A car crash is overwhelming, even terrifying enough, but for an expectant mother, it can be a deeply traumatic event. The many risks associated with a car accident during pregnancy create high stakes that no parent-to-be should face.
In this blog post, McAllen and San Antonio car accident lawyer Dr. Louis Patino and his team explore the distressing and severe impact a car accident can have on a pregnant woman, answering the question, “Can a car accident cause a miscarriage?” and exploring your legal options if you are injured while carrying your child.
Statistics on Miscarriages after a Car Accident
Sadly, a car accident can cause miscarriage, and it happens far too often. Tragically, most car accidents are preventable, making this harsh reality even more difficult to accept. Various statistics paint a bleak picture of the risks pregnant women face on the road and the effects of a crash on their health and the safety of their unborn babies.
Several studies came to identical conclusions: trauma during pregnancy is a leading cause of miscarriage.
A study by the National Library of Medicine found that major trauma carries a 40-50% risk of fetal death. Even minor trauma in the first or second trimester can have a long-term damaging impact, increasing the risk of premature labor or a child born with a low birth weight.
A study of almost 900 thousand women by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that most trauma leading to hospitalization during pregnancy is caused by car accidents, while yet another study determined that approximately 82% of fetal deaths are due to car accidents.
With around 200 thousand pregnant women experiencing car accidents every year in the United States, even using a more conservative figure of 40% puts the fatal death count at 80 thousand.
Maternal Trauma after a Car Accident While Pregnant
The impact of a car accident can injure both mom and baby. While pregnancy-related injuries are likely, especially in the latter trimesters, a mother may sustain many other car accident injuries. These include fractures, organ damage, traumatic brain injuries, and internal bleeding.
How Do Car Accidents Cause Miscarriages?
Car accidents can cause miscarriages in several ways.
The four common pregnancy-related car accident injuries that can cause miscarriage are:
Placental Abruption
This is the most common cause of miscarriages in car accidents due to the abrupt force of impact. The force shakes the womb rapidly and injures the placenta, disrupting the supply of oxygen and nutrients to a baby.
Placental abruption can also occur if the mother’s abdomen is compressed against a seatbelt or steering wheel.
While placental abruption can happen any time after the first 20 weeks, it’s more likely during the third trimester, and it can be life-threatening to a baby.
A placental abruption is a medical emergency. When it occurs, an emergency C-section is often needed to avoid harm to the baby. Sadly, extremely pre-term babies may still not survive even with immediate medical intervention, which is why this injury has such a high fatal rate.
Uterine Rupture
Uterine injuries such as uterine rupture are rare, but when they do occur, the unborn child will lose oxygen quickly, and there is little chance a fetus will survive without immediate delivery. This fetal injury is one of the most dangerous of all and happens when blunt-force trauma tears or ruptures the uterus. This injury is most likely to occur when an airbag deploys, or a pregnant woman is not wearing a seatbelt, where even the slightest rear-end impact can propel them toward the steering wheel or dashboard.
Hypovolemic Shock
Hypovolemic shock is a maternal injury occurring when a pregnant woman is severely injured and loses a lot of blood. To compensate for the severe blood loss — or exsanguination — the body circulates the remaining blood to the essential organs, depriving the baby of oxygen. Rapid fluid replacement is vital for any chance of fetal survival, but the risk is still grave — hypovolemic shock has a fatal mortality rate as high as 85%.
This injury is also life-threatening for the mother, as too much blood loss can cause multiple organ failure.
Direct Fetal Trauma
Direct fetal injury happens when a child sustains direct physical injury rather than suffering as a result of an injury to the mother (via blood loss, for example).
A head injury is the most common type of direct fetal injury because of the position of the baby in the womb. It usually results from impact with a steering wheel, airbag, or seatbelt.
This car accident injury is highly likely to cause miscarriage. Fortunately, direct fetal trauma is, on the whole, rare, as the womb provides protection and insulation from impact.
Other possible complications that can result in miscarriage include:
Retroperitoneal hemorrhage: When a car accident causes bleeding behind the abdominal cavity, the mother may suffer organ damage or go into hypovolemic shock.
Rupture of amniotic membrane: The amniotic membrane sac that contains the fluid surrounding and protecting an unborn baby consists of several layers of tissue called amniotic membranes. These membranes rupture during labor to signal the baby is on its way (when a mother’s water breaks), but they can rupture early. Also known as premature rupture of the membranes (PROM), this complication poses a more severe risk the earlier in the pregnancy it occurs.
PROM can also lead to an additional complication — an amniotic fluid embolism. While rare, this is a severe injury that occurs when the amniotic sac ruptures and fluid leaks into the mother’s bloodstream. This can cause heart and lung failure, cardiac arrest, and uncontrollable bleeding. If an amniotic fluid embolism occurs during a car accident, it often not only causes miscarriage but can prove fatal to the mother.
