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Birth Injury Solicitors - Birth Injury Compensation Claims for Medical Negligence at Childbirth

 

If you or your baby have suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence, call our specialist Birth Injury Solicitors now for a free, confidential, initial consultation.  We will assess your case and help you understand the options based on your unique experience. Our expert team will listen carefully to what has occurred and advise you on whether we feel you have grounds to make a Birth Injury Claim

Thankfully, due to advances in medicine and midwifery care in the UK, the risks to both mother and baby during birth have been drastically reduced and most babies are born without the need for medical intervention.

Inevitably though, there are still times when complications occur during labour, and emergency medical treatment is required to preserve the health, and sometimes the life, of both the mother and the baby. When this happens, we all rely on the experience, skills, and decisions made by the medical professionals entrusted with our care. 

If a medical professional makes an error during the birth of your child, it can have devastating consequences - both for the life of your child and your own life.

Unfortunately, no amount of compensation can reverse the damage caused, but a successful Birth Injury Claim can provide the financial support and care provision, to help make life as comfortable and stress-free as possible, no matter how serious the injury is. You deserve every element of help, support and treatment available to you and your family.

It is important to have a team of experienced Birth Injury Solicitors on your side during what is a traumatic and upsetting time, and the specialists at Lanyon Bowdler have the knowledge, commitment and dedication to client care you need.

If you or your child were injured during pregnancy or childbirth, we can help you make a Birth injury Claim to give you the closure and financial support you deserve.

Cerebral palsy is the most common Birth Injury Claim, but there are many other types. We have been successful in a wide variety of childbirth injury claims including:

If you or your baby have suffered a birth injury due to negligence, call our medical negligence solicitors now for a free, confidential, initial consultation.  We will assess your case and help you understand the options based on your unique experience.

What is Childbirth Medical Negligence?

Medical negligence in childbirth means that the expected standards of care were not met, and mistakes were made that should not have happened.

This could be anything from failing to give the appropriate treatment at the right time, failing to carry out tests quickly enough during pregnancy, misinterpreting scans, misdiagnosis, to failure to act upon reduced foetal movements and failure to act when a mother’s blood pressure has been at dangerous levels.

Birth negligence can have serious physical consequences and a huge psychological impact on all involved.  In the more serious cases, it can impact all aspects of a family’s life forever.

Our team of specialist Birth Injury Solicitors are here to listen, to get your questions answered and to provide all the support you need to make these difficult days that little bit easier.
 

Time Limits for Birth Injury Claims

Is there a time limit for making a birth injury claim?

In general, the time limit for bringing a personal injury claim is three years from the date of the injury or the 'date of knowledge' of the injury (to cover situations where the impacts surface at a future time).   

However, if a child sustains an injury at birth the time limit will often expire on their 21st birthday unless the child never gains mental capacity.  In which case the time limits do not apply. 

No matter what these general rules say, it is always advisable to seek the advice of an experienced professional who understands all of the technical nuances.  There may be important factors in your case that could prove vital to a successful outcome that may be missed otherwise.

Early intervention by an expert is always beneficial in complex cases like Birth Injury Compensation Claims.

Cerebral Palsy Compensation Claim

Can birth injuries cause cerebral palsy?

The most common cause of cerebral palsy is a lack of oxygen during birth, which causes progressive and irreversible brain injury. This can, unfortunately, happen due to clinical negligence, if the hospital fails to make a timely intervention in labour or makes another error resulting in a failure to provide a suitable standard of care.

There are different forms of cerebral palsy that affect a baby’s movement with differing levels of severity, and each can cause cognitive and physical impairment. There are three broad categories: spastic, athetoid and ataxic cerebral palsy.

A lot of medical care will be required by a baby suffering from cerebral palsy, so it is important to be aware of the legal options available, by contacting our cerebral palsy solicitors, if you think you might be entitled to compensation.

Shoulder Dystocia Claim

Shoulder dystocia occurs when a baby’s shoulder becomes trapped behind the mother’s pelvic bone during pregnancy. The common risk factors include maternal diabetes, a suspected large baby and a family history of shoulder dystocia.

The condition can result in shoulder paralysis (which could be permanent), a strain of the nerves running through the neck, or a broken bone or clavicle.

