Hamilton should have directed the mother immediately to the hospital, rather than continuing to treat her at home despite the blood clots, should have properly educated the mother on the dangers of smoking while pregnant, and did not make adequate chart notes about the fetus’s vital signs.
A second 2017 lawsuit involved another nerve injury resulting in partial paralysis to a child born in April 2016. That suit is still active.
The third case referenced in the DOH statement involves a baby delivered in a car on the way to Hamilton’s home in July 2016.
The mother had little prenatal care and Child Protective Services reportedly directed Hamilton to notify them when the child was born due to the mother’s suspected heroin use.
Hamilton allegedly reported the birth, but stated that the baby was doing well and had no signs of drug withdrawal.
However, two days later, CPS removed the baby and took him to the hospital, where he tested positive for opioids and cannabis. He was treated at a special care nursery for nine days, according to the DOH.
The DOH alleges that Hamilton should have consulted with a physician and should have screened the mother for drug use.
The DOH alleges that Hamilton has engaged in unprofessional conduct. She has 20 days to respond to the state’s charges.
On Tuesday, a judge summarily suspended her credential.
