Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Filed After Repeated Failure to Bring Pregnant Patient in for Evaluation

A medical malpractice lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Calyx Hemenway and her young son, Holden Hemenway, after a series of critical breakdowns in care led to devastating and irreversible injuries.

Holden is now living with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, a severe neurological condition caused by oxygen deprivation at birth. He will likely never walk or speak normally and will require lifelong medical care and support. This outcome was preventable.

Calyx did exactly what she was told to do — she called when she noticed her baby wasn’t moving as much, and she asked to come in to be evaluated. She did so twice in less than 48 hours. CMMC did not tell her to come in and instead managed her care over the phone. Holden was a healthy baby with a normal brain before this. Today, he lives with severe, permanent brain injury and will require lifelong care. We intend to hold the hospital accountable

Trevor Savage - Attorney at Gideon Asen

In the final days of her pregnancy, Ms. Hemenway began experiencing clear warning signs of a serious condition. At 36 weeks pregnant, she reported symptoms including fever, shaking, chills, and decreased fetal movement, well-known indicators of potential fetal distress. She did exactly what patients are instructed to do: she contacted her providers, reported her symptoms, and asked to be evaluated in person.

She was not seen.

Instead, she was advised over the phone that it was safe to remain at home and monitor fetal movement. Less than 48 hours later, as her condition worsened, she called again. The provider who responded did not review her chart and was unaware that this was her second call reporting serious symptoms. Once again, she was told to stay home without an in-person evaluation.

The next day, her condition deteriorated to the point where she sought emergency care on her own. Testing revealed serious abnormalities, and fetal monitoring showed distress. An emergency cesarean section was performed. Holden was born critically ill, struggling to breathe, and suffering from severe metabolic complications. Imaging later confirmed a global brain injury caused by lack of oxygen.

Ms. Hemenway was ultimately diagnosed with Acute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy (AFLP), a dangerous but treatable condition that can be identified through standard testing. The appropriate treatment is prompt delivery. Had she been evaluated when she first reported her symptoms, the condition would have been diagnosed and Holden would have been delivered before the injury occurred.

This case reflects more than a single error, it reflects a failure of the system of care. The lawsuit alleges that providers attempted to manage a high-risk pregnancy through “telephone medicine,” failed to recognize escalating symptoms, and failed to implement basic safeguards such as chart review, communication, and appropriate triage protocols.

When known warning signs are ignored, the consequences can be life-altering.

At Gideon Asen, we are committed to holding healthcare providers accountable when preventable errors cause catastrophic harm. For families like the Hemenways, accountability is about more than justice. It is about securing the care their child will need for a lifetime, and ensuring that these failures do not happen to others.

If your family has been impacted by a serious medical error, we are here to help.

Read the full complaint filing here.