Mothers trust that medical professionals will provide an appropriate standard of care during labour. However, failure to do so may cause birth injuries, which may have significant ramifications for mothers and their children. If such harm arises due to medical negligence, you may be eligible to start the birth injury claims process for compensation for yourself or your child. This guide explains how this may be possible with the help of our specialist panel of solicitors.
Key Takeaways
- Mothers and babies may sustain birth injuries due to medical professionals not providing appropriate levels of care.
- Compensation awards are based on harm and financial losses.
- You must obtain evidence to establish third-party liability.
- You generally have 3 years to start a birth injury claim.
- Our panel of solicitors may help you claim on a No Win No Fee basis.
If you would like to start a birth injury compensation claim with our panel of solicitors, please contact our advisors by:
- Visiting our ‘contact us’ page
- Calling our advisors on 0800 408 7825
- Making a free enquiry online
Jump To A Section
- What Are Birth Injury Claims?
- Can I Claim After My Child Endured A Birth Injury?
- How Much Birth Injury Compensation Could I Get?
- What Could Birth Injury Compensation Help With?
- What Types Of Birth Injuries Can Be Claimed For?
- How Can I Prove A Birth Injury Claim?
- Is There A Time Limit To Claiming For Birth Injuries?
- Can I Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- More Information
What Are Birth Injury Claims?
A birth injury claim is a type of medical negligence claim in which legal action is made against a hospital or medical professional who committed negligent conduct, resulting in a mother or baby sustaining a birth injury.
Examples of medical negligence associated with birth injury claims often include:
- Failing to monitor the mother or baby
- Failing to discuss the safest birthing procedure with mothers
- Failing to provide medication for postpartum infections
- Using unnecessary and excessive force during labour
- Using the incorrect equipment during labour
Birth injury claims are brought forward by claimants to receive compensation payouts for their injuries and financial losses. This helps both mothers and their children take the necessary steps to rebuild their lives following their suffering.
For more information on birth injury compensation claims, please do not hesitate to contact our friendly advisors.
Can I Claim After My Child Endured A Birth Injury?
You may start a birth injury claim on behalf of your child if they suffered from a birth injury during labour. However, the circumstances of their harm must meet the following criteria:
- A medical professional owed your child a duty of care
- The medical professional breached this duty
- This resulted in your child’s unnecessary or avoidable harm
Every medical professional, including midwives and obstetricians, must maintain good medical practice to ensure they are fulfilling their duty of care. If they commit negligent conduct or omissions, this would put them in breach of their duty. As a result, patients may be entitled to compensation for their unnecessary or avoidable suffering.
So, if a medical professional was responsible for causing your child’s harm during labour, you may claim compensation on their behalf. In doing so, you would be acting as a litigation friend throughout the claims process, as minors cannot start a claim themselves.
Can I Claim For Injuries I Sustained During Birth?
If you sustained harm during your birthing procedure, you may also be eligible to start a birth injury compensation claim if you meet the above criteria. This means that you must prove that you sustained unnecessary or avoidable harm due to a medical professional failing to uphold their duty of care.
If your child suffered from birth negligence, you may also claim compensation for any financial losses this caused you to incur. You can learn more about this further down the guide.
Am I Able To Claim Against The NHS?
Regardless of whether you or your baby sustained a birth injury as a result of medical negligence in the NHS or private healthcare, you may start a claim if you meet the eligibility criteria.
To start a claim for you or your child today with the specialist birth injury solicitors on our panel, please contact our friendly advisors.
How Much Birth Injury Compensation Could I Get?
The amount of birth injury compensation you are awarded ultimately depends on the severity of the harm and financial losses that resulted from it. They are calculated under the head of claims, general damages and special damages.
General damages provide compensation for harm, whether physical or psychological, that resulted from the negligent conduct. This is calculated using your independent medical assessor’s report of your suffering and compensation guidelines presented by the Judicial College (JCG).
