Birth injury claims

The following circumstances generally arise when improper care is exercised by maternity staff with regard to babies’ safety:

• When a conventional, “natural” birth is deemed too risky or even impossible, forceps or a ventouse device may be used to extract the child. Skilled application of these devices is imperative to the safety of the child(ren). Where staff use either or both improperly, it can lead to injuries to the head, limbs and/or nervous system and long-term disability or damage to quality of life.
• When children sustain injuries to the part of the brain responsible for muscle control, it can lead to a condition called cerebral palsy. There are many potential causes for the development of this lifelong condition, including medical staff’s failure to observe and treat infections or internal bleeding in the mother during the pregnancy. It can also be caused by cutting off the blood supply to the baby’s brain at any point during the delivery process via improper handling of the child.
• Likewise, Erb’s palsy can occur when the baby’s shoulders become stuck after the initial emergence of the head during the delivery, and maternity staff do not exercise sufficient care to prevent injury to the nervous system whilst attempting to extricate them.
• In rare circumstances where medical staff do not appropriately monitor levels of bilirubin in the child’s blood following the initial observance of jaundice post-birth, this relatively common condition can lead to a significantly worse one known as kernicterus. This largely preventable condition can result in brain damage and lifelong disabilities, including cerebral palsy.
• Developing maternal diabetes, otherwise known as gestational diabetes, can present significant distress and health hazards to mothers (and their children). Medical staff are trained extensively in how to recognise and treat the symptoms associated with the condition, so failure to do so can be considered grounds for making a birth injury claim.
• Similarly, failure to promptly diagnose and effectively treat a condition known as Pre-Eclampsia – which can cause dizziness, headaches, vomiting and visual impairment, is potentially indicative of medical negligence. This is especially true if the condition is allowed to progress and become full Eclampsia, which puts mothers at risk of life-threatening seizures and even miscarriage.
• During the birthing process, doctors can at their discretion perform episiotomies – small surgical incisions to the opening of the vagina – to ease the passing of the baby in circumstances where they envisage difficulties with a conventional birth. This measure is taken to prevent unnecessary tissue tearing and resulting pain/incontinence issues. Where doctors fail to perform this measure in circumstances where it could have predictably proven effective and safe, or where they botch the procedure in any way, birth injuries can occur.
• C-section or caesarean births are usually the next best option available to doctors when episiotomies are not sufficient to reduce the risks faced by the mother and child. They come with their own set of risks, including the likes of surgical error and resultant injury, infection and severe bleeding, so must be performed with a high degree of skill and precision to avoid inflicting birth injuries.

What constitutes poor maternity care?

There is almost an inexhaustible list of things that can construe poor or negligent maternity care. Examples include:

• Failure to listen or act on a mother’s concern for her baby – such as reduced fetal movements
• A shortage of staff impacting on the care being provided, for example, delaying a baby’s induction due to a lack of consultant availability
• Failure to act in accordance with published guidelines or policy, i.e. insisting on a ‘normal vaginal’ birth without allowing a mother the chance to have an elective c-section
• Incorrect use of assisted birth instruments such as forceps or a ventouse cup, causing injuries to your baby
• Failure to diagnose dangerous conditions such as pre-eclampsia or jaundice.
• Mistakes in delivery leading to your baby suffering oxygen deprivation.

In some instances, it will be evident that poor care has taken place and the hospital or NHS Trust may even notify you directly. This could be through a letter of apology or may result in a Serious Incident report being issued.

However, more commonly, parents are unsure whether their experience was due to poor or negligent care and can feel confused and helpless.

Poor maternity care doesn’t just occur during labour

Often there is a misconception that poor maternity care relates only to labour and giving birth, however, maternity care relates to the care you receive from the moment you find out you are pregnant through to after the birth.

Poor maternity care can relate to midwife appointments, ultrasound scans, the care provided at hospitals by consultants, obstetricians and midwives, as well as appointments post-birth.

It is also likely that poor care may relate to multiple elements, for example, the failure of a midwife to refer for additional scans, and the failure of the sonographer to identify a condition relating to either mother or baby.

Calculating damages in a birth injury case

Finally, once liability has been determined, the Court can proceed to calculate the damages to be awarded to the claimant. This stage of the birth injury compensation claim will likely again require input from medical specialists qualified to identify the nature and severity of the harm suffered by the defendant, and how long it is likely to persist.

Depending on the injuries sustained by the mother and/or baby, input may be required from paediatric, neurological, psychologist and long-term care specialists whose availability may be restricted. It’s worth also mentioning that this stage of the proceedings may also be contested, with the defending party bringing their own experts to Court to counter the claims made by your birth injury solicitor.

The Court will weigh the testimonies submitted by the various experts up against each other to determine what level of compensation is required to ensure the claimant can go on to enjoy as much quality of life as possible. It will need to consider any corrective surgery, medication and home-environment modifications required by the claimant to achieve this.

Unsurprisingly, the complexity of the claims being examined, and the availability of the experts required to do so can again mean that this stage of the case can require years to conclude.

How long does a birth injury lawsuit take?

It is impossible to say before a case gets underway how long a birth injury compensation claim will take. With each of the aforementioned stages potentially requiring years to conclude, it is not unreasonable to expect a timeline of around five years from the point of submitting your claim.