Sadly, some shoulder dystocia cases are due to clinical negligence and can be avoided. You could be entitled to make a birth injury compensation claim if there is any evidence of a lack of medical skill or care in your case.

Brachial Plexus Injury/Erb's Palsy Compensation Claim

Brachial plexus injury, or Erb’s palsy as it is also known, often arises due to shoulder dystocia. The brachial plexus is a series of nerves that link the spine to the shoulder, arm and hand, and damage to those nerves during birth can result in a brachial plexus birth injury.

Symptoms can include a lack of muscle control in the arm, hand or wrist, a lack of feeling in the arm or hand, or even a paralysed arm. A brachial plexus injury can be temporary but is often permanent.

Many injuries happen at birth when the baby's shoulders have become impacted and the brachial plexus nerves are stretched or torn.

If medical professionals failed to reduce the risk of a potential birth injury, it can be a case of medical negligence.

The Legal 500 & Chambers UK Recommendations

The Medical Negligence department is recognised in Tier One for the West Midlands in the 2023 edition of The Legal 500, which states 'The highly experienced team has substantial expertise in a variety of catastrophic injury cases, also including amputations and fatal claims, and continues its key engagement in a large number of birth injury cases involving the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS trusts.' A testimonial reads: 'This is a very talented team that punches well above its weight in the market. Although it is a regional firm, its work is high quality and on a par with major London players.'

The Chambers UK 2023 ranks the department in Band One, and says we are an 'impressive practice group with a growing presence across the West Midlands. The team offers specialist advice across the full gamut of clinical negligence mandates, with particular experience in cases of surgical error, delayed diagnosis and failure to supervise those at risk of suicide. The firm is additionally skilled in cases relating to post-surgical negligence, brain injury and fatal claims. 

Lanyon Bowdler Clinical Negligence Team Win 'Team of the Year' in Personal Injury Awards 2018

Lanyon Bowdler won the Clinical Negligence Team of the Year title at the Eclipse Proclaim Personal Injury Awards in Manchester, beating off competition from across the UK.

Kay Kelly, former head and now consultant for the team said: “This is absolutely wonderful news and is a fitting tribute to the expertise and dedication of our clinical negligence lawyers.

“Clinical negligence is a particularly sensitive area of law which makes a tremendous difference to people’s lives. A successful claim can be vital for the person’s recovery and future quality of life, so to be recognised as being the best team in the country for our work means a great deal.”

 

 

The team is both proud and delighted to have won this award. The winning video submission can be viewed below.

 

You can view the highlights from The Eclipse Proclaim Personal Injury Awards 2018 here.

 

Contact Lanyon Bowdler's Birth Injury Solicitors

At Lanyon Bowdler, we take pride in being a friendly and approachable law firm, so please get in touch if you have been affected by a birth injury. Our team of specialist Birth Injury Lawyers are part of our award-winning medical negligence team, we will be happy to talk you through the process of filing a compensation claim.

If you think you or a family member has been treated negligently by a hospital or medical staff during pregnancy or childbirth, which has resulted in injuries to the child or mother, then it is likely you are entitled to make a Medical Negligence Claim. Give us a call or complete our online enquiry form, to see how our team can help you get the justice and compensation you deserve. There is no obligation on you or any charges for our initial assessment. 

By choosing Lanyon Bowdler for your Birth Injury Medical Negligence Claim, you can rest assured that you have the best legal expertise on your team. Lanyon Bowdler's Medical Negligence team is widely acclaimed and recognised as one of the best clinical negligence departments in the country. We are committed to providing exceptional levels of client care and will work closely and considerately with you to help find the best outcomes and help to get your life back on track.

We have offices in Shrewsbury, Bromyard, Conwy, Hereford, Ludlow, Oswestry, and Telford, so are able to act for clients all over Shropshire, Herefordshire, Mid and North Wales and across the Midlands (including Wolverhampton & Birmingham). As a leading UK full-service law firm, we can represent you wherever you live in the UK.

Testimonials

Every step of the way you have cared, you have listened, you have supported and you have fought for us. And you have done all this in the most professional and dignified manner. 

- Mr & Mrs XB

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