Birth injury and trauma claims

Birth injury claims have risen

Thankfully, it is very safe to give birth in the UK. However, mistakes do happen, and they can be devastating for the families involved when they do. Around 20% of claims against the NHS are for obstetrics and gynaecology, with, on average, over 500 cases per year.

Your health and your baby are precious; being pregnant, especially for the first time, can be an exciting but somewhat nerve-racking time for you. 

You have to trust the healthcare professionals trained to care for you and your unborn child, mainly the midwives and doctors who guide you through your pregnancy and your child's birth.

If your doctor or midwife doesn't treat you correctly or a specialist doesn't diagnose a condition that results in trauma, an illness, or injury to you or your baby, you may be entitled to make a birth injury claim.

Who can make a claim?

The parents or guardians can claim for birth injuries to a child. On reaching 18, the child can make a compensation claim for their injuries if they have the capacity to do so. 

How to claim birth injury compensation

If a medical professional failed to diagnose an issue during your pregnancy or if the actions of a medical professional caused either you or your baby to suffer an injury during pregnancy, birth or within eight weeks of the child's birth, you may be able to claim for birth injury. 

The first stage in making a claim is to speak to an experienced and qualified lawyer who can advise you on the process and timeline. 

Postnatal post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

If you experience a traumatic labour or birth, it may lead to an anxiety disorder called postnatal post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), also known as birth trauma. 

Postnatal post-traumatic stress disorder can be caused by many things, including emergency treatment, a long and painful delivery, an unplanned caesarean, stillbirth or neonatal death. 

If the trauma encountered is caused by medical negligence, you may be able to claim compensation. 

Time limits

The time limits for birth injury claims differ depending on whether the negligence injured the mother or the baby. 

If the mother is injured, the time limit to make a claim is three years from the date of knowledge, i.e. the date you became aware of the injury. 

If the baby is injured, the time limits are different. The child's parents or guardians have until the child's 18th birthday to claim on their behalf. If the child has the capacity to claim themselves, once they have reached their 18th birthday, they have three years to make a claim. 

Funding

Legal aid for birth injury claims

Legal aid is a type of public funding available via the Legal Aid Agency for children who suffer from brain injuries resulting in severe disability, which arises during pregnancy, childbirth or the eight-week post-natal period. 

No win, no fee

Other funding options may be available to you. These include:

• No win, no fee (or, to use the legal term, a conditional fee agreement)
• Pre-existing insurance, i.e. an insurance policy that provides an indemnity for legal expenses, such as home insurance or motor insurance policy; 
• Or private funding. 

We will discuss the most appropriate funding option for your circumstances with you. 

NHS Early Notification Scheme

The NHS Early Notification Scheme was launched in 2017. Its purpose is to investigate and determine whether a potentially severe brain injury has been caused to a baby during birth due to negligence (provided the baby was not born prematurely, i.e. before 37 weeks). If their investigation determines negligence, the NHS Early Notification Scheme helps to ensure families get answers and financial assistance as quickly as possible.

If a child suffers a potentially severe brain injury during birth, the hospital has to report this to their legal department within 14 days of the injury occurring. This applies to all NHS Trusts. The incident must also be reported to NHS Resolution within 30 days of the birth.

If the NHS Early Notification Scheme investigation concludes that there was no negligence, we may still be able to help you make a claim. You can still seek independent legal advice whilst the Early Notification Scheme investigation takes place.

How much compensation for birth injuries

One of the first questions our clients ask is how much compensation they can expect to receive for their injury or the injury to their child. There are no set amounts because each case is different, and many factors are considered, including the severity of the injuries and the impact those injuries will have on life in the future. 

However, all compensation claims have two elements when calculating compensation these are general damages and special damages:

• General damages are to compensate you for your pain and suffering. 
• Special damages are to compensate you for your out of pocket expenses to date and in the future. 

It is vital to instruct an experienced birth injury solicitor who will work with medical experts to assess your claim and the lifetime needs of you and your baby, including rehabilitation, medical costs, care, loss of current and future earnings, and modifications to your property or modifications to vehicles. 

We have a compensation calculator outlining the compensation bands for many injuries. We will be able to give you a more accurate compensation estimate following our initial investigations. 

Immediate legal advice

We can provide you with immediate legal advice on birth injury claims and pregnancy compensation anywhere in the UK. We do not have call centres or claims management teams. You'll be speaking directly with a legal expert. 

We can also provide home and hospital visits or remote online meetings if you cannot visit our offices. We understand this will be a difficult time for you and your family, so we ensure we deal with your claim with sensitivity and compassion.