The JCG contains an extensive list of injuries and their suggested compensation brackets. The table below provides examples from the JCG (except for the top figure) of how much you or your baby may be awarded for harm caused during birth. Please use this table for guidance only, as the amounts you see are not guaranteed.
| Injury | Compensation Guideline |
|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries Associated With Significant Financial Losses | Up to £25 million plus |
| Tetraplegia (Quadriplegia) | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Paraplegia | £267,340 to £346,890 |
| Very Severe Brain Damage | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderate Brain Damage (i) | £183,190 to £267,340 |
| Severe Back Injuries (i) | £111,150 to £196,450 |
| Severe Neck Injuries (i) | In the region of £181,020 |
| Arm Injuries Causing Permanent and Substantial Disability | £47,810 to £73,050 |
| Incomplete Recovery of Leg Fractures or Serious Soft Tissue Injuries | £21,920 to £33,880 |
| Scarring Without Significant Internal Injury | In the region of £10,550 |
If you would like more specific examples of suggestive compensation awards associated with your claim, please get in touch with our helpful advisors.
What Could Birth Injury Compensation Help With?
Birth injuries may result in you or your baby suffering from injuries that disrupt your day-to-day life and financial stability. However, you may receive compensation for your financial losses under the head of claim special damages, which may give you some relief.
Below are some examples of why a birth injury may cause you to incur financial losses and how compensation may support you.
The Loss Of Income
Having suffered from a birth injury, you may need to take additional time off work for yourself or your baby’s recovery. However, if your time off was not covered by statutory maternity pay and you lost earnings, you may be compensated for this.
Other examples of lost income you may be compensated for include:
- Future loss of earnings
- Bonuses
- Pension contributions
- Holiday entitlement
The Cost Of Future Care And Rehabilitation
Some birth injuries may have catastrophic consequences that require lifelong care. Understandably, this may cause you significant financial losses. However, birth injury compensation may support you in paying for future care, such as:
- Rehabilitation
- Counselling
- Occupational therapy
- Physiotherapy
- 24-hour medical support
- Long-term medical treatment
- Childcare support
The Cost Of Home Adaptations
If you or your baby suffered life-changing harm and limiting mobility, this may require you to pay for home adaptations to ensure your house is accessible for your needs. Some examples of this include paying for:
- Having a stairlift fitted
- Widening doorways
- Rails around your home
- Wheelchair ramps both indoors and outdoors
- An accessible bathroom, such as a wet room
The Cost Of Car Adaptations
If the birth injury has caused significant harm, making it difficult to use regular transport methods, you may be required to make vehicle modifications. Examples of this include:
- Fitting a wheelchair hoist
- Adding a ramp
- Making pedal modifications
- Fitting an easy-release handbrake
The Cost Of Travel
You may be required to travel to and from the hospital following the birth injury. If you are unable to travel there independently, resulting in you incurring financial losses, you may receive compensation for this.
If you would like more information on how birth injury compensation may support you, please contact our helpful advisors.
What Types Of Birth Injuries Can Be Claimed For?
Below, you can read some examples of the types of birth injuries you may claim compensation for if caused by medical negligence.
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy refers to a group of lifelong health conditions that affect a person’s movement and coordination. Some of the most common symptoms include:
- Delayed milestones
- Weak limbs
- Learning difficulties
- Swallowing and communicating difficulties
Although it is uncommon for newborns to show symptoms of cerebral palsy, it may result from medical negligence during birth.
For example, an obstetrician may fail to monitor a mother’s vitals during labour and fail to complete a C-section on time. As such, the baby may be deprived of oxygen, resulting in cerebral palsy.
Erb’s Palsy
Erb’s palsy is a nerve condition of the arm or shoulder causing a loss of muscle function. It typically occurs following a difficult birth when a baby’s arm or head is pulled during the delivery. Depending on the extent of the damage, it may result in temporary or permanent paralysis of the arm.
This may result from medical negligence if a medical professional uses excessive force with a vacuum device to deliver the baby, or if the medical professional did not inform the mother of the birthing risks and suggest a C-section.
Brain Injury
A mother or her baby may sustain a birth brain injury as a result of medical negligence during birth. Examples of the harm they may suffer from include:
- Temporary or permanent brain damage
- Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy – this occurs due to oxygen deprivation
- Hydrocephalus – this results from a buildup of fluid in the brain, causing the size of the baby’s head to increase
- Cephalomatoma – this is caused by a pool of blood under the baby’s skull following a difficult labour
- Periventricular leukomalacia – this results from a lack of blood flow, causing damage to the inner section of the brain
Some examples of how a brain injury may result from medical negligence during birth include:
- Asphyxia (oxygen deprivation)
- Birth trauma
- Maternal infections
- Excessive force
Broken Bones
Broken bones may result from medical negligence during the birthing process as a result of a traumatic labour. Such injuries commonly happen to the baby’s:
- Clacivle
- Skull
- Neck
- Femur – thigh
- Humerus – upper arm
As a baby’s bones are fragile, it is important for a medical professional to avoid causing such damage. If they fail to do so, their bones may become broken.
