Our Midwife negligence claims expertise
Our medical negligence team
specialise in midwife negligence claims. Our
specialist solicitors have won compensation for mothers and
newborns who have suffered injuries through midwife error and
medical negligence:
- during pregnancy
- during labour and birth
- after the birth
Being pregnant, especially for the first time can be a very
daunting experience where you often have to put all of your faith
in your midwife or obstetrician.
If your midwife or doctor fails to treat you correctly or
diagnose a condition they should have, which results in some kind
of injury you may be able to make a compensation claim for clinical negligence.
Midwife negligence
Midwives provide a valuable service to patients but errors in
treatment can have serious consequences on you and your baby.
Midwife errors can cause injury to either the mother, the
baby or both. Some of these birth injuries are unavoidable, however
each year there are a number of cases where injuries are caused
by
medical negligence. Some of the
types of birth injury that can occur because of midwife negligence
include:
- Cerebral Palsy
- Erb's Palsy (Brachial Plexus Injury / Shoulder
Dystocia)
- Injuries to the mother
- Brain injuries
- Fractured/broken bones
One of the most common injuries caused through medical negligence is cerebral
palsy. Our medical negligence
team regularly deal with these types of claims and have the
expertise to ensure that you receive the highest award possible to
provide for rehabilitation, care, support, therapies and education.
We act on a 'no win, no fee'
basis.
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy effects approx. 1 in every
10,000 babies born in the UK. It is an umbrella term encompassing a
group of non-progressive, long lasting motor conditions that cause
physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various
areas of body movement.
There are many types and subtypes of cerebral palsy and none of
them have a known cure. Usually, medical intervention is limited to
the treatment and prevention of complications arising from Cerebral
palsy's effects.
Cerebral palsy is a condition that can be caused if
a baby being starved of oxygen during birth. This causes
damage to the brain and may result in the baby having physical or
intellectual disabilities. Research is still ongoing but it is
estimatedesetimated that as many as 20% of cerebral palsy cases are
as a result of mismanagement of the birth process and the failure
to act quickly if there are any signs of trouble.
Many babies who have been effected by birth injuries will
require help and assistance for many years - sometimes even for the
rest of their life. Many families don't have the resources to
provide the very best care they would want for their baby and a
cerebral palsy legal claim can provide the funding for future
treatment, rehabilitation and care.
For further information please contact our specialist
cerebral palsy solicitors on
freephone 0800 358 3848, email
personalinjury@ffw.com
or complete our short enquiry form.
Erb's Palsy
Shoulder dystocia (stuck shoulders) can be identified during
labour and steps should be taken to avoid injury during delivery.
Failure to correctly identify this could mean there has been
medical negligence. It occurs when the
head has been delivered but the shoulders are too large and are
impacted on the mother’s pelvis.
When the baby is delivered, if it is larger than average, there
can be an injury to the neck which results in damage to the nerves
(brachial plexus nerves) which control the muscles in the shoulder,
arm or hand, and the nerves are paralysed. This injury may result
from shoulder dystocia, causing the nerves to stretch or tear,
although this is not always the case.
Symptoms for the baby may be a limp or paralysed arm, lack of
muscle control in the arm, hand, or wrist. There may also be a lack
of feeling or sensation in the arm or hand.
Injuries to the mother
The main
birth injuries that can affect the mother include vaginal
tears, fissures, incorrect suturing (sewing) following an
episiotomy or a Caesarean, failure to manage pre-eclampsia and
infections. Read more about birth injuries
to the mother here.
Other Types of Birth Injury Claims
Although Cerebral Palsy is the most common form
of Birth Injury Claims, there are many other types
of birth injury, including varying degrees of damage to the brain
and scarring or nerve damage caused by tools used during assisted
deliveries (e.g. forceps). Negligence during the birth of a
baby may even result in stillbirth. We have been successful in
birth injury claims involving:
- Umbilical cord problems
- Ruptured placentas
- Infant death
Midwife negligence during pregnancy
There are a number of midwife errors that can have serious
consequences during pregnancy. These include:
- Failure to diagnose maternal diabetes or gestational
diabetes
- Failure to diagnose pre eclampsia
- Failure to diagnose uterine rupture and placental
abruption
- Wrongful birth cases
If your midwife or doctor fails to treat you correctly or
diagnose a condition they should have, which results in some kind
of injury you may be able to make a clinical
negligence compensation claim.
