Pages On: Birth Injury

Plans to improve maternity care after 124,000 reported incidents

Posted: 15 March 2016

Posted in: Birth Injury, Medical Negligence, NHS Claims

A report published by NHS England has called on staff in maternity units to learn from mistakes that have been identified by auditors, with a view to improving care provided in the units. It was found that over 124,000 reports of incidents in maternity units were submitted in 2015. The figures reveal an average of around 340 mistakes were being made daily in maternity units. These include incorrect epidurals being administered, foetal heartbeats not being monitored correctly or caesareans being carried out too late in cases of emergency deliveries. It was found that 351…

Death of newborn caused by paramedic failings

Posted: 16 February 2016

Posted in: Birth Injury, Medical Negligence, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Worcestershire Hospitals Trust has recorded the death of a newborn baby as a serious incident following paramedics taking the child to Accident and Emergency at Worcestershire Royal instead of the maternity unit. The crew had been told to take the baby to the maternity unit where a full paediatric resuscitation team would be available, however it was decided that the infant should be taken to A&E. This decision was made as taking the baby to maternity would have meant wheeling the child through the main hospital whilst performing heart massage.  Ambulance…

NHS negligence responsible for baby 1300 deaths

Posted: 29 June 2015

Posted in: Birth Injury, Medical Negligence, NHS Claims, Wrongful & Accidental Death

Official figures have revealed that around 1,300 babies were injured or killed as a result of medical negligence within the NHS last year. Medical staff errors made during birth, which led to injury or death, cost the NHS £1b last year alone. Figures showed that one in four claims made against the NHS were successful, with the largest claims going to babies left brain damaged as a result of negligence. Mervi Jokinen from the Royal College of Midwives said that more should be done to protect mothers and children. She…

£8million payout after 7-year legal battle for brain damaged baby

Posted: 24 June 2015

Posted in: Birth Injury, Head and Brain Injuries, Medical Negligence

The family of a seven-year-old boy who suffered serious brain damage as a baby have finally won compensation following a 7-year legal battle. The child, who remains anonymous, contracted jaundice as a baby. Medical staff at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in south-east London, however, failed to recognise the symptoms, allowing it to spread and develop into the rare illness kernicterus. Kernicterus is an illness that affects less than one in every 100,000 babies in Britain, caused by untreated jaundice. It can cause severe brain damage, and even death. It…

Multimillion-pound payout to brain damaged siblings

Posted: 14 April 2015

Posted in: Birth Injury, Head and Brain Injuries, Medical Negligence

Following serious errors in the delivery of brother and sister Natasha and Patrick Jackson by the Sharoe Green Hospital in Preston, an “unprecedented” compensation payout of around £13m has been made. Natasha, 23, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a result of errors made during her delivery. She has been awarded £7m. Her brother Patrick, 22, received a £6m payout in 2010 for the same condition, also caused by errors at the same hospital. Patrick was diagnosed with the condition aged 18 months. Their mother, Paula McKay described how she was “devastated” to learn…

Disabled teen wins £8million from birth injury claim

Posted: 29 December 2014

Posted in: Birth Injury, Medical Negligence

A teenager that was left severely disabled following injuries as a baby is to receive £8million in compensation. The teenage boy from Belfast had been admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast shortly after his birth because of an infection. Because hospital staff failed to treat the infection adequately, he suffered spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy. On top of this, he also developed epilepsy and serious learning difficulties. He now requires around-the-clock specialist care. The payout was agreed at the city’s High Court at the beginning of the month. It is the largest…

Mother awarded £2.25m compensation for son's cerebral palsy

Posted: 9 October 2014

Posted in: Birth Injury, Head and Brain Injuries, Medical Negligence

After a woman’s son was born prematurely after she was fitted with a contraceptive device during pregnancy, she has been awarded £2.25 million in compensation. Cian Bowen, now seven-years-old, was born with severe brain damage and now suffers with cerebral palsy even though his intellect is still intact. Ms Hughes’s case arose from the admitted negligence of the doctor who fitted her with an intrauterine device (IUD) or coil in March 2007 while she was fourteen weeks pregnant. After she was fitted with the contraceptive device she suffered from bleeding and…

£12 million to parents of boy disabled at birth by medical negligence

Posted: 17 June 2014

Posted in: Birth Injury, Medical Negligence

A seven-year-old boy was awarded a payout of £12 million at London’s High Court on Thursday after he was left severly disabled when doctors failed to recognise his abnormal heartbeat at birth. Toby Hart was born at Friarage Hospital in Northallerton in October 2006, but now requires 24-hour care following failings at birth. He has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, a severe learning disability, and has been registered blind. Toby was born 25 minutes later than he should have been, and his brain was starved of oxygen as a result.…

£4.5m payout to 10-year-old for brain injury at birth

Posted: 31 January 2014

Posted in: Birth Injury, Head and Brain Injuries, Medical Negligence

Colchester Hospital has agreed to payout £4.5m to a young girl who suffered a “catastrophic brain injury” shortly after being born at the hospital. It was heard at The High Court that numerous mistakes were made during Samantha Singleton-Parkes’s birth in December 2003. The young girl now suffers from cerebral palsy and will spend the rest of her life requiring around the clock care. Samantha, who now lives with her family in Brightlingsea in Essex, is due to receive a lump sum and annual payments. Even though the accident happened 10 years…

Are Shropshire’s maternity services safe?

Posted: 6 December 2013

Posted in: Birth Injury, Medical Negligence

After a commissioned report deemed Shropshire’s maternity services “safe” following the death of a baby in 2009, her parents still believe that this is not the case. Kate Stanton-Davies died shortly after being born with anaemia in Ludlow Community Hospital and was transferred to Birmingham’s Heartlands Hospital before she died. Rhiannon Stanton-Davies argues that the review was not thorough enough, and that she feels that “no lessons have been learnt” from the accident. An inquest into the death of baby Kate found that a haemorrhage had occurred “at least a…

Birth Injury Claims

Posted in: Birth Injury, Medical Negligence, Uncategorised

The birth of a child is a special time, but can be ruined by the negligence of the hospital and / or a medical professional. If this results in harm to the baby and / or the mother, then you could be entitled to bring a claim for compensation with the assistance of a birth injury claims solicitor. Whilst some complications are unavoidable, others are not. Medical professionals have a duty of care to ensure that their standards meet that of other reasonable medical professionals. If the level of care…