Breauanna Jennings, already a mother of two, worried something was wrong a few hours before she gave birth to her third child. Still, she said a certified nurse midwife assured her she and her baby were fine.
August Jennings, 6, on a swing in June 2025. (Courtesy of the Jennings family)
When baby August was born in Hudson, Wis., medical staff rushed to give him chest compressions and resuscitate him because he wasn’t breathing.
“I don’t think anybody was really telling us what was going on because it was an emergency situation,” Jennings said.
And the feeling in that moment for husband Anthony Jennings?
“Scared to death,” he said.
August didn’t get enough oxygen during his birth and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, according to a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by his family in St. Croix County, Wis.
A jury decided on a $29 million verdict for the family in March, though the amount was recently reduced to $17 million due to Wisconsin statutes, said Noah Lauricella, the Jenningses’ attorney.
The Jenningses said they want to ensure August will get the care he needs “for the best quality of life he can have,” which was a major factor for their lawsuit.
“August is pure joy,” Breauanna Jennings said recently. “I’m so thankful that we got to keep him, but it’s hard to watch how hard things are for him.”
“A lot of it could have been prevented,” Anthony Jennings said.
The Jenningses also want to help other families.
“The hope is … that we are making sure that medical providers are able to make the right decisions,” Breauanna Jennings said. “In the right time,” Anthony Jennings added.
Baby ‘near death’ at birth
The Jenningses also have a 13-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter, and Breauanna said their deliveries were not problematic. There was “nothing concerning” in August’s prenatal visits, the Jenningses’ lawsuit said.
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When Jennings, of New Richmond, Wis., went to Hudson Hospital for her son’s birth in September 2018, certified nurse midwife Robyn Cox told her the baby’s “heart rate wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible, either,” Jennings recounted recently.
A fetal heart rate monitor was used at the hospital and “the signs, symptoms … were such that the standard of care required that care be turned over to a physician and not to a midwife” for August’s delivery, the lawsuit said.
A doctor was paged at 6:19 p.m. and August was born at 6:24 p.m. The obstetrician, who wasn’t part of the lawsuit, didn’t make it into the room, Lauricella said.
The lawsuit said Cox “knew or should have known that in order to preserve the well-being” of August, “an immediate C-section should have been called for.”
A C-section did not happen and, when Jennings gave birth to August, he was “near death” due to brain damage from lack of oxygen, according to the suit.
Midwife’s attorney: She was trained, experienced
The Jenningses’ lawsuit initially named Hudson Hospital, though the hospital was later dismissed from the legal action. It then centered on Cox and her employer at the time, Hudson Physicians.
Samuel Leib, an attorney for Cox and Hudson Physicians, told the jury that Breauanna Jennings had experienced “decreased fetal movement” in the weeks before August was born, according to a court transcript of his opening statement.
He said experts would testify that August had a “neurologic injury” before his mother “ever got to the hospital.”
“When they arrived at the hospital, if they had done a C-section the moment (she) had arrived, … the outcome would have been no different,” Leib said, adding later that was because “there was a pre-existing problem.”
Cox “was trained, experienced, licensed to do this delivery and care for mom,” Leib told the jury.
Jury found midwife negligent
In a March verdict, a St. Croix County jury answered “yes” to the question of “Was Robyn Cox … negligent in her management of the labor of Breauanna Jennings and the delivery of August Jennings” and “yes” to the second question of “Was Robyn Cox’s negligence a cause of August Jennings injuries and health condition?”
The jury awarded $29 million for past and future pain and suffering, August’s past and future medical and care expenses, and other factors. Lauricella said they were told it was a record-setting verdict for St. Croix County.
Attorneys for Cox, Hudson Physicians and the Wisconsin Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund sought a new trial or to change the verdict, which Judge Scott Needham denied in a July order.
The attorneys also argued that Wisconsin statutes cap damages for pain and suffering at $750,000 total, which Needham agreed with.
Hudson Physicians is responsible for $1.5 million of the verdict and the Wisconsin Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund for $15.9 million, Lauricella noted in a July court document that calculated interest owed as of that date. When a health care provider pays up to their insurance policy limit in Wisconsin, the fund is responsible for the rest, Lauricella said.
“This was a lengthy, heatedly contested and tremendously emotional trial with nationally known experts testifying in support of the care that was provided by my clients,” Leib said in a recent email.
“Robyn Cox is an extraordinarily well trained certified nurse midwife who continues to provide excellent care to her patients,” he continued. “Although we respect the jury’s verdict, the motions after verdict contained many potential appellate issues. The courts provide the opportunity to resolve disputes, and this dispute continues at this time.”
Cox lists online that she currently works as a certified nurse midwife in Minnesota and that she stopped working for Hudson Physicians in 2019.
Lauricella said they are considering filing an appeal, challenging the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s $750,000 cap on pain and suffering.
Auggie ‘makes whole room light up’
After his birth, August was transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit, where he spent about two weeks. The early months at home were just “living moment to moment” and getting him to appointments with doctors and specialists, Anthony Jennings said.
As the couple looked back at what happened on the day August was born, they had concerns and sought out the Goldenberg Lauricella law firm in Minneapolis.
Lauricella said, when his own children were born, they needed a lot of medical care. “They received outstanding … care and they’re doing great,” he said. The Jenningses “believed they weren’t so fortunate, believed that they could have had a different life for their son if things had been done differently.”
Most lawsuits are dismissed or settled without a trial. Going through the trial and reliving what happened was traumatic, said Breauanna Jennings, now 41.
It was “really sad and scary,” she said. “You put trust in a medical provider, hoping to keep you and your baby safe.”
August will turn 7 in September. He needs full-time assistance at home and school, which he will for his entire life, his parents said. He uses a walker to get around.
“He is a very social, happy guy,” Breauanna Jennings said.
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August has “a fairly good understanding of language,” his mother said, and he uses an iPad as a communication device — he pushes icons to verbalize for him, and he has been learning letters and numbers also. He uses his own kind of sign language.
He finished kindergarten last school year and will soon be heading to first grade.
“He’s a little celebrity,” Anthony Jennings said. “It takes us like 10 minutes to get out of school with everyone saying, ‘Bye, Auggie, bye, Auggie.’”
He plays with other kids “with modifications and support from an adult,” said Breauanna Jennings, who works as an occupational therapy assistant and uses her expertise with her son.
Lauricella said August “makes the whole room light up” when he enters.
“You can’t help but smile when you’re around the kid,” he said. “To see what he faces and how hard things are that we all take for granted, that our bodies can do, and for him to still walk around through life in a (walker) with that kind of joy — it’s incredible.”
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