Parents blame Emory Hospital for death of their unborn baby

Bealing was 38 weeks pregnant when she felt strong contractions in her abdomen while taking a shower at home around 8 p.m. on Aug. 22, 2022, which caused her severe pain, the lawsuit states. After Bealing noticed she was bleeding heavily from her vaginal area, she went with McCreary to Emory University Hospital Midtown, the lawsuit states.

The couple claims they arrived around 9:30 p.m.. and immediately went to the emergency room, where they informed at least five employees that Bealing was having difficulty breathing, severe and persistent abdominal pain, and continued heavy vaginal bleeding. Bealing was unable to walk or sit upright and felt like she was going to vomit, the lawsuit says.

Bealing and McCreary claim they asked for immediate help but were ignored by emergency room staff until Bealing was asked to fill out a seven-page admission agreement around 10 p.m. Hospital staff then ignored Bealing when she vomited twice while waiting in the emergency room, the couple claimed.

They said Bealing was taken to the maternity ward emergency room in a wheelchair, where she was “placed against a wall along a corridor” and told by a hospital worker that she had not yet been treated because a staff shift change was approaching and there were no beds available in the hospital.

Bealing claimed that she saw three or four employees, apparently part of the new shift, take their seats in the maternity ward emergency room waiting room, and when she asked when she would receive medical attention, she received a curt response from an employee.

A staff member was sitting at a desk in the waiting area eating a meal while Bealing waited for treatment, the lawsuit says. It says other emergency room staff ignored Bealing, who then noticed that her unborn son's once violent kicking had stopped.

“Because the bleeding and pain continued and the baby suddenly stopped kicking, and because it was clear that defendants had no intention of examining or treating her, Ms. Bealing asked Mr. McCreary to take her to another hospital,” the lawsuit states.

Bealing and McCreary said they left Emory University Hospital Midtown around 11:30 p.m. and arrived at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital about 10 minutes later. They said no one at Emory attempted to speak with them as they left the hospital or to refer them to another emergency facility.

According to the complaint, Piedmont staff responded immediately to treat Bealing, and she had an ultrasound within 10 minutes of arriving at the hospital. But according to Bealing and McCreary, it was too late. A Piedmont doctor told them their son had died from “placental abruption,” which is when the placenta separates from the inner lining of the uterus.

In an affidavit attached to the lawsuit, Atlanta gynecologist Sholah Pittman said she reviewed Bealing's medical records and concluded: “The doctors and staff at Emory University Midtown Hospital failed to recognize, evaluate and treat Crystal Bealing's birth-related hemorrhage and placental abruption, which resulted in her injuries and the death of her unborn son.”

“I am of the opinion with reasonable medical certainty that if reasonable standards of care had been observed, plaintiffs would not have suffered the extreme mental and physical pain and suffering and the death of Carmelo Arthur McCreary-Bealing,” Pittman said.

Bealing said she has been receiving routine prenatal care from Emory since April 2022, including a scheduled checkup about 12 hours before her pain began. She said she was told during the checkup at Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital Women's Center that she and her unborn baby were doing well.

Bealing and McCreary are represented by former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, who did not immediately respond to questions about the case Tuesday.