Clinical Negligence Solicitors

An NHS Trust is to pay damages to a devastated mother whose firstborn son died following a child birth delay.

The Trust initially denied the claim, which was made by Duncan Lewis Solicitor’s clinical negligence solicitor Amy Bennett on behalf of the mother, Mrs A.

The pregnancy was unremarkable until around 35 weeks, when Mrs A complained of significant swelling of the hands and feet.

Her blood pressure was found to be high and she was admitted at 37 + 2 weeks gestation and during a planned induction Mrs A experienced heavy blood loss.

A CTG trace was interpreted as “normal” until a slow heart rate of less than 60 beats per minute (bradycardia) was noted and an emergency caesarean section performed.

Sadly, the baby was born in a very poor state and died peacefully in his mother’s arms later that day.

A post mortem concluded that the cause of death was severe hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy maternal (a lack of oxygen or blood-flow to the brain), contributing: placental abruption.


Breach of Duty

Supportive evidence from a consultant obstetrician and midwife was obtained. They stated:

1. There was a 21 minute delay in delivering the baby due to the negligence of the defendant.


2. Subtracting 36 minutes (which was the actual time between bradycardia and delivery) away from 21 minutes (the time wasted) gives a total of 15 minutes actual delay.

Causation

Causation evidence was needed to ascertain what harm was caused to the baby as a result of the 15 minute delay. A consultant neonatologist explained that had the baby been subjected to just 15 minutes of hypoxia, with modern neonatal intensive care, he would, on the balance of probabilities have avoided cerebral palsy completely. Cognitive development and behaviour would, on balance, have been within the wide normal range and Mrs A’s baby would have had a normal range of quality of life and life expectancy.

Evidence was also obtained from a consultant psychiatrist, who specialises in perinatal mental health. Following an assessment, the consultant described Mrs A’s pain as “almost palpable as she spoke about her devastating loss”. It was confirmed that Mrs A met the criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

A Letter of Claim was drafted by Amy but met with a denial. However, Amy managed to settle the claim in the sum of £55,000. This includes bereavement damages, for support to help Mrs A come to terms with the tragic passing of her son, funeral expenses, the erection of a headstone and future and past losses such as visits to the grave and maintenance.


Amy Bennett, is a solicitor in Duncan Lewis’ Clinical Negligence department. She has worked exclusively in this field for over 12 years. Her claims expertise includes stillbirth and neonatal death, childbirth injury, gynaecological related and missed or delayed diagnosis of cancer. She also assists clients who have suffered negligence as a result of surgical errors, pressure sores and wrongful death. If you have been affected by any of these issues please call Amy for confidential, expert advice on 020 3114 1127 or email her at amyl@duncanlewis.com or telephone 020 3114 1147.