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Birth injury claims

Empathetic legal experts to support you through your birth injury claim

If a medical professional has failed to meet the standards necessary to keep you and your baby safe during childbirth, and their actions (or inaction) has had life-changing consequences or even endangered your baby’s life, you could pursue a birth injury claim for compensation.

Complications during childbirth are not uncommon. Sadly, some result in unavoidable injury to the mother, baby or both – everything that could have been done, was done. However, some could have been prevented or dealt with differently.

If your newborn suffered an injury that could have been avoided before, during or immediately after birth, you may be entitled to compensation. Our specialist birth injury claims solicitors have the expertise, experience and empathy to help you get the compensation, treatment and support you need and, importantly, the answers you deserve.

Request a free birth injury claim assessment

Call 0800 316 8892 or get in touch online to speak to a medical negligence solicitor who specialises in birth injury claims and is accredited on the Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA) and Law Society clinical negligence panels. This consultation is free and you’re under no obligation to go any further.

We will listen carefully to your experience and advise you on whether your birth injury claim is likely to be successful. We’ll also talk you through your options to fund your claim, including a ‘no win, no fee’ arrangement, where you don’t have to pay anything for our advice if your claim isn’t successful.

On this page

Types of birth brain injury claims

We have considerable experience acting for children who have suffered devastating complications that have resulted in brain injury, either during or shortly after childbirth.

For example:

  • Hypoxic brain injuries
  • Impacted head injuries
  • Delays in performing a caesarean section
  • Delayed or missed diagnosis of a bacterial infection in the mother
  • Delayed or missed diagnosis of neonatal infections such as Group B strep, sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia
  • Pre-eclampsia
  • Traumatic birth injuries to the head – such as excessive force or inappropriate use of Ventouse or forceps during assisted delivery

Birth brain injury claims can be very complex, so it’s essential to instruct a medical negligence solicitor, like Clarke Willmott, experienced in these types of cases. If the claim is successful, our priority will be to secure your child compensation to access the therapy, treatment, rehabilitation and home adaptations they need to live as comfortably and independently as possible.

Cerebral palsy compensation claims

The most common birth brain injury is cerebral palsy, which can be caused by a number of complications during pregnancy, childbirth or shortly after. When that complication can be directly attributed to negligent medical care, your child may be entitled to claim compensation.

A child born with cerebral palsy will have lifelong care needs and the impact of their needs on the parents will be life changing.

Our medical negligence solicitors have the expertise and experience of cerebral palsy claims that is crucial to your chances of success. These claims are complicated, they take a long time to investigate and value, require expert evidence and are also far more likely to be strongly defended, especially when the compensation amount is high.

Read how our specialist cerebral palsy claims solicitors have recovered significant compensation for our clients:

Legal Aid for birth brain injury claims

Clarke Willmott is one of the few firms able to obtain Legal Aid funding for birth injury claims, which reflects the depth of our expertise.

There are strict rules which govern Legal Aid and not all claims will be eligible. Your solicitor will advise you on whether your birth injury claim meets the criteria for Legal Aid.

Erb’s palsy claims

Erb’s Palsy (also known as brachial plexus palsy) refers to weakness or paralysis of arm or shoulder muscles after a complicated birth. It can be caused by negligence on the part of a healthcare professional involved in the birth.

For example:

  • Unnecessary delays in performing a caesarean section
  • Excessive force during assisted delivery
  • Not taking appropriate steps to protect mother and baby when the baby was known to be large
  • Poor management of shoulder dystocia
  • Delayed diagnosis of Erb’s Palsy following the birth

Other traumatic birth injury claims

Our specialist birth injury solicitors have also represented women and children who have sustained other injuries during a traumatic birth as a direct result of negligent care, including post-partum haemorrhage leading to hysterectomy and anal sphincter injuries.

