Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, Conn., where Cheyenne Seymour allegedly waited nearly 20 hours for an emergency C-section to be performed on her (Google Maps).
A Connecticut woman has filed a lawsuit alleging that delays at a Hartford hospital led to the death of one of her newborn twins after doctors failed to perform an emergency C-section in time.
According to the complaint, Cheyenne Seymour was 35 weeks pregnant with twins when she went to Saint Francis Hospital on the night of April 28, 2025. She reported pelvic pain, pelvic pressure and leaking fluid, the lawsuit says.
Seymour arrived at about 8:54 p.m. and was examined by resident physicians using electronic fetal monitoring, ultrasound and a physical exam, according to the filing. Despite what the lawsuit describes as several concerning findings, she was discharged at roughly 1:24 a.m. on April 29 and told to manage her symptoms at home with Tylenol, heating pads and a belly binder.
The complaint alleges that hospital staff failed to properly interpret the fetal monitoring results and did not appreciate the seriousness of Seymour’s condition. It further claims the hospital declined to admit her even though there were what the lawsuit calls “multiple worrisome findings.”
About two hours after being sent home, Seymour returned to the hospital at approximately 3:59 a.m. with heavy vaginal bleeding, continued pelvic pressure and ongoing discomfort, the lawsuit states. Soon after her return, she was diagnosed with placental abruption, a serious pregnancy complication in which the placenta separates from the uterus.
The lawsuit contends that although Seymour required an emergency C-section, the decision to move forward with the procedure was not made until about 10:41 p.m. on April 29. Instead, the complaint says, hospital staff decided to “proceed to OR when available” rather than immediately perform the surgery.
“On or about April 29, 2025, at 11:43 p.m., nearly 20 hours after Cheyenne’s arrival at defendant hospital, and nearly 27 hours after her first presentation on April 28, 2025, Matthias and his sister were born by way of C-Section,” the document says.
“Matthias weighed 5 pounds 6 ounces … with a tight body cord, no respiratory effort and no tone,” the complaint explains. “He required resuscitation and intubation, and extensive treatment for which he was transferred to the defendant hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).”
Matthias suffered from “respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, lactic acidemia, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), pulmonary hemorrhage, newborn affected by placental abruption and metabolic acidosis” while in the NICU, per the complaint.
“Unfortunately, Matthias’ condition continued to progressively deteriorate to the extent that on or about May 1, 2025, at approximately 3:14 a.m., he became bradycardic requiring chest compressions, and despite multiple resuscitation attempts, he was pronounced dead at 5:04 a.m.,” the complaint says.
Seymour alleges that the “carelessness and negligence” of Saint Francis Hospital and its staff led to her son’s death. She says the hospital “failed to timely recognize” the significance of the findings on her medical tests, “improperly proceeded with induction” rather than directly to an emergency C-section, and “failed to timely perform an emergency C-section.”
In addition, the hospital “failed to follow rules, regulations and protocols pertaining to patients with placental abruption or suspected placental abruption with maternal and/or fetal indications of labor intolerance, and failed to provide [Seymour] with shared decisionmaking regarding the risks of continuing with an induction in the setting of placental abruption and fetal intolerance of labor.”
”The fatal injuries suffered by the infant-plaintiff decedent, Matthias Seymour-Payne, were caused by the failure of the defendant,” the complaint concludes.
A spokesperson for Saint Francis Hospital declined to comment when reached by CT Insider, citing the ongoing litigation.
