$30.55 Million Verdict After Traveling Nurse Failed to Monitor Fetal Heart Rate at MGH

Kimberly Kirkwood-Boulter arrived at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston expecting a routine delivery of her first child. What followed was a five-to-six-hour second stage of labor during which the nurse assigned to monitor her baby relied solely on a handheld intermittent device rather than switching to continuous electronic fetal monitoring, as MGH policy required once pushing extended past two to three hours.

The nurse, supplied to MGH by Cross Country Staffing, a national healthcare staffing agency, struggled at points to distinguish the baby's heartbeat from the mother's. Despite signs that warranted closer attention, the medical team did not escalate to continuous monitoring. Aiden Boulter was born severely acidotic and not breathing. His umbilical cord had wrapped around his neck in the birth canal. He suffered profound brain damage.

At the time of trial, Aiden was six years old. He could not walk, speak, or feed himself. His care requires round-the-clock assistance that will continue for the rest of his life.

Sugarman attorneys Benjamin Zimmermann and David McCormack argued that the failure to follow MGH's own fetal-monitoring protocol was the direct cause of Aiden's injuries. They contended the nurse may have been tracking the mother's pulse rather than the baby's at critical moments and that timely intervention would have prevented the birth asphyxia.

MGH, the attending midwife, and the obstetrician reached confidential settlements with the family before the case went to a jury. Cross Country Staffing settled on confidential terms tied to the size of the jury award in the moments just before the verdict was read. The jury then returned a verdict of $30.55 million against Cross Country. The company stated it expected to pay approximately $1 million out of pocket, with its insurers covering the balance.

Kim Boulter said the family pursued the case to hold the staffing agency accountable and to push hospitals toward clearer, consistently enforced fetal-monitoring standards. Benjamin Zimmermann described the award as one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts in Massachusetts in recent years.