Stillbirth and neonatal death

While medical negligence may not be the cause of a stillbirth or neonatal death, sadly there are times when failings in the care given during pregnancy, labour or birth have tragic consequences. The important thing to remember is you’re not alone. Our specialist solicitors can help you claim compensation so you can start rebuilding your life.

Injuries to mother during pregnancy or childbirth

Our specialist solicitors also provide expert and empathetic legal advice to mothers who have been harmed or injured unnecessarily during pregnancy or labour. We understand that pursuing a maternity negligence claim may be the last thing you want to do, but we can support you through the process. Making a claim can be a constructive way to get the answers and help you need, as well as helping prevent the same thing from happening again.

Birth injury compensation – why choose us?

  • Recognised medical negligence experts – accredited member of The Law Society and AvMA specialist clinical negligence panels, so you can be confident you’ll receive quality service and value for money.
  • Empathetic and understanding approach – we’ll listen to you to understand what you’ve been through and the impact it has had on you, your child and your family, so we can ensure your treatment, recovery and long-term needs are met.
  • Committed to your future – we don’t stop at seeking the right compensation for your child. We’ll also make your child gets all the support they need to help them make the best possible recovery or live the fullest life with their injury.
  • Proven record of recovering compensation – our medical negligence team has considerable experience and an excellent track record of winning birth injury compensation claims, some worth several million pounds.
  • Legal support beyond your claim – as a full-service law firm, we have solicitors with specific experience in managing large sums of compensation for minor children and adults lacking capacity, such as advice on how to invest compensation, Court of Protection deputyships and trusts.

Speak to a specialist birth injury solicitor today

If you or your baby have sustained an injury during pregnancy or childbirth you believe could have been prevented, call 0800 316 8892 or get in touch online to book a free consultation with a medical negligence solicitor who specialises in birth injury compensation claims.

What our clients say

“From the moment Kerry Fifield took on our case she demonstrated nothing but compassion, understanding and professionalism. As a family, we felt understood, listened to and supported which was imperative for us at the time.” RM

“Excellent service and very professional. Big thanks to Kerry for all her help. We saved lives and raised awareness. Couldn’t be happier and more grateful that Lily did not die for nothing.” Phil from Lincolnshire

“Kerry helped me through the claim process with genuine care, attention to detail, tenacity and good humour. There were difficult times but Kerry was our ace in the hole – it takes a lot of worry away when you know such an important matter is in such very good hands.” John

Vanessa Harris was always the most helpful person to me and my family. She handled my case with understanding for which we thank her. On the two occasions we visited your offices all the staff were kindness itself and we were made to feel welcome. Thank you for your professional but caring manner.” Eileen from Frome

“Vanessa, many thanks for all your hard work and patience to achieve such a helpful result with our complaint…5 years ago, I was in shock from the whole experience and trying to understand what had happened, and more to the point, gone wrong. I really feel that the outcome will help me draw a line over the negative things that have been so present and look more positively on the next stage of living well.”

Your birth injury questions answered

How do I make a claim?

There are numerous ways you can contact Clarke Willmott if you want to discuss your compensation claim with us. You can go through our website and access a form there and we will get back to you or you can simply telephone us, all of the numbers are available on our website and we’ll speak to you as soon as we can.

In reality, not every claim is worth pursuing – some cases are simply too complicated or expensive and have a poor chance of success. Start by seeking advice from one of our specialist medical negligence solicitors. The initial consultation is free and will help you understand whether your claim is likely to have a positive outcome for you.

How can I pay for my claim?

One of the big things that concerns people when thinking about contacting a lawyer is how much is it going to cost them. And what we can do, is we can reassure you on that at the very start because we will be looking for the best solution for you. That can include working with you to see if you’ve already got any existing insurance cover that will cover your legal costs.

The alternative and most common way that we proceed with cases is on a no win, no fee basis. Which means that  there is little or no risk to the client. They are regulated by our regulator and so you can guarantee that it will be a proper product, you’ll be given full advice at the outset so that you can decide whether you want to proceed, but financially there should be very little risk, in fact no risk to you.

