Legal Overview of Birth Injury Litigation

If you decide to go down the legal route, I would suggest seeing several solicitors to see if you feel comfortable with them and have confidence in them.  Of course, it is impossible to guarantee you will find the right solicitor, but all I would say is choose a firm which has a long and good track record, and most of all, a speciality in birth injury.  I cannot stress enough how complex these cases can be and how long they take.  AvMA (Action against Medical Accidents) has advice on getting the best solicitor for your case.  See their dedicated page in my ‘Overview’ section. Traditional cases average 7-11 years, so getting started early is important.  However, you have until your child is 18 to start a case on their behalf.  If after this time the child has capacity, they can bring a case on their own behalf in the 3 years until they are 21.   If the affected person becomes aware of the negligence after the age of 21, they can bring a case but they must do so within 3 years of the date on which they first knew of the negligence.  If they lack capacity there may be some leeway around these time frames, but check with a solicitor as it’s not as simple as a normal personal injury case.

If the Early Notification Scheme take on the case and it is settled via NHS Resolution, the case may be resolved far quicker, which is how it should be.  The adversarial nature of civil law does not help parents in the slightest. 

If you just wish to discuss the birth with the medical team, PALS or your midwife will help facilitate a meeting to discuss what you feel went wrong.  You can also order a copy of your medical notes.  This can sometimes help, but often you are not given everything, and the notes may be difficult to interpret.  If you are with a solicitor, they can order the notes in full and will have an expert interpret them.  I would advise the latter course, as you will get a fuller picture.  Also it minimises the risk of some records going missing. 

For Negligence to be proven your case needs to fulfil certain criteria.

For more information see ‘principles of negligence’/Negligence Chain

To have a legal case the baby must have been harmed by the midwife/doctors act or omission.  If no harm has occurred, there will be no claim for the child.     However, it can take some time for an injury to show, such as hearing or visual issues, or learning disabilities.  

We all want maternity services to improve and for these avoidable mistakes to stop.  The number of damning reports into maternity services over the past few years is heart breaking for parents to read if they have also suffered harm, but the message is a clear one.  Mothers should be listened to and basic mistakes should not happen. 

These links will take you to the various legal areas, plus links to significant Maternity Reports.