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Midwife Negligence Claims
A midwife is a crucial figure during your pregnancy; offering reassurance and guidance at a time which is typically daunting for new parents. It is not uncommon for a good relationship to build between expectant parents and their midwife. The midwife is can be someone expecting parents look towards for advice and support; and can become a source of great comfort during their pregnancy journey.
Midwives usually carry out fantastic work that many parents are truly grateful for, however there are times when parents have unfortunately experienced maternity negligence as a result of the actions carried out by their midwife. These actions, or lack of action, may have resulted in causing harm or injury to the mother and/or baby.
In our experience, midwife negligence can occur before or during a childbirth. There are also mothers and babies who have received inadequate aftercare from their midwives. Birth negligence can also have a lasting effect on both the mother or baby, such as injuries or trauma being caused due to the birth being mismanaged or a lifelong genetic condition being missed.
Book A Free Consultation with a Midwife Negligence Solicitor
To arrange a free consultation with our midwife negligence claims specialists, please call, 0113 245 8549 or use our simple online enquiry form and we will get back to you within 48 hours.
What is a Midwife Negligence Claim?
As expert midwife negligence solicitors, we are here to help you with your midwife negligence claim and help you fight for the justice you deserve. Our team of specialists have experienced a range of claims relating to maternity negligence, and are therefore best placed to offer you legal support.
Some of the types of claims our experts have worked on involving midwife negligence are:
- Brain injuries at birth can be caused by a range of factors and result in conditions such as Cerebral Palsy or Erb’s Palsy . An example of how a baby could suffer these conditions is by a midwife using forceps during delivery and placing too much pressure on the newborn’s head.
- Miscarriage can unfortunately happen for many reasons. In relation to midwife negligence, we have experienced situations where mothers have not been correctly diagnosed with gestational diabetes quickly enough, which sadly resulted in a miscarriage.
- Birth defects should be identified before birth, in particular during the antenatal period where ultrasounds are performed, so that the correct treatment can begin straight away. If this process is mismanaged or the defect is not identified, this could be due to midwife negligence.
Structural birth defects are similar to the above birth defect, yet in this case a baby is born missing a body part. Therefore, it is important that this is highlighted prior to birth so that the best treatment and support can be offered to the child. If this situation is mismanaged, negligence may be attributed to the midwife.
We have also seen other areas where the actions or lack of action from a midwife has been attributed to maternity negligence, such as:
- A baby being born with a metabolic birth defect, which relates to the baby’s body chemistry and can affect their digestion of food. A condition going undiagnosed during pregnancy which affect either or both the mother and baby
- Insufficient aftercare after birth. Midwives have a duty of care when it comes to aftercare of both mother and baby. As part of this, it is important that in the first three weeks of the child’s life, a midwife monitors the health of both mother and baby, no matter if that is prior to being discharged from hospital or at home with community midwives.
Who is to Blame for Maternity Negligence and What Can You Do?
It is crucial when investigating a midwife negligence claim to establish whether negligence took place and at what stage. Undertaking a thorough investigations into the events leading up to and including the birth, our experts can determine who owed the mother and / or child a duty of care during each stage of the process, and whether this was breached due to failings in the care provided.
If it can be shown that a midwife breached their duty of care either during the pregnancy, birth, or aftercare; and this caused or made an injury worse, then it will normally be possible to pursue compensation.
Can You Make a Claim for Midwife Negligence?
If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 18 and believe you or your child has suffered because of negligent actions from a midwife, you may be able to make a midwife negligence compensation claim on their behalf. Once they reach their 18th birthday, they will then have three years to bring their own claim if you have not already brought one on their behalf.
If you are not the parent or guardian of the child, you can be appointed by the court as a ‘litigation friend;’ providing as your interests do not conflict with theirs and you are able to make decisions about the case in a fair and competent way.
Can You Sue a Hospital for Midwife Negligence?
When making a claim for midwife negligence, it is not a case of taking action against a particular hospital or clinical professional; but rather the NHS Trust or private company that runs the hospital.
Find Out If You Have a Claim for Midwife Negligence Compensation
Our medical negligence team have extensive experience in successfully pursing midwife negligence compensation claims.
We seek and obtain important answers about what, if any, has gone wrong during pregnancy or childbirth and whether you or child’s injury could have been avoided. When failings have occurred, we have a proven track record of obtaining the maximum level of compensation for your child.
We will carefully talk you through each stage of the litigation throughout your midwife negligence claim.
Supporting Your Claim
Usually, we will take a detailed witness statement from you and obtain the relevant medical records. On review of these, it may be necessary to obtain a range expert evidence to support your claim.
It may also be necessary to involve a specialist Barrister if the evidence suggests there has been sub-standard care, so that the strength of a case and the experts’ views can be fully explored.
Securing Compensation
If the case is supported by the experts, we will invite the hospital to accept responsibility for the poor care. If they try and defend the case without good reason, it may be necessary to take them to court.
Book a Free Consultation with a Midwife Negligence Solicitor
To arrange a free consultation with our midwife negligence claims specialists, please call, 0113 245 8549 or use our simple online enquiry form and we will get back to you within 48 hours.