Possible Complications of Car Accident Injuries Sustained during Pregnancy
In some cases, a fetus may survive the initial impact, but the crash may still lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including:
Delayed Miscarriage
A miscarriage can happen weeks or months after a car accident, either because of physical injuries that develop later, such as internal bleeding or restricted circulation, or from psychological stress.
Similarly, the impact of a car accident can cause a stillbirth, though this is rare.
Premature Birth
When a car accident does not cause a miscarriage, it can increase the risk of a baby being born prematurely. This can happen due to the stress and trauma experienced by expectant mothers after a crash or as a result of injuries sustained in the accident. A pregnant woman may need to deliver their baby early because of a premature membrane eruption or as a life-saving measure, such as after a uterine rupture.
A pre-term birth occurs when a baby is born before reaching full term, or 37 weeks. The earlier in the gestation period a baby is born, the higher the risk of significant health complications. If a baby survives the birth, immediate intervention is often needed:
- An underdeveloped brain can prevent a baby from regulating their temperature or breathing independently.
- Underdeveloped lungs can cause respiratory issues or lung disease, requiring incubation until the lungs fully mature.
- An underdeveloped liver puts a baby at risk of jaundice.
- Undeveloped swallowing reflexes can cause feeding difficulties, requiring feeding via a tube.
Premature babies are also at risk of having severe disabilities or developmental setbacks. These may present later in life as difficulties reading or learning, or they may be immediate, such as blindness, deafness, or cerebral palsy.
What Are the Signs of Miscarriage after a Car Accident?
There are many types of car accidents, ranging from a fender bender to a devastating multi-vehicle crash. Whatever the type, it can result in a miscarriage.
The most common symptom of miscarriage is vaginal bleeding, pain, pelvic cramps, and abdominal pain, but other signs can include:
- Facial swelling
- Swelling in the fingers
- Increased fluid
- Severe or persistent headaches
- High blood pressure
- Pain in the shoulder and lower back
- Vomiting
- Chills
- Fever
- A change in your baby’s movements — including how often your baby kicks or how strong the movement is
- Feeling faint or dizzy.
These symptoms may not start immediately — it can take hours or even days before they become apparent, but bleeding is usually the first sign. This is why any pregnant woman involved in a car accident must seek medical treatment.
Follow These Steps If You’re in a Car Accident While Pregnant
- Inform the police: Call 911 and explain the incident to emergency services if your injuries allow. Wait for the ambulance to arrive. The police need to be at the scene as the insurance company will request the police report for your insurance claim. Call your insurance company and report the accident, informing them of your pregnancy.
- Get witness accounts: Collect the names and contact details of anyone at the accident scene. Eyewitness testimony can prove vital during the car accident lawsuit process, helping you establish who is at fault. If possible, take photos of the damage and any injuries at the crash scene.
Get medical help after the accident: After the first responders examine you, go to your nearest hospital — even if your crash was a minor fender-bender. The responders will transport you to the hospital if necessary, but you should always speak to a doctor about post-accident care and symptoms to look out for.
Areas in Greater San Antonio We Serve
Can You Recover Compensation for a Miscarriage after a Car Accident?
Sadly, some states do not allow parents to file a wrongful death lawsuit unless their child has been born. Fortunately, Texas is not one of those states.
There are four standards adopted across the U.S. that dictate whether or not you can sue for the wrongful death of your baby.
These standards are:
Conception standard: States adopting the conception standard allow a wrongful death claim for an unborn child regardless of the stage of pregnancy. 15 states follow this standard, including Texas, Kansas, and Louisiana.
Quickening standard: You can only sue for the wrongful death of an unborn child if fetal movement, known as the “quickening,” can be detected before the death. The quickening typically happens around 16 to 20 weeks into pregnancy, although some people feel movement in the womb earlier or later. Sadly, grieving parents who wish to claim compensation for wrongful death in a state with the quickening standard may be prevented from claiming if they are early in their pregnancy.
Viability standard: States that apply the viability standard allow personal injury claims only when a fetus is viable — or when it can exist independently outside the womb. There is no fixed point at which a fetus is considered viable, but it is generally considered to begin at 23 weeks. 25 states currently use this standard, including Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee, and Washington.
No standard: Seven states do not allow you to pursue a wrongful death claim when your car accident causes a miscarriage. These include California, Florida, and New York.
No agreed standard: Wyoming is the only state where there is no agreed-upon standard determining whether an individual can sue for wrongful death after a miscarriage.
Suing for Wrongful Death in Texas When a Car Accident Causes a Miscarriage
Texas adopts the conception standard, meaning you may be able to recover compensation if you have experienced a miscarriage due to a car accident. Your claim’s success hinges on the circumstances of the accident and whether you can prove the miscarriage was caused by the accident.
