If you or your child suffered a birth injury during labour, you might be wondering how to sue the hospital responsible for this. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about birth injury claims: we’ll discuss what a birth injury is, how negligence can occur, and what you need to do to make a claim.
Then, we’ll talk about evidence and the importance of proving your birth injury compensation claim. This is one of the most important steps in the claims process, and we talk about how a solicitor from our panel could help you. Then, we discuss compensation and cover everything you need to know about what your potential payout could be made up of.
Finally, we’ll explore the many benefits of making a medical negligence claim with the help of a No Win No Fee solicitor. Our panel of birth injury solicitors have years of experience in birth injury claims, and they are here to help.
Contact Us
Our team of friendly advisors are here to help. If you have any questions, or if you’re ready to get started on your birth injury claim, get in touch by:
- Calling us on 0800 408 7827
- Using the live chat feature
- Contacting us online
Browse Our Guide
- What Is A Birth Injury?
- What Are Birth Injury Claims?
- How Could Birth Injuries Be Caused By Negligence?
- What Evidence Could Be Used In Birth Injury Claims?
- Is There A Time Limit For Making A Birth Injury Claim?
- How Much Compensation For A Birth Injury?
- Can I Claim For Birth Injuries On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Read More About Claiming For Medical Negligence
What Is A Birth Injury?
A birth injury occurs when either the mother or the child is injured during labour. Some common examples of birth injuries can include:
- Brachial palsy: This happens when the baby’s brachial plexus is injured, causing nerve damage and swelling injuries to the shoulders and arms.
- Facial paralysis: This occurs when the facial nerves are damaged during labour, and can sometimes require surgery to correct.
- Fractures: These can occur to both mother and baby; in children, it’s often seen in the shoulders and arms during labour. In mothers, fractures can occur in the pelvis.
- Cerebral palsy: This is a serious, lifelong condition that can occur when the baby’s brain is injured during labour.
- Post-partum haemorrhage: Haemorrhaging occurs when the mother rapidly loses a large amount of blood, either during or after the birth.
- Epidural injuries: An epidural is a form of pain control that is administered through a catheter in the spine. Complications of an epidural can include permanent nerve damage and infection.
Keep reading to find out about the criteria for birth injury claims, or get in touch with our team today to get started.
What Are Birth Injury Claims?
To make a birth injury claim, you need to prove that medical negligence occurred. This means that:
- A medical professional owed a duty of care.
- They breached this duty.
- Unnecessary harm was suffered to you or your baby because of this.
When you are being treated by a medical professional, they owe you a duty of care. They need to provide treatment that meets a minimum standard and avoid causing unnecessary harm. Different fields will have different expectations when it comes to upholding this duty; for example, the General Medical Council (GMC) offers guidance and standard advice for doctors.
So, if you or your baby suffered an injury during labour due to a medical professional failing to adhere to this duty, a medical negligence claim could be made.
Contact our team today to ask any questions you may have about the birth injury claims process.
How Could Birth Injuries Be Caused By Negligence?
As we discussed above, all birth injury claims are made on the basis of medical negligence. But how could the negligent actions of a doctor or medical professional cause birth injuries?
- Epidural negligence: One example of this can include if a nurse re-uses a dirty needle to insert your catheter, which causes you to get an infection. This can result in sepsis, which is a serious and life-threatening injury.
- Brain damage: Your doctor uses forceps during birth but uses them incorrectly. This causes your baby to suffer brain damage, which is later revealed to cause cerebral palsy.
- Suffocation: While delivering your baby, the doctor is made aware that the umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck. Instead of following the correct procedure, the doctor continues trying to deliver the baby as if all is normal. This causes the child to suffer brain damage due to lack of oxygen.
In some cases, a birth injury might occur that isn’t caused by negligence. For example, you may suffer vaginal tearing during birth due to the size of the baby’s head, which is a known and accepted risk.
To find out if you can make a claim, contact our team today. Or, keep reading to learn about evidence in birth injury claims.
What Evidence Could Be Used In Birth Injury Claims?
When making a medical negligence claim, it’s essential that you have enough evidence to prove your case. This could include:
- Photographs of visible harm, like bruising or swelling.
- X-rays, blood tests, and other medical documentation that illustrates the harm you or your child suffered.
- Charts and notes that detail the steps your doctor or midwife took while treating you.
- Witness statements from a partner or someone who was in the room with you.
- A symptoms diary that illustrates how the harm you or your child has suffered has affected your life.
