Last Updated By Danielle Jordan On 17th June 2024. 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.
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?
- How Our Birth Injury Solicitors Can Help You Claim
- What Are The Causes Of Birth Injuries?
- Is There A Time Limit For Birth Injury Claims?
- Do I Need To Provide My Birth Injury Lawyer With Evidence?
- How Much Compensation Could A Birth Injury Solicitor Help Me Claim?
- 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.
How Our Birth Injury Solicitors Can Help You Claim
You may wonder what help a birth injury lawyer or solicitor could offer if you decide to claim medical negligence compensation. There are numerous benefits of having legal representation when claiming compensation.
One of our birth injury solicitors could represent your case on a No Win No Fee basis (we explain what this is later on). Advantages of having a specialist solicitor include:
- Having someone to send important documents on your behalf.
- Help with collecting evidence.
- Support through each step of the claims process.
- Ensuring that your claim is correctly valued and that all injuries and illnesses are accounted for.
- Explanations for complex legal jargon.
A specialist solicitor will also ensure that your medical negligence case is filed on time and in full while sticking to any court set deadlines.
Direct any questions about how a solicitor could help you to an advisor from our team.
What Are The 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.
Is There A Time Limit 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.
Do I Need To Provide My Birth Injury Lawyer With Evidence?
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
How Much Compensation Could A Birth Injury Solicitor Help Me Claim?
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. We’ve also included a figure in the top row to show you how compensation could be awarded for multiple injuries and special damages. This figure is not from the JCG.
| Type Of Injury | About The Injury And Severity | Guidelines On Payouts |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries or Illnesses and Related Expenses | Very Severe | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Head Or Brain Injury | Very Severe (a) | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Injuries Involving Paralysis | Paraplegia (b) | £267,340 to £346,890 |
| Female Reproductive System Injury | (a) - Infertility, sexual dysfunction and severe depression. | £140,210 to £207,260 |
| Female Reproductive System Injury | (b)Permanent sexual dysfunction. | £52,490 to £124,620 |
| Other Arm Injuries | Severe (a) | £117,360 to £159,770 |
| Hip Or Pelvic Injury | Severe (a) (i) | £95,680 to £159,770 |
| Hip Or Pelvic Injury | Severe (a) (ii) | £75,550 to £95,680 |
| Bowel | Urgency and incontinence (c) | In the region of £97,530 |
| Shoulder | Severe (a) | £23,430 to £58,610 |
The JCG is only intended as a guide, so please use this table accordingly.
What Else Can I Claim For?
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.
