Claiming medical negligence as a result of a birth trauma can be a very distressing time, but if your claim is successful, you will receive not only the best, high quality care for your child, but also compensation and care for yourself.
In the UK, we're lucky enough to have a brilliant national healthcare service and complications during childbirth are rare due to the excellent care our midwives give. Unfortunately, the occasional human errors do occur and these can lead to complications.
Women need to be monitored throughout their pregnancies, especially through the later stages, and if you aren't monitored thoroughly, complications can arise that can be potentially very harmful to you or your baby. Here are some of the conditions that can occur from medical negligence through childbirth:
Pre-eclampsia
As mentioned above, if you aren't monitored thoroughly throughout your pregnancy, this could lead to pre-eclampsia (a build up of protein levels in the urine), which can result in seizures and liver complications amongst other life-threatening problems.
Fractures
Fractures can occur when the correct medical standards and procedures are not adhered to. Fractures can be dangerous, especially those to a baby's skull, which is very delicate during a newborn's first year.
Umbilical cord complications
The umbilical cord supplies oxygen to your baby throughout the pregnancy and if it becomes compressed during childbirth, the oxygen supply to the baby will be cut off, sometimes leading to brain damage. In some cases, if the labour isn't monitored correctly, the umbilical cord can become trapped around a baby's neck - trapping its oxygen supply.
Neonatal conditions
Immediately after birth, babies are very vulnerable to a number of neonatal diseases and this is why they must receive the correct aftercare treatment by midwives, doctors or nurses. If you feel your baby's condition worsened because of a doctor error during aftercare, and you have the evidence to prove it, you are more than likely entitled to make a claim.
Misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis
Misdiagnosis or a delay in diagnosis can be harmful to both mother and baby. For example, if an ectopic pregnancy is not discovered through the correct monitoring procedure, this can be very dangerous for the mother and in worst case scenarios can be life-threatening. Most ectopic pregnancies occur when the fertilised egg implants itself outside the womb (often in the fallopian tube). In most cases, ectopic pregnancies are diagnosed early and the pregnancy can be ended safely through the correct surgery. If your ectopic pregnancy is not diagnosed until later in the pregnancy, it can cause you serious harm. If the ectopic pregnancy could have been discovered sooner, this would be classed a late diagnosis and medical negligence.
Forceps delivery complications
When a baby becomes stressed during delivery, assistance might be needed to help deliver it, usually this involves the intervention of forceps. Trained medical professionals are experts at using tools like forceps but unfortunately, mistakes can happen. Misuse of forceps can cause scarring to the baby's head and damage to the nerves causing the baby's face to droop slightly at one side. If your baby has been injured as a result of forceps misuse, you might be entitled to compensation.
These are a few of the problems that occur during childbirth, and although our NHS system is professional and the majority of deliveries are a success, mistakes do happen, and if they do, you will want to be compensated for your difficult time. Make sure you find a medical negligence lawyer who is fully-qualified and a specialist in their field, they will be able to tell you straight away if you have a claim and will give you the necessary guidance. Most companies will be able to help you out with counselling throughout your claim as a traumatic birth can be a very stressful period for all of the family involved.
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