Birth Injury To Mother Claims – How Much Can I Claim?

By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 2nd January 2024. Welcome to our guide on making birth injury to mother claims. In this guide, we will look at birth injuries to mothers, such as those caused by negligent stitching after birth, and see how much you could claim with a birth injury compensation calculator.

Childbirth is one of the most important medical procedures. It involves many parties and many medical professionals. As jubilant and as vital a moment as it can be, there remains the possibility that an injury or an accident may occur. If you have been injured or have been the victim of an accident during childbirth, this guide can provide you with legal insight into what you should do next.

We will cover many aspects of the law surrounding childbirth, sharing information and knowledge which we have accumulated over many years in the legal world. If you have any questions which remain unanswered, you can always get in touch with our team. We’re happy to help you learn more about your right to claim compensation.

birth injury to mother claims

Select a section:

1. Birth Injury Claims In The UK – Compensation Examples
2. Birth Injury To Mother Compensation – When Could You Claim?
3. Birth Injury To Mother – Time Limit For Claiming
4. What To Do If You Have Suffered A Birth Injury As A Mother
5. No Win No Fee Birth Injury To Mother Claims
6. Helpful Links

Birth Injury Claims In The UK – Compensation Examples

In this section, we look at potential brackets of compensation for injuries that a mother could sustain due to negligent treatment during birth. As mentioned, compensation for the pain and suffering that an injury has caused is known as general damages. This is what can be seen in the table below. We’ve also included an example of how compensation could be awarded if you suffer multiple severe injuries, including nerve damage and are also claiming for incurred expenses.

The information comes from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). While there is no singular source used to value birth injury claims in all the UK – as compensation is awarded on a case-by-case basis – legal professionals in England and Wales can consult the JCG.

On top of general damages, compensation for a birth injury medical negligence claim could also include special damages. This is where you could be able to claim back compensation for the financial costs and losses. This could include care costs, medical bills or loss of earnings. Any financial losses caused by an injury could be claimed back in special damages.

You will need to provide evidence that supports the amount you are claiming back in special damages. This could include receipts, payslips, bank statements and invoices. Please reach out to an adviser to discuss what can constitute as negligent treatment that caused a birth injury to a mother, and the compensation you could be able to claim.

Birth Injury To Mother Compensation – When Could You Claim?

When you seek medical attention, including for pregnancy and giving birth, whether from a private healthcare provider or the NHS, you are automatically owed a duty of care. This means that you should be provided with a minimum standard of care by the doctors and midwives involved in your care as well as any other staff members involved in your medical treatment.

If you suffered a birth injury that could have been avoided had your medical provider given you the correct standard of care, you could recover compensation.

In order to have a valid birth injury to the mother compensation claim, you must be able to meet the medical negligence claiming criteria. This is:

1. A medical professional owed you a duty of care.
2. They breached this duty of care.
3. As a result of this breach, you suffered harm.

If you would like to discuss the eligibility criteria for making birth injury claims, contact our advisory team. Additionally, if you meet the criteria to claim compensation for birth injury negligence, you could be connected to one of our specialist birth trauma solicitors. They can also help answer any questions you may have about making a claim on behalf of your baby if they suffered an injury during birth.

Serious conditions that may be life altering could occur due to birth injuries.

Birth Injury To Mother – Time Limit For Claiming

If you have valid grounds to claim for a birth injury, then you should be aware that there is a time limit for starting this process. As set out by the Limitation Act 1980, there is generally a three-year time limit for starting a medical negligence claim.

Depending on the circumstances, this time limit starts from either the date the medical negligence occurred or the date of knowledge. The latter means when you obtained knowledge that you suffered avoidable harm as a result of a medical professional breaching the duty of care they owed you.

If the injured party was under the age of 18 at the time they gave birth, then the limitation period for starting a claim will be suspended until the party’s 18th birthday. A claim could be made on the injured party’s behalf by a court-appointed litigation friend before this date. However, if this does not happen, then the injured party will have three years to start their own claim once they reach the age of 18.

If you would like to ask questions about claiming for birth injuries to a mother, you can contact our team of advisors online or on the phone today.

Birth injury cases must be filed within the relevant limitation period.

What To Do If You Have Suffered A Birth Injury As A Mother

If you have sustained an injury as a result of giving birth, there are several steps you should take in pursuing your compensation claim. These steps include:

• Collecting evidence – It is important that you take photos of the injuries you have sustained. Take photos of the medical instrument(s) that caused the injury. After you have taken the photos of the area and the medical instrument(s) that caused the injury, get witness testimonies. The witness testimonies will prove to be extremely useful during the claiming process.
• Arrange for a medical examination – After you have acquired all the evidence you could gather, the next step requires that you seek a medical professional. If you haven’t seen a medical professional, we can arrange for you to meet one.
• Document financial losses – It is important to keep a record of all the expenses you have spent as they pertain to the injuries you have sustained. Keeping a journal of all your expense will help you later on during the claiming process as you may be able to be reimbursed for all your losses.

Following these steps will prove to be very valuable to you during the claiming process.

You must present sufficient evidence to make a birth injury claim.

No Win No Fee Birth Injury To Mother Claims

If you suffered medical negligence and are eligible to make a claim for compensation, you may wish to have the support of one of our specialist birth injury solicitors. Our birth injury solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis by offering their legal services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). 

When you make a claim with the support of a solicitor offering services on a No Win No Fee basis, they generally won’t ask you to pay any upfront or ongoing fees for their services. Additionally, if your claim fails, your No Win No Fee solicitor will not ask for a payment for the work they have provided on your case.

However, if your claim succeeds, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from your compensation award. The percentage this fee can be is capped by a legal limit.

If you were injured during childbirth, why not get in touch with one of the friendly advisors from our team? They can assess whether you may have an eligible claim, and may connect you with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors. Additionally, they could help answer any questions you may have, such as ‘How do I use a birth negligence compensation calculator?’.

To speak to a member of our advisory team about making a birth injury claim, you can:

• Call 0800 073 8804
• Fill in our claim online form and a team member will get back to you.
• Ask a question in our live chat.

One of our birth injury solicitors can support your compensation claim.

Helpful Links

• How Much Compensation For a Birth Injury?: Find out how much compensation you can claim for a birth injury also contact us for free advice and estimates.
• How to claim for Misdiagnosis compensation: Have you had a misdiagnosis that has lead to a birth injury? contact us today from free advice.
• How to make a complaint about an NHS service?: Every NHS service has a complaints procedure. We can also help you file a NHS complaint along with your negligence compensation claim.
• Hospital Negligence Claims: In our updated guide you can find the latest information on making a hospital negligence claim.
• Medical Negligence Resulting In Death: Visit this guide to understand how you can claim compensation for a loved one or family member following an incident of medical negligence resulting in death.
• Episiotomy And Perineal Tears: In this NHS guide, you can learn more about episiotomy and perineal tears

Thanks for reading our birth injury to mother claims guide.