Birth Injury Solicitors – Clinical Negligence Claims
This guide will explain how birth injury solicitors could assist you during a medical negligence claim. Some of the subjects we will explore include time limits that may affect when this type of claim can be made and evidence that could support your case. We will also provide information about how medical negligence compensation payouts are calculated.
Medical Negligence Birth Injury Solicitors
All medical practitioners owe their patients a duty of care, which means they must deliver an adequate level of care. Medical negligence occurs when a practitioner provides the patient with substandard care and, as a result, causes unnecessary or avoidable harm. If you or your child suffered due to medical negligence during childbirth, you might be eligible to make a birth injury claim.
Please contact Legal Expert today to see if you’re eligible to begin a birth injury claim. If you have legitimate grounds to claim compensation, our team may be able to pass your details onto one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.
- Call 0800 073 8804
- See if you can claim online
- Use our Live Support widget to speak to an advisor
Choose A Topic
- What Are Birth Injury Solicitors?
- Causes Of Birth Injuries
- Time Limits For Birth Injury Claims
- How To Claim With Birth Injury Solicitors
- Birth Injury Compensation Payout Examples
- Contact Our Birth Injury Solicitors Today
What Are Birth Injury Solicitors?
It is possible for injuries to occur during labour and birth. However, birth injury to a mother or their baby is only considered medical negligence if the harm was avoidable or unnecessary and happened because a healthcare professional breached the duty of care they owe to their patients.
Medical negligence cases can be complex and difficult claims to pursue as they combine both law and medicine, which is why having a medical negligence solicitor represent your case can be advantageous. Opting not only for a solicitor specialising in medical negligence is important, but you can go one step further and appoint a birth injury solicitor. They will have the knowledge and experience to ensure that the case is filed appropriately to achieve maximum results.
Please contact Legal Expert if you have evidence showing you or your baby experienced medical negligence while giving birth. Our advisers may be able to pass your details on to our experienced birth injury solicitors.
Causes Of Birth Injuries
Below we’ve included some examples of birth injuries that could occur due to medical negligence. Contact our advisers if you’d like to discuss the process behind making birth injury claims.
Birth Injuries To Babies
If a doctor, nurse or midwife uses excessive force or fails to spot a complication during birth, an infant could suffer avoidable or unnecessary harm such as:
- Cerebral palsy, a condition the NHS states can occur before, during or soon after birth
- Epilepsy, which can result after a severe head or brain injury
- Foetal brain damage, which could occur due to umbilical cord complications such as umbilical cord prolapse
Birth Injuries To Mothers
Additionally, the mother could experience negligent harm if a medical professional breaches their duty of care. To illustrate, this could include:
- A negligent performed C-section means the bowel is perforated.
- A hospital infection that results from being inadequately stitched closed after a birth incision
- A broken bone, such as a fractured pelvis, occurs because a doctor uses forceps incorrectly.
If you have questions about your eligibility to claim for medical negligence, contact our team of advisers. They can provide information about the services offered by birth injury solicitors.
Time Limits For Birth Injury Claims
According to the Limitation Act 1980, you have three years to begin a medical negligence claim, starting from:
- The date medical negligence occurred.
- The date you realised you were harmed by medical negligence which is known as your date of knowledge.
There are some exceptions to these time limits. For instance, if a baby is injured during childbirth due to medical negligence, they have three years to begin a claim from when they turn 18. In the meantime, a court-appointed litigation friend could act on their behalf and begin the proceedings. Suppose the claimant lacks the mental capacity to pursue a claim; the time limit is frozen. During this time limit suspension, a litigation friend can also make a claim on their behalf.
Contact our team today if you have questions about the services offered by birth injury solicitors.
How To Claim With Birth Injury Solicitors
To claim for medical negligence, you must provide evidence showing how a healthcare professional failed to provide the correct level of care. Birth injury solicitors can help you prove medical negligence by helping you collect:
- Medical records
- A diary that details the symptoms you or your child experience
- Records of your financial losses
Why Claim With Legal Expert’s Birth Injury Solicitors?
Our team can offer you a free consultation about the merits of your potential claim. If one of our advisers feels your claim is valid, they may put you in contact with one of our birth injury solicitors.
Our medical negligence solicitors have years of experience dealing with all kinds of different clinical negligence cases and have the knowledge and expertise to ensure that your case is packed with evidence and expert opinion that backs up your claim.
