What are birth and pregnancy injury claims?

Pregnancy and childbirth should be one of the happiest times in your life, but often families find themselves struggling to come to terms with complications that occur during pregnancy and birth which should have been avoided. Claims can include injury to either to the Mother or to the baby or both.

Common areas of pregnancy and birth injury

Injury to the baby can include:

• Cerebral palsy: delays during delivery of a baby can cause starvation of oxygen, leading to permanent brain damage. (link to cerebral palsy page)
• Shoulder dystocia: / Erb’s palsy: mismanagement of the baby’s delivery can lead to the baby’s arms becoming trapped and can cause permanent nerve damage, which can result in lifelong deformity and disability.
• Baby loss: a doctor or midwife’s failure to act when a baby’s heart rate decreases on a CTG or failure to deliver the baby within an acceptable time, can lead to starvation of oxygen and death. Problems during pregnancy (reduced fetal movement, problems with the placenta, undiagnosed/untreated medical conditions of the mother such as pre-eclampsia, thyroid disorder and Group B Streptococcal infection) can also lead to baby loss which might have been avoidable.

Injury to the Mother can include:

• Third- and fourth-degree vaginal tears: these result in the need for remedial surgery, the development of fistulas and sometimes lifelong complications with urinary and bowel incontinence.
• Gestational Diabetes: during pregnancy, failures to carry out regular blood/urine tests can lead to a failure to diagnose and manage diabetes during pregnancy. This in turn can lead to the baby being much larger than normal, and can cause problems during delivery.
• Kidney or liver damage as a result of failing to properly manage pre-eclampsia

If you have concerns about a pregnancy or birth injury, please contact us now to arrange a free initial discussion.