It’s important to consider how you’re going to pay your legal expenses especially as the cost of pursuing a medical negligence claim can be high. However, there are funding options available that could help reduce the expense, such as an existing insurance policy covering claims of this nature, a Conditional Fee Agreement (often called ‘no win no fee’) or legal aid.

Before you embark on your claim, we will talk you through:

  • The potential cost of pursuing your medical negligence claim
  • What percentage of these costs you might get back
  • What funding options are available to you.

How much compensation could I get?

In terms of thinking about how much compensation you will get, it’s important to note that every case is different. In our jurisdiction, we have a system that’s what we call a compensatory system. The object of bringing the claim is to put you back in the same position you would have been in, as best money can, as if you’ve never had the accident. So it’s impossible to say for any given case at the outset how much money people will get.

What we will do is we will look at all sorts of things that make up the value of the claim. So if you’ve been unable to work and had a loss of earnings, we’ll calculate that. We’ll make sure that we’re getting good advice from experts as to the cost of all the equipment, prosthetics, wheelchairs and everything else that you might need. We’ll also be able to include things like the claim for costs for care and assistance, for things that you can no longer mange yourself. But as I say, every case is individually assessed, and we will look at your case on an individual basis.

Every case is different, but here are some examples of compensation awarded to our clients:

  • £8.6 million – awarded to a child with cerebral palsy resulting from negligence during birth.
  • £1.5 million – awarded to a client who suffered a stroke due to negligence following a heart bypass procedure.
  • £500,000 – awarded to a family whose child suffered brain damage after a GP negligently failed to refer them to hospital.
  • £220,000 – awarded to a client who faced a delay in the treatment and diagnosis for a malignant melanoma.

If I have a claim, how long will it take?

One thing that concerns people who are bringing a claim is how long it’s all going to take? When are they going to get their compensation.  And there is really two things to say about that. The first is this: If we can establish liability on your behalf, we can prove that someone else is at least partly to blame for your injuries, we can usually get interim payments on account of damages quite quickly so we can start to help you with financial concerns or to fund the things that you need at the earliest part of your case.

In terms of how long the whole claim will take, that is actually very dependant upon the medical position and how well you are going to recover from your injuries and when we’re going to know how well you’ve recovered from your injuries. Everybody’s injury is different. Some people can reach a final position within a matter of a few months or a year or so, other people require much more lengthy rehabilitation, perhaps a number of other medical procedures. And this is important because we will only want to try to settle your claim when we can reasonably predict the future. And in doing so, that makes sure that we get the right level of compensation for you.

Is there a time limit on making a birth injury claim?

If your birth injury claim is for your baby, you have until their 18th birthday to make a claim on their behalf. After their 18th birthday they have until their 21st birthday to make a claim themselves.

If your child is considered mentally incapable, there is no time limit to making a birth injury claim.

If your child dies due to a birth injury, you have three years from the date they passed away to make a claim.

Contact a birth injury solicitor

If you or your baby were injured during birth and you want legal advice about making a birth injury compensation claim, call us now on 0800 316 8892 or contact us online. Your initial consultation is free and you’re under no obligation to go further if you don’t want to.

Your key contacts

Kerry Fifield

Partner and Clinical Negligence Team Manager

Bristol
Kerry’s primary focus is the needs of the client and their family when pursuing a claim, taking into account that each client is an individual with specific requirements who needs to be supported in addition to the legal investigation.
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Marguarita Tyne

Head of Personal Injury & Medical Negligence

Bristol
Marguarita Tyne is a claimant clinical negligence solicitor who investigates and brings claims on behalf of patients who have been injured during the course of their medical treatment, acting mainly (but not exclusively) for brain injury claimants in high value and often complex litigation.
View profile for Marguarita Tyne >

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