Traumatic Birth Compensation

If you or your child has suffered from an injury during the birthing process in the past 3 years, then you could be eligible to claim for traumatic birth compensation.

In certain cases, you may also be able to claim compensation if a procedure was carried out without your consent, or if you weren’t informed properly of the options available to you.

If you have suffered from PTSD after the traumatic birth, a PTSD claim could also be made. However, in order to make a PTSD claim many criteria must be met, and this can be very tricky.

Birth Injury to the Mother

There are a number of different injuries that the mother may have suffered and can claim for, including;

• Abnormal uterine bleeding caused by the birth
• Fractured or broken bones caused by the birth
• Infections caused by the birth
• Pelvic injury caused by the birth
• Vaginal tears or lacerations caused by the birth

Birth Injury to the Baby

Alternatively, there is also the chance that the baby may suffer from some injury during a traumatic birth. Unfortunately, some medical issues that may occur in a child in this situation include:

• Hypoxia
• Brain damage
• Spine injuries
• Bone fractures
• Paralysis or partial paralysis
• Cerebral Palsy
• Erb’s Palsy

If it can be proven that any of these potentially life-changing injuries have occurred to the mother or to the child due to the medical negligence of an individual or institution involved in the process of the birth, then you will be able to claim traumatic birth compensation.

Our solicitors will work with you to gather all the relevant evidence and witness statements to prove that you have suffered a traumatic birth during the claims process.

When we take on your medical negligence case we will look at the 4 D’s of medical malpractice. These include:

• Duty

This refers to the duty of care that all doctors agree to uphold in their time treating patients.

• Derelict

Dereliction is the official term for when a medical professional is considered to have broken their duty of care to the patient that they are treating.

• Direct Cause

In order for a traumatic birth injury claim to be filed, it must be proved that it was the direct fault of a medical professional.

• Damages

The damages that you could win in your traumatic birth compensation will be calculated based on a number of different factors.

If your case fulfils the criteria for medical negligence, then we can help you prove that you have suffered a traumatic birth.

Because there are a wide range of injuries that could occur during the birth process, it is difficult to say exactly how long a claim could take. It is likely that your claim could take a little bit longer if you or your child have sustained substantial injuries.

There are two parts to the process of proving medical negligence. These are:

• Uncovering and proving exactly who was responsible for your injury or illness, and therefore proving liability
• Then, providing the medical evidence for exactly how the negligence has affected you physically

Using a specialist solicitor who has experience in medical negligence claims can help make this process as straightforward as possible.

If you are still in the process of recovery, it is likely that your solicitor would advise you to wait until you know the full medical prognosis of you and your child.

This is because you cannot claim any further compensation after your case is settled, even if your condition or injury gets worse. Contact us if you would like further advice in relation to this.