We understand that this can seem overwhelming, but you don’t need to do it alone. If you choose to make your claim with the help of one of the specialist birth injury solicitors from our panel, they can help you collect evidence and support your case.
Contact our team today to find out if a solicitor from our panel could help you, or keep reading to find out more about birth injury compensation claims.
Is There A Time Limit For Making A Birth Injury Claim?
You’ll generally have three years to claim for birth injuries that you suffered during labour, as per the Limitation Act 1980. This begins on the date that you suffered the injuries, and you don’t need to finish your claim within three years; you just need to start it.
However, this time limit doesn’t apply if you’re claiming on behalf of your child. In this case, you can claim on their behalf as a litigation friend. You can do this at any time up until they turn eighteen. From then, if you haven’t already started a claim on their behalf, they can make their own claim within three years of turning 18.
Get in touch today to find out if you’re within the correct time limit to make a birth injury compensation claim.
How Much Compensation For A Birth Injury?
So, how much compensation could you get for a birth injury? This depends on a number of factors, including the severity of your injuries, how they’ll affect your life, and whether or not the doctor or professional treating you admits liability.
Compensation payouts are generally made up of up to two heads. General damages, the first head, cover the pain and suffering you or you baby endured as a result of the birth injuries, and it also covers things like loss of amenity.
When professionals and the like calculate this heading, they’ll often use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) as a reference. This can be very helpful because it contains guideline compensation brackets for a number of different illnesses and injuries, which can be relevant to both babies and mothers.
You can see some examples of these in the table below, but please note that these are not guaranteed. The first entry in this table has not been taken from the JCG.
| Injury | Compensation |
|---|---|
| Severe Harm + Special Damages, e.g. medical costs and lost wages. | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Very Severe Brain Damage | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Moderately Severe Brain Damage | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Established Grand Mal Epilepsy | £124,470 to £183,190 |
| Severe Arm Injuries | £117,360 to £159,770 |
| Chest Injuries (b) | £80,240 to £122,850 |
| Severe Back Injuries (ii) | £90,510 to £107,910 |
| Severe (iii) Neck Injuries | £55,500 to £68,330 |
| Severe Shoulder Injuries | £23,430 to £58,610 |
Can I Claim For Special Damages?
Yes, in some cases, you may be able to claim for financial losses suffered due to the medical negligence under special damages. For example, if your child has cerebral palsy due to the negligent actions of a medical professional, they may need lifelong nursing care, and access to mobility aids like a wheelchair or a stairlift.
In this case, these expenses can be factored into your claim under special damages. This heading can also help cover the cost of things like:
- Prescriptions.
- Lost earnings.
- Counselling.
- Rehabilitation and private medical care.
- Childcare.
- Help with cooking and cleaning.
Get in touch with our team for more information on compensation in birth injury claims.
Can I Claim For Birth Injuries On A No Win No Fee Basis?
When you sue a hospital for birth injuries, it can seem overwhelming, and many people don’t know where to start. This is why we always recommend working with medical negligence solicitors on your case.
A solicitor can bring a number of valuable benefits to the table, including help with:
- Understanding the birth injury claims process.
- Communicating with the hospital and the courts.
- Negotiating a settlement that covers every avenue of loss.
- Preparing the claim for court, if necessary.
- Answering your questions and explaining legal terminology.
These are just a few of the helpful services that a specialist medical negligence solicitor could bring to the table. On top of all this, our panel of solicitors provide all of these services on a No Win No Fee basis.
Under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), you could access all of these services and more without having to pay a single fee for them upfront, as the claim is ongoing, or at all if the claim fails.
If it succeeds, then you’ll pay a success fee. Your solicitor will deduct this from your compensation before it’s paid out to you, but they’ll take it as a small percentage. This is capped by law.
Contact Us
Our team are here to help. If you’d like to learn more about how a solicitor from our panel, get in touch by:
- Calling us on 0800 408 7827
- Using the live chat feature
- Contacting us online
Read More About Claiming For Medical Negligence
To get more insight into medical negligence claims:
- Can you claim for a missed wrist fracture?
- Find out how to claim for an allergic reaction to penicillin.
- Learn how to claim for misdiagnosed cancer.
Or, for more resources:
- Get help from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
- Learn about cerebral palsy from the NHS.
- Advice for claimants from NHS resolution.
Thank you for reading our guide on birth injury claims. Contact our team today to see whether you may be eligible to claim compensation.