In Texas — as per Chapter 71 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code — a wrongful death occurs when:
- An injury causes a person’s death or a fetus’s failure to be born alive;
- The injury is caused by another person’s or entity’s wrongful act, neglect, or carelessness, and;
- The injured person would have been entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit had they lived or been born alive.
It’s vital to know that claims for car accidents that cause a miscarriage can be difficult to pursue.
Sometimes, a miscarriage may not happen until days or weeks after the car accident, and the other party’s insurance company may argue that the car accident didn’t cause the death of your unborn child.
If you have a prior history of miscarriage or premature birth, lose your baby during the early stages of pregnancy, or have a high-risk pregnancy due to your age or a medical condition, the other party may claim that these factors were the primary contributing factor.
That said, this doesn’t mean this type of car accident injury claim is impossible to bring. A car accident lawyer can look at your case, gather evidence, and determine your chance of success.
FAQS: Car Accident and Pregnancy Questions
What compensation can I recover after being injured in a car accident while pregnant?
As part of a car accident claim, you can recover compensation for several damages. These are split into two categories: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages
Economic damages are those with a monetary value and often include medical expenses and lost wages.
After a car accident, you may need significant medical treatment for pregnancy injuries — such as testing fetal health, addressing any fetal trauma and other pregnancy complications, and counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder in the tragic event of a miscarriage. You will likely also need medical care for any other car accident injuries you may sustain, such as a brain injury or broken bones.
Our experienced personal injury attorneys in Texas can recover your medical expenses and lost wages due to being unable to work after your accident.
Non-economic damages
The second type of damages available to pregnant women involved in a car accident is non-economic.
Non-economic damages you may be able to claim after your car accident include:
- Mental anguish or emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium — a type of damages restricted to spousal and parent-child relationships. In this case, a mother can claim compensation for the lost affection and companionship resulting from the death of their child.
This type of damage is harder to calculate because it doesn’t have a specific financial value — who can put a price on the tragic loss of an unborn baby?
While no amount of money can alleviate the devastating loss of an unborn child, compensation can help with your financial burden.
If you’re entitled to claim, a personal injury lawyer can handle the process, allowing you to focus on healing your emotional and physical injuries.
What are my options for covering expenses?
Texas is a fault state, meaning all road drivers must have car insurance to cover accidents. However, sometimes, a premium might not provide the full compensation you’re entitled to, and in some cases, a driver may not have insurance.
Fortunately, you may have other options to cover the expenses for your pregnancy injuries.
If you’re in a car accident with an uninsured driver, your policy might include uninsured motorist coverage.
You may also have Personal Injury Protection coverage (PIP). In many insurance policies, PIP is included by default unless you opted out of it in writing when you took out your insurance. This won’t provide damages for emotional distress, loss of consortium, or other non-economic damages, but it will cover your medical care and a percentage of your lost income. If you’re unsure if you have this type of insurance, it’s worth contacting your insurance company.
You should also consult a car accident lawyer, who can explore your best options for filing an auto accident claim.
Can an expectant mother be more accident-prone when driving during pregnancy?
Some mothers experience clumsiness while pregnant; this usually occurs in the last trimester when the baby weighs down on the pelvis.
However, Texas negligence laws allow you to recover compensation if you are not more than 50% at fault for your accident. As long as another driver or third party’s negligence caused the accident that resulted in your miscarriage or birth injuries, you can still file a claim.
Can my baby suffer trauma from whiplash in the womb during a car accident?
Yes. Known as “shaken baby syndrome,” this injury is caused by the forceful shaking of the baby in the womb. The brain can bounce back and forth against the skull, leading to bleeding, bruising, and swelling. The impact of shaking can destroy brain cells and prevent the brain from receiving sufficient oxygen, resulting in long-term damage or a miscarriage.
How can I keep my baby safe when driving?
There are several steps you can take to maintain your safety and protect your unborn baby when driving:
- Ignore distractions and avoid picking up your phone.
- Don’t speed, and avoid tailgating.
- Wear your seatbelt properly, positioning it below your baby bump to prevent pressure on the abdomen.
- Position your seat so you reach the pedals easily and are a safe distance from the steering wheel.
- Avoid abruptly braking to minimize the risk of whiplash and blunt-force trauma.
- If close to full term, ideally, only drive with a spouse, family member, or close friend. Pull over to take breaks if you’re tired, especially during long journeys.
No one should have to go through the heartbreak of losing their child, but if you’ve suffered a miscarriage in a car accident, you may be able to claim compensation. We understand how difficult a time this is for you and want to help you get the compensation you deserve. For a free consultation, contact our car accident lawyers in San Antonio and McAllen by calling 855-LAW-NINJA. Se habla Español, and you only pay legal fees when we win your case.