When pregnancy, labour or birth goes wrong, the impact on your life and your family can be devastating. Whether the NHS or a private hospital treated you, if the mistakes are due to a lack of judgement or incompetence by a midwife, nurse or doctor, then you will need the expertise of a medical negligence solicitor to see if you have a claim. Birth trauma compensation and birth injury claims can be complex, but our team have the knowledge and experience to guide you through the process.

Our team

Our traumatic birth injury lawyers are experts in resolving birth injury cases against the NHS and private healthcare providers. Our solicitors keep clients at the heart of everything they do. We are committed to providing you and your family with a caring and compassionate service. 

Our lawyers have been recognised in the legal guides for their personable and compassionate approach to dealing with cases. 

"She is very compassionate and very easy to talk to." She boasts a broad practice, recently advising on group actions involving cancer treatment and obstetric claims." Chambers UK

Common pregnancy and birth issues

Ante-natal errors

We now have highly advanced scans and imaging techniques. However, sometimes healthcare professionals can miss serious problems, and in very rare cases, medical professionals misdiagnose issues with a healthy baby. If an error is made at any stage of pregnancy, it can significantly impact the child's life.

Errors during the birth

Statistically, having a baby in the UK is safe. Most births are straightforward, and a healthy baby is delivered. However, in rare cases, a baby may be damaged by medical instruments, anaesthetics or decisions made by the medical team. For the mother, severe gynaecological damage can occur if the medical team do not treat her quickly and effectively. For the baby, there can be severe potential problems; these include cerebral palsy, brain injury, facial paralysis, brachial palsy, spinal injuries, and fractured bones.

Cerebral palsy

Errors made by medical professionals in the delivery of your baby or management of your pregnancy can sometimes cause brain injuries to your baby, such as cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy can be caused during delivery if the baby is starved of oxygen. 

It is estimated that 1 in 400 people are affected by cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy is a term used to explain a number of neurological conditions caused by the brain and nervous system that affect coordination and movement. The condition occurs when the brain is damaged or develops abnormally.

There can be many causes, including:

• Bleeding in the baby's brain
• An infection caught by the mother in pregnancy
• A premature or difficult birth

Sadly there is no cure for cerebral palsy, but there are treatments that can help you manage the impact of the symptoms. Our medical negligence team has experience securing compensation for families providing financial compensation, and care for your child's lifetime needs.

Stillbirth or neonatal death

The death of a child is no doubt the worse thing any parent can go through. Sadly, some babies are stillborn, and some die within hours, days or weeks of being born. In cases where a medical mistake has caused the death, there is an added sense of grief and anger because the loss could have been avoided. We have considerable experience in seeking compensation for stillbirth and neonatal death. 

If you have lost your baby due to stillbirth or neonatal death, you may be at a higher risk of birth trauma PTSD, so you must seek the support you need. 

Group B Strep

The statistics regarding Group B Strep are quite alarming. It affects nearly one in two thousand births in the UK, sadly resulting in death in approximately 10% of cases.

Group B Streptococcus is a bacterium that is usually harmless and natural; it is carried by many. It usually lives inside the digestive system and in the vagina. Because of this, there is a small risk that the bacteria can be passed to babies during pregnancy and birth.

It is, therefore, important that mothers carrying GBS are identified so that they can be given the correct treatment so they do not pass the infection on to their baby.

With the proper treatment and intervention, the consequences of Group B Strep may be avoided. However, we see clients who were not given the appropriate treatment to prevent or treat the infection.

Premature Preterm Rupture of Membranes (PPROM)

"PPROM complicates only 2% of pregnancies but is associated with 40% of preterm deliveries and can result in significant neonatal morbidity and mortality. 1–3. The three causes of neonatal death associated with PPROM are prematurity, sepsis and pulmonary hypoplasia". The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Premature Preterm Rupture of Membranes or the "breaking of a woman's waters" before 37 weeks can, in some cases, be caused by the negligence of a midwife or medical professional.

Erb's palsy

Stuck shoulders (shoulder dystocia) is an injury that can be caused during labour, and steps should be taken to identify and avoid the injury during delivery. If a midwife or medical professional fails to identify the issue correctly, there may be a negligence case.

The injury occurs if the head of the baby is delivered but the shoulders are too large and impact the mother's pelvis. In these instances, an injury can happen to the neck resulting in damage to the brachial plexus nerves. The symptoms for the baby can mean a paralysed arm, limp or lack of muscle control.

If you or your child have suffered a birth related injury, please contact us for an initial conversation.