Birth Injury Claims
Birth Injury Solicitors
If something goes wrong during childbirth, Osbornes Law can help. Our birth injury solicitors are experts in the field of medical negligence and secure multi-million-pound settlements for birth injuries that were caused by improper care.
“Stephanie Prior is the leading spokesperson on the high profile maternity scandal cases involving many NHS Trusts.”
“Her level of detail in dealing with cases is forensic.”
Birth Injuries Claims
This page will explain to you the process of bringing a claim for birth injuries caused by medical negligence. You will learn more about the birth injury lawyers at Osbornes, and why choosing experienced birth injury solicitors with the right knowledge and understanding can help get the compensation you deserve.
Birth injury compensation claims handled compassionately
At Osbornes Law, we fight hard to get birth-injured children and mothers the best care, advocacy and support. We are proud to work with charities that support injured patients and their families. These include Action Against Medical Accidents, Headway, The Brain Injury Group and Spinal Injuries Association.
Have the best birth injury claims team on your side
With nearly 50 years of experience, our expert birth injury lawyers have secured clients multi-million compensation settlements for birth-injured children and mothers. We understand the devastating effects a birth injury can have on the whole family. We can help you prove that a medical mistake happened, and secure compensation to cover the costs of any treatment, rehabilitation, and home adaptations you may need.
We specialise in serious and often complex birth injury claims including cerebral palsy, stillbirth, Erb’s Palsy claims, Spina Bifida, Miscarriage Misdiagnosis, Birth Injuries to Mothers, Group B Streptococcus Claims, and Pregnancy Negligence Claims. Working hand-in-hand with you and your child’s support team, we can help signpost you to charities, groups and medical practitioners who can provide life-changing services to support your child’s future. Our job is to make sure you have access to the best therapists and care packages to help protect your family’s quality of life.
Why Choose Osbornes Law as Your Birth Injury Solicitor
We can make a difference. Birth injury claims can be complex. For more than 40 years, our firm has specialised in complex birth injury claims, focusing our efforts on achieving life-changing compensation awards for our birth-injured clients and their families.
We are widely recognised as being at the top of our profession, achieving consistent top rankings by The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners for our reputation as specialists in this field.
We work primarily on a No Win, No Fee basis, which makes it easier for everyone to pursue their rights. If your claim is successful, we will deduct our fee from the compensation you receive at the end of your claim.
Birth Injury Lawyer FAQs
What is considered a birth injury?
A birth injury is any injury that a mother or baby suffers before, during or directly after childbirth. These injuries are relatively common. Fortunately, most are minor and heal by themselves in a few days or weeks.
Some birth injuries are more severe. They can result in long-term injury to the mother, or a child having a disability for the rest of their life.
For the birthing mother, common injuries include maternal infection, uterine rupture, haemorrhage, third and fourth-degree perineal tears, and complications caused by episiotomies and caesarean sections.
For the baby, common injuries include fractures to the skull or limbs and oxygen starvation, which can lead to conditions such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy and learning difficulties. Rarely, a child will be stillborn because of a medical mistake.
What is a birth injury claim?
A birth injury claim is a type of medical negligence claim. It arises whenever a doctor, midwife or other healthcare professional makes a mistake during pregnancy or childbirth, and that mistake causes you or the baby harm. Forms of medical negligence during childbirth include:
- Failing to monitor the pregnancy or birth properly
- Failing to spot a problem such as a prolapsed umbilical cord
- Being slow to act in a dangerous situation
- Allowing the labour to go on too long before moving to caesarean
- Misuse of tools such as forceps or vacuum extractor
- Use of unnecessary force during childbirth
- Surgical errors
To prove birth injury negligence, we work with independent medical experts to investigate what went wrong and whether the care you received fell below the acceptable standard.
You can make a birth injuries claim about both NHS and private treatment. Please contact us to establish your legal position today.
How long do you have to make a birth injury claim?
For birth injuries to the mother, you have 3 years to make a claim. In respect of a child, you have 3 years from the child’s 18th birthday, so until they turn 21.
This may seem like a lot of time. However, we recommend that you speak to us as soon as you can. There may be many costs involved in looking after a brain-injured child, including therapies, equipment and specialist education. We can help secure interim payments as early as possible in your case. These payments can be extremely helpful in providing financial support for your family, especially if you have to give up work.
What is the process for making a birth injury claim?
Birth injury claims can be complicated and they may take a long time. The legal process involves a lot of investigative work to pinpoint exactly what happened, and whether medical staff made a mistake that no competent health practitioner should have made.
It can also take a long time before the full extent of a birth injury is understood. For example, a learning disability can have a profound effect on the child, but you may not become aware of it until the child begins to move through key developmental milestones. We may need to arrange ongoing medical assessments over several months or years to understand the full extent of the injuries and their lifelong impact.
The compensation will be based on these medical reports, so it is critical that they identify the complex needs of the child.
As a first step, it is essential for families to work with a birth injuries compensation specialist who can guide and support them every step of the way. Osbornes are accredited by the Law Society, Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and Action Against Medical Accidents. Our experienced team of birth injury solicitors will care for you while fighting for the compensation you need to take the financial burden away.
How much compensation might I receive for a birth injury?
Many families ask how much birth injury compensation they’ll receive, but there is no set amount. The goal of compensation is to meet the additional financial needs of the injured child or mother, for as long as their injuries last.
All cases are different. Medical reports are an important part of the process, as they help us to understand the severity of the birth injuries and the impact they have on the child’s life.
Here are some of the things that your birth injuries lawyer will take into consideration when calculating your compensation:
- The pain and suffering caused by the injury
- The lifelong cost of medical care and rehabilitation
- The cost of any special equipment and alterations to your home
- Money lost through changes to work, for example, if you have to leave your job or reduce your hours to care for a birth-injured child
- The cost of everything your child might need in the future, such as a care provider, special education and personal equipment as your child grows
According to NHS Resolution, the average payout for birth injury is £50,000.
What is birth asphyxia?
Birth asphyxia is a result of a baby not receiving enough oxygen before, during, or right after birth. If not treated immediately to ensure that the baby receives sufficient oxygen it can lead to severe injury and can endanger life.
In mild to moderate cases, babies can fully recover. However, in serious cases where immediate treatment is not provided, birth asphyxia can cause permanent brain and organ damage or be fatal. The severity of the injury depends upon how long the baby does not get enough oxygen, the level of oxygen and how quickly the right treatment is receieved.
The most common risk factors leading to birth asphyxia are infections to the mother, multiple births, such as delivering twins, premature births, preeclampsia or eclampsia and abnormal position of the fetus during delivery.
Causes of birth asphyxia include: long and difficult deliveries, problems with the umbilical cord during delivery, the placenta separating from the womb too soon, high or low blood pressure in the mother, anemia – where the baby’s blood cells doesn’t carry enough oxygen, the baby’s airway being blocked.
Speak to us about birth injuries claims
Call us 020 7485 8811
Email us Send us an email and we’ll get back to you
Stephanie Prior is head of the clinical negligence department at Osbornes Law. She acts on a wide range of issues, including claims for brain injuries sustained at birth and delays in diagnosis. She frequently represents clients in fatal claims involving surgical error.
"Stephanie Prior is the leading spokesperson on the high profile maternity scandal cases involving many NHS Trusts."
Stephanie has developed a particularly strong reputation for her handling of birth injury claims, as well as cases concerning surgical negligence and delays in surgery.
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