Birth Injury Claims Solicitors

There are numerous types of birth injury under a wide range of classifications. These birth injuries and how they occur under specific circumstances can form the basis of a successful birth injury claim. 

Birth injuries can affect both the mother, be it a traumatic birth injury, perineal injuries, or poor treatment across their stay in hospital, or the baby, whether this is poor antenatal care, injuries suffered during birth, or oxygen deprivation leading to brain damage.

Prominent examples of birth injury claims include:

• Injury to babies claims
• Injury to mother claims
• Cerebral Palsy claims
• Erb’s Palsy claims
• Stillbirth claims
• Neonatal death claims
• Ectopic pregnancy negligence claims
• Shoulder dystocia claims
• Perineal tear claims

Our birth injury claim process is no different than claiming for other medical accidents. Once arrangements for funding your claim are finalised, which can include legal aid, your claim will be handled by one of our specialist solicitors, who will work with you throughout your case. They will meet with you to establish a detailed history of your medical treatment and the issues you or your loved one suffered. This includes finding the root cause of a birth injury, and if other factors were involved around surgical mistakes, misdiagnosis of a condition or medical situation, or delayed treatments.  

We will then thoroughly investigate your birth injury claim, gather all information required – including your medical records and witness statements – and have these assessed by an independent, experienced medical expert. If they believe there is sufficient evidence, your claim will proceed. In most instances, we can advise you on chances of success or possible outcomes during our initial consultations.

Even if we determine that it is not in your best interests to pursue a negligence claim, our investigations and extensive knowledge of medical negligence law will often shed light on the nature or cause of your birth injury, which may help give you peace of mind over the incident.

While 96% of our claims settle outside of court, we will gladly support you to Trial if we feel it is necessary. For this reason, every claim we accept and handle is prepared for court proceedings.

Our birth injury lawyers have the specialist knowledge and expertise to build a strong medical negligence claim for you and will help guide and support you when bringing a claim. Whilst we can't turn back the clock, the financial compensation achieved from a successful birth injury claim settlement can help ease the burden and cover the costs of immediate and future care or equipment for families who have been affected.

Some children are severely disabled from birth and require care for life. This means that they may have a physical or neurological injury of varying severity. Cerebral Palsy and Erb's Palsy caused by clinical negligence are some of our biggest cases. Settlements for a birth injuries case can help claimants pay for long-term physical therapy, rehabilitation or modifications to the home required for your children as they grow up.

A mother who is injured during birth can suffer pain and ongoing problems, or may need surgery because of the damage caused by the negligence.

As accredited birth injury solicitors and clinical negligence specialists with the Law Society’s Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, we understand all the implications of birth injury claims in all circumstances. Together with carefully chosen medical professionals, we can properly assess and support cases to achieve suitable compensation for your loved ones.

There is no set answer to this question, as it can significantly vary on a case-to-case basis. A claim for perineal tears suffered by a new mother may take anywhere from a year to 18 months to reach its final settlement.

For injuries to babies resulting in long-term conditions such as Cerebral Palsy or Erb’s Palsy, it can often take 5 years or more to investigate and settle. This is because we often have to wait until the child grows up to establish the full impact of their condition, and consequently determine a fair value of birth injury compensation.

Furthermore, if claims proceed to Trial, it may take several more years to conclude. In these circumstances, you may be entitled to interim compensation payouts to support you financially through this difficult time.

As with all types of negligence claims, there is a time limit for birth injury claims – which must typically be made within three years of the injury being realised.

However, there are exceptions. If the birth injury is suffered by a child, they have until their 21st birthday to make a claim. This allows three years from their 18th birthday, when they legally become an adult, to claim in their own right. There is also no time limit for anyone who does not have the mental capacity to act on their behalf.

If a potential claimant dies within the initial three-year period, the qualifying time starts again from the date of their death for their dependants to make a claim.

In certain circumstances, the courts may allow birth injury claims from outside this time limit. If your birth injury happened longer than three years ago, we can advise on whether your claim is likely to be considered.