We offer our services nationwide and the team is available 24/7, so contact us today.
Birth Injury Compensation Payout Examples
If your or your child’s medical negligence claim for a birth injury succeeds, the payout could include up to two heads of claim. The first is called general damages, which is intended to compensate you or your child for the negligent harm experienced.
Solicitors typically use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them value this particular head of claim. We have used the most up-to-date version of the JCG to create this table, which may help you understand what your claim could be worth in terms of general damages.
| Type Of Injury | About The Injury And Severity | Guidelines On Payouts |
|---|---|---|
| Head Or Brain Injury | Very Severe (a) – May be some ability to follow basic commands, though award will consider degree of insight, life expectancy, and other criteria. | £282,010 to £403,990 |
| Head Or Brain Injury | Moderately Severe (b) – The person will be seriously disabled and substantially reliant on other people. | £219,070 to £282,010 |
| Head Or Brain Injury | Moderate (c) (i) – Injuries which cause moderate to severe intellectual deficit and could result in a significant risk of epilepsy. | £150,110 to £219,070 |
| Head or Brain Injury | Moderate (c) (ii) – Injuries which cause modest to moderate intellectual deficit and could result in small risk of epilepsy. | £90,720 to £150,110 |
| Injuries Involving Paralysis | Paraplegia (b) – Award considers factors such as the risk of increasing paralysis, presence and extent of pain, and other factors. | £219,070 to £284,260 |
| Other Arm Injuries | Severe (a) – Injuries which are not serious enough to lead to amputation. This could be a brachial plexus injury. | £96,160 to £130,930 |
| Female Reproductive System Injury | (a) – Infertility due to illness or injury. There is sexual dysfunction and severe depression as well as pain and scarring. | £114,900 to £170,280 |
| Female Reproductive System Injury | (b) A women who has children or who would not have them now due to age with sexual dysfunction which is likely to be permanent. | £43,010 to £102,100 |
| Hip Or Pelvic Injury | Severe (a) (i) – Extensive bone fractures as well as lower back joint dislocation and a ruptured bladder. | £78,400 – £130,930 |
| Hip Or Pelvic Injury | Severe (a) (ii) – Hip or pelvic injuries which are only a bit less severe than the category above but with distinguishing features, such as fractures involving both ischial and pubic rami. | £61,910 to £78,400 |
The JCG is only intended as a guide, so please use this table accordingly.
Special Damages
Successful medical negligence claims can also benefit from special damages, which is a second head of claim that can be awarded in addition to general damages. Special damages are intended as a way for you to recoup financial losses caused by the negligent harm you experienced. For instance, special damages could help you reclaim:
- Loss of income, past and future
- The cost of specific medical treatments needed for rehabilitation
- Alternate travel costs; for example, if you can no longer drive your car
This is not an exhaustive list. Speak to our advisers to learn more about special damages.
Contact Our Birth Injury Solicitors Today
Though you don’t need a lawyer to claim for medical negligence, it could be worth seeking an experienced solicitor who can use their knowledge to help with your case.
Our solicitors may offer you a particular kind of No Win No Fee agreement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). By agreeing to the terms of a CFA, you generally wouldn’t have to pay for the solicitor’s services if your claim fails. Instead, they take a success fee at the end of the claim, but only if it succeeds.
This fee is legislatively capped, so you always receive the majority of your award.
If you still have questions about claiming for medical negligence, contact our advisers. They can provide you with a free consultation that you can use to get the information you may want. Additionally, there is no obligation to continue using our services afterwards. Find out more by contacting Legal Expert:
- Call our team on 0800 073 8804
- See if you can claim online
- Alternatively, you can use the Advice widget to ask a question
Related Medical Negligence Claims
These guides may be helpful:
Hospital Negligence Claims – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?
Midwife Negligence Leading To A Birth Injury Claims Guide
How Much Compensation For Medical Negligence Resulting In Death?
Additional resources:
Good Medical Practice – Guidance from the General Medical Council (GMC) about doctors’ ethical standards.
Nursing And Midwifery Council (NMC) – Resource from the NMC about the code of conduct for nurses, midwives, and nursing associates
NHS Constitution For England – Government resource about the rights of patients, staff and members of the public
We appreciate you taking the time to read our guide to using birth injury solicitors to make a claim. If you still have questions, reach us using the options provided above.