For example, a medical professional may not have known the baby was breeched during labour as they failed to complete an ultrasound. As such, they used excessive force to deliver the baby without the use of a vacuum, as one was not prepared. This may result in the baby sustaining a femur fracture.
Lack Of Oxygen
Oxygen deprivation is one of the most common injuries caused by medical negligence during birth. It often results in a mother or baby suffering from:
- Brain damage or paralysis
- Cerebral palsy
- Hemorrhage
- Unrecognised cardiovascular problems
A lack of oxygen is sometimes caused by birth medical negligence if the medical professionals fail to:
- Monitor the baby or the mother
- Control complications
- Complete a medical background check
- Explain potential complications
- Suggest the safest form of birth
If you or your child suffered from a birth injury, please contact our helpful advisors to find out if you are entitled to compensation.
How Can I Prove A Birth Injury Claim?
To prove that a birth injury was caused by the negligent conduct of a medical professional, you must obtain evidence that illustrates this. This is a very important aspect of the claims process, as the more evidence you have, the greater the chance you will have of your claim being successful.
Some examples of the types of evidence that may support a birth injury claim include:
- Copies of your medical reports that state any previous medical conditions
- Copies of prescriptions or medical scans, such as ultrasounds or CT scans
- Photographs of the harm, such as a broken bone
- A copy of your birth plan, if one was created
- Copies of antenatal and postnatal records
- Copies of complaints you made regarding the medical negligence
- Copies of correspondence with the medical professional, such as letters
- The contact details of anyone who witnessed the medical negligence
Understandably, experiencing a birth injury may bring you a lot of distress. Therefore, if you are unable to find evidence to support your claim, our panel of solicitors may use their specialist skills to obtain it.
To learn more about how to prove a birth injury claim, you may contact our helpful advisors, who can discuss this further with you.
Is There A Time Limit To Claiming For Birth Injuries?
There is a 3-year time limit for starting a birth injury claim. This typically begins on:
- The date the claimant suffered from the medical negligence or;
- The date the claimant gained knowledge of the medical negligence
The time limit is a requirement of the Limitation Act 1980 and applies to the majority of medical negligence claims. However, as everyone’s circumstances are different, there are some exceptions to the time limit when it may be paused, such as:
- If the claimant is a minor. Those under the age of 18 cannot start a claim, so the 3-year time limit will commence on their 18th birthday.
- If the claimant lacks mental capacity. If the claimant cannot independently claim, the time limit is indefinitely frozen unless they regain it.
If the time limit on a birth injury claim is paused, a litigation friend may start a claim on behalf of the claimant.
Our advisors may help you determine whether you are within the claims time limit. So, if you need help with this, please do not hesitate to contact them.
Can I Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Yes, if you satisfy the medical negligence eligibility criteria. You may instruct a solicitor from our panel to start a birth injury compensation claim on a No Win No Fee basis if you sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). The key benefit of this is that you will not be required to pay any upfront costs for the work your solicitor completes on your claim.
If your claim is successful, a small success fee that is legally capped will be taken by your solicitor from the compensation you are awarded. If your claim is not successful, you will not pay this.
At Public Interest Lawyers, we pride ourselves on our excellent standard of customer service. To illustrate this, our advisors are available 24/7 to answer any of your questions, and our panel of solicitors can provide legal expertise and support in helping you claim the compensation you deserve for your birth injury.
Contact Our Panel Of Solicitors
If you have any questions regarding birth injury claims or would like to start yours today, please contact our helpful advisors by:
- Visiting our ‘contact us’ page
- Calling our advisors on 0800 408 7825
- Making a free enquiry online
More Information
If you would like more information on birth injuries or medical negligence claims, please read the following guides.
- Access our FAQ page on medical negligence claims
- Find out how to sue a doctor for negligence
- Learn how NHS negligence compensation is calculated
- Find Out About Making Cerebral Palsy Claims
References:
- Find out if you are eligible for statutory sick pay, GOV.UK
- Read about the NHS program to reduce brain injuries during childbirth, GOV.UK
- Access information on NHS resolutions, NHS.UK
Thank you for taking the time to read this guide, which explains the birth injury claims process. We hope that you found this helpful.