On Oct. 17, 2015, plaintiff’s decedent Abigail Fregoso was born at Parkview Community Medical Center, in Riverside. it was determined that she was not breathing and was without a heartbeat. Abigail’s mother, plaintiff Valeria Fregoso, 17, had previously been hospitalized at Parkview from Sept. 24, 2015, to Sept. 29, 2015, due to a fainting episode during her third trimester. She was ultimately diagnosed with mild pre-eclampsia. Fregoso later presented to Parkview at approximately 8 a.m. on Oct. 17, 2015, due to constant and continuous pain related to her pregnancy. While Fregoso was in triage, at around 9:30 a.m., her treating obstetrician, Dr. Paulus Santoso, ordered over the telephone that Fregoso be allowed to walk for two hours to help induce labor. Fregoso started to walk while off of the fetal heart rate monitor at around 10:17 a.m. When she returned from her walk at around noon, Santoso and the nurses could not find the baby’s heartbeat, so Santoso ordered an emergency Caesarean section. Abigail was born without a heartbeat and was not breathing. The cause of the stillbirth was a 90 percent placental abruption. Fregoso, acting individually and as Abigail’s personal representative, sued Santoso; Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center; Parkview Community Hospital Foundation; and several of the hospital’s nurses, including James Morales, Ifeoma Ukoha, Belinda Beaver, Michelle Connors, Marcia Montoya and Cheryl Dover. Santoso settled for a confidential amount on the eve of trial; Parkview Community Hospital Foundation was dismissed from the case; and the individual nurses were dismissed by Fregoso before trial because they were all employees of the hospital and because the parties stipulated that Parkview would be responsible for the actions of the nurses. The matter proceeded to trial against Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center only. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the attending nurse did not appreciate or report a drop in the baby’s heartbeat at around 9:10 a.m. and that the nurse did not adequately monitor the fetal heart monitor for extended periods of time. Counsel also contended that Fregoso had two high blood pressure readings at 9:12 a.m. and 9:14 a.m. that were hypertensive and very concerning for a hypertensive patient. Santoso testified that he was not told of the deceleration or the hypertension and that had he known of the deceleration in the baby’s heartbeat and Fregoso’s hypertension, he probably would not have allowed her to walk. Plaintiffs’ counsel emphasized that pre-eclamptic patients are far more likely to suffer from a placental abruption than normal pregnancies. Counsel argued that had Fregoso not been allowed to walk, she would have been continually monitored and that, accordingly, when the placental abruption occurred, a cesarean section would have been ordered far earlier and there would have been time to deliver the baby safely. Plaintiffs’ counsel noted that resuscitation efforts and the administration of epinephrine caused a very brief heart rate of 122 and an oxygenation rate of 54 percent in the baby after birth. Counsel argued that the brief heart and oxygenation rates showed that Abigail would have survived, had the baby had more time and been more closely monitored. Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center’s counsel contended that the hospital’s nurses met the standard of care at all times and that the attending nurse told Santoso of the hypertensive reads. As for the fetal heart monitor, counsel contended that the nurse appreciated the deceleration, but that it occurred shortly after the Fregoso vomited and that vomiting was an acceptable explanation for the deceleration. As such, counsel argued that the deceleration did not have to be reported to Santoso and that it was particularly true since the baby’s heartbeat rebounded to acceptable and healthy levels at 9:10 a.m. In addition, counsel argued that Fregoso suffered from a massive, 90 percent placental abruption and that even if Fregoso had been monitored, the baby would not have survived, given the severity of the abruption., Abigail was stillborn, as she was born without a heartbeat and was not breathing. With the exception of $4,600 in funeral and burial costs, Abigail only sought recovery of noneconomic damages for her mental distress and suffering. During closing arguments, plaintiffs’ counsel asked the jury to award $114,000 in past non-economic damages and $340,000 in future non-economic damages. One year after the events, Fregoso had a healthy baby.