Family of woman who died after giving birth at Harvey hospital awarded $4M

The family of a woman who died in 2012 after giving birth to twins at a hospital in south suburban Harvey has been awarded $4 million in a wrongful death lawsuit.

On Dec. 1, 2011, 36-year-old Evelyn Robinson’s blood pressure began to elevate after she gave birth to twin daughters at Ingalls Memorial Hospital at 1 Ingalls Drive, according to a statement from Elizabeth A. Kaveny, the family’s attorney. Nurses alerted Robinson’s doctor when her blood pressure rose to dangerous levels two days later, but they failed to administer the drugs he then prescribed.

After Robinson visited her newborn daughters that day, her heart rate rose and her oxygen saturation plummeted to dangerous levels, according to Kaveny. Nurses again failed to give her the drugs she was prescribed, or call for a rapid response team, breaking with the hospital’s policy.

As a result, Robinson, who was a certified nursing assistant, suffered cardiac arrest that caused severe brain damage, Kaveny said. Her condition remained grave for two months, and she ultimately died on Feb. 6, 2012 of heart failure from postpartum cardiomyopathy.

The suit, which was settled in Cook County Circuit Court, awarded Robinson’s family $4 million, Kevaney said.

A legal representative for the hospital didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.