Maternal Diabetes or
Gestational Diabetes
If your doctor or midwife fails to diagnose maternal or
gestational diabetes there can be serious consequences. Failure to
carry out a screening test and diagnose diabetes can lead to
miscarriage or birth defects, including brain and heart
defects.
Gestational diabetes can also result in a very large baby and
this can cause difficulties with the labour and birth. Your doctor
or midwife should spot the signs of maternal/gestational diabetes
and if they fail to do so you may be able to make a claim for
compensation.
Pre-eclampsia
Pre eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy. Women with
pre-eclampsia have high blood pressure, protein in their urine and
may develop other symptoms and problems.
The more severe the pre-eclampsia, the greater the risk of
serious complications to both mother and baby. Pre-eclampsia is due
to a problem with the placenta (which carries all the necessary
oxygen and nutrients to the baby in the womb), and the usual
treatment is to deliver the baby early. Medication may be advised
to prevent complications.
Pre-eclampsia can only be diagnosed by having regular blood
pressure checks and urine samples taken so it is important
that midwives see their patients for regular antenatal
checks. Pre-eclampsia is a very serious condition and can
lead to death of both mother and baby.
If your doctor or midwife negligently fails to
diagnose your pre-eclampsia and this causes an injury to you or
your baby you may be able to make a birth injury claim for
compensation.
Uterine rupture and placental abruptionabruption
The cause of placental abruption is not
known but the symptoms are very obvious. The pregnant lady may
suffer from a heavy vaginal bleed or severe pains in her back or
abdomen. Uterine rupture can be caused by some labours, especially
if it has been artificially induced and not properly monitored.
The blood loss is caused due to the placenta separating from the
wall of the uterus which can starve the baby of oxygen (sometimes
resulting in brain damage or death) and uterine rupture can put the
mother at risk of blood loss and damage to her organs, as well as
leading to emergency hysterectomy.
If your doctor or midwife fails to diagnose or effectively deal
with these emergencies and you or your baby suffer injuries as a
result, you may be able to take a claim for compensation.
Wrongful birth
Sometimes parents have not been warned that a child will be born
with a specific genetic disability. In some instances if they
had been warned would have terminated the pregnancy.
There are many different conditions that a baby can be born with
including:
- spina bifida
- club feet
- holes in the heart
- Down's syndrome.
If your doctor or midwife fails to diagnose a birth defect which
should have been easy to diagnose (perhaps due to a faulty scanning
machine or lack of staff training) then you may be able to make a
medical negligence claim for
wrongful birth. In situations like this, damages often provide for
the costs associated with the welfare and healthcare of the child
who has been born with a debilitating condition.
Clinical negligence after birth
Once your baby has been safely delivered you will feel relieved
that the pregnancy and labour went well. But if you discover a few
months later that your baby was born with a condition which was not
immediately diagnosed you will feel very let down by the medical
professionals caring for you.
Congenital Hip Dysplasia
Congenital Hip Dysplasia is a condition of the hip joint and is
thought to be a genetic condition. All newborn babies should
be screened for congenital hip dysplasia, and checks should also be
made at 6 months and when other development checks are carried out.
Providing the condition is found early the prognosis is good.
If the condition is missed by your healthcare professionals and
it is not diagnosed before your baby starts to walk, the prognosis
is not so good. More complicated surgery may be required and there
are risks of later complications in early adolescence and later
middle age.
Contact us
If you have been affected by any of the
conditions or injuries above, please call any member of our
medical negligence team to discuss a
potential midwife negligence claim.
You can call us on freephone 0800
358 3848, email personalinjury@ffw.com or
complete our short enquiry form. You can
also speak to any member of our team directly. Direct phone numbers and email addresses are listed
here.
All enquiries are completely free of charge
and we will investigate all funding options for you including
legal aid and no win, no fee.