Supporting Families Affected by Maternity Services Medical Negligence

What Problems Can Arise?

Most harm in maternity services results from problems with systems and processes that determine how care is delivered. This was the conclusion of a recent report by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), which identified a number of common patient safety risks. These include:

• Delays in recognising complications during the antenatal period
• The quality of handovers between staff
• Mismanagement of Group B streptococcus
• The failure to recognise the need for a neonatal team during the birth of a large baby

In addition, there are issues that can be caused during the birth of a baby such as Erb’s Palsy and Cerebral Palsy, both which can happen due to mistakes being made when the child is delivered.

Get in Touch

Our Medical Negligence Solicitors are here to support families who have been affected by these issues or other problems with NHS maternity services which may give rise to a claim. We have an excellent record of helping our clients obtain substantial compensation following an experience of medical negligence.

We understand that issues of maternity-related negligence need to be worked through with sensitivity. Being pregnant with and delivering a child is traumatic in itself and can leave mothers with some level of trauma in any event due to the physical pain and stress their bodies go through.  

This is made substantially worse when something goes wrong. Moreso when it is something that could have been avoided.

It is crucially important to remember that the compensation you could receive from a successful clinical negligence claim could help you deal with the consequences of this medical negligence whether that is further and/or private medical care, support or rehabilitation or something else.

If you have gone through a difficult experience as described above, we urge you to get in touch with a member of our team so we can support you and commence the appropriate investigations. We will be there with you along the way.

Our specialist team understand that commencing a legal claim might seem daunting and distressing. Please be assured that our team are dedicated to making the process as straightforward as possible, showing empathy and support every step of the way.

Medical negligence claims can lead to new procedures and policies being introduced at NHS institutions which may prevent similar mistakes in the future.

The Government has recently announced that an independent review into maternity services at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust demonstrated why it is so important to highlight potential issues within maternity services across England and Wales.

This review is arising out of allegations that at least 7 preventable baby deaths have occurred at the Trust in the last 4 years. The review is designed to ensure that lessons are learnt from these tragedies, not just in East Kent, but across the whole country.

Carly Saxon-Garnett, a Senior Associate Medical Negligence Solicitor at Simpson Millar commented, “Through our work we see families devastated by the consequences of substandard care and often they come to us seeking answers to unanswered questions. We are here to provide support through this process and to ensure their concerns are investigated thoroughly.”