We helped Sarah* claim compensation after negligent care during the birth of her first baby left her with psychiatric and physical injuries.
What happened to Sarah?
Sarah attended the maternity triage at Watford General Hospital after her waters broke at 36 weeks. She was admitted and transferred to the labour ward the following day.
After being examined, the medical staff found the baby was in a footling position. This is where the baby’s feet are pointing downwards and would be delivered before the rest of the body. Because of this, it was decided the best option for Sarah would be a caesarean section.
Despite this decision, the c-section wasn’t performed in time and Sarah progressed into the stages of natural birth.
The delivery of Sarah’s child was a traumatic experience for her and involved episiotomy and forceps. Sarah’s baby was still in the footling position at the time of delivery and was born feet first.
Sarah’s baby was born extremely ill and needed resuscitation. Her baby was transferred to the neonatal unit, where he needed cooling and was diagnosed with a brain injury. The hospital accepted that they’d caused this brain injury because of the delivery.
Following the delivery, Sarah developed a perineal infection/abscess and needed antibiotic treatment.
It took Sarah six weeks to recover from the maternal injury.
How did this impact Sarah?
As well as the physical injuries, Sarah experienced significant psychiatric injuries that’ll impact her life going forward.
After the trauma of the birth, Sarah was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder. She’ll need therapy treatment to help her come to terms with what happened and be able to move forward.
How did Irwin Mitchell help Sarah?
Sarah came to our medical negligence team to investigate what went wrong during her labour and help to make sure lessons were learnt to reduce the chances of it happening again.
Rosie Teagle and Georgie Cushing, both medical negligence solicitors in our London office, worked with Sarah.
Rosie and Georgie started by investigating the care Sarah received during labour. This involved gathering Sarah’s medical records and taking statements from Sarah about her experience.
When presented with Sarah’s claim, the hospital admitted they were at fault for the injuries to Sarah. This early admission meant Sarah didn’t have to relive the traumatic events again.
Rosie and Georgie were able to negotiate a five-figure settlement with the hospital trust. This money will be used by Sarah to fund private psychiatric treatment to help with the mental impacts.
Expert opinion
On Sarah’s claim, Rosie said: “Childbirth is supposed to be a joyful experience, bringing new life into the world and into your family. Sadly, for Sarah this wasn’t the case and she’s been left with physical and psychiatric injuries.
“The compensation won’t make up for what Sarah’s been through but will help her access the treatment she needs to move on with her life.”
*Not real name used.
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