Solicitor, Medical Negligence
Our client was in hospital due to give birth to her child but when an emergency situation arose during the birth, a junior doctor decided to carry out an emergency forceps delivery.
Our client was left with third degree tears to her perineum and anal sphincter, as well as psychological harm. As a result, she alleged that the emergency forceps delivery had been incompetently performed.
The client approached our Medical Negligence Lawyers to make a medical negligence claim against the NHS trust responsible. The lawyer on the case instructed experts in obstetrics to look at the circumstances of the case. The experts were of the opinion that the emergency forceps delivery had not been performed to a reasonable standard.
The defendants subsequently admitted that an experienced consultant was on call at the time and was available to attend the emergency situation, but instead, the junior doctor chose to attempt the very tricky and technical delivery – endangering both the mother and baby.
The opinion of our obstetric experts conflicted with the view of the defendant’s expert obstetrician, who concluded that the forceps delivery had been handled competently by the junior doctor. Their experts also found that while an experienced consultant was available, the junior doctor wasn’t negligent in proceeding to deliver the baby without assistance.
The risks of forceps delivery includes severe injuries to the baby and mother. This can include brain injury’s to the baby that affects their chances at a normal life.
Eventually, the defendant’s leading counsel conceded that they were at significant risk of losing the case due to the rushed and violent mode of forceps delivery. The defendant's colorectal expert agreed with our own colorectal expert - that expensive future treatment was reasonable in the private sector. A colorectal expert is a surgeon who specialises in conditions that affect either your intestines, colon or anus, which in our client’s case was from the third degree tearing during childbirth.
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A baby boy was born with a hypoxic brain injury due to being starved of oxygen to the brain during childbirth. The child was the second of twins and the first of the two was born without any disability.
An infant was delivered by midwives from University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at the mother’s home. Tragically, mistakes were made throughout the delivery, which led to the child being born with brain damage.
A boy who suffered brain damage as a result of delays in his delivery has today been awarded £10 million in compensation by the High Court to fund his past and future care and rehabilitation needs, after the hospital where he was born admitted failures in his care caused his catastrophic injuries.
Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Forceps Delivery. Retrieved from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/23260-forceps-delivery
Mayo Clinic. (n.d.). Vaginal tears: What to expect and how to cope. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/in-depth/vaginal-tears/art-20546855
Simpson Millar. (n.d.). Birth Injury Claims. Retrieved from https://www.simpsonmillar.co.uk/medical-negligence-solicitors/birth-injury-claims/
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). (n.d.). Shoulder Dystocia. Retrieved from https://www.rcog.org.uk/for-the-public/browse-our-patient-information/shoulder-dystocia/
PubMed Central. (n.d.). Shoulder Dystocia: An Evidence-Based Approach. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595040/
Simpson Millar. (n.d.). Cerebral Palsy Claims. Retrieved from https://www.simpsonmillar.co.uk/medical-negligence-solicitors/cerebral-palsy-claims/
PubMed Central. (n.d.). Cerebral Palsy: Causes, Pathophysiology, and MRI Findings in the Preterm and Term Neonate. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6193358/
Georgina is a Solicitor who works in our Medical Negligence team here at Simpson Millar, based in our Manchester office.
She is a committed and highly reliable Solicitor with a track record of supporting clients through the process of making a claim to achieve the best outcome for them. Georgina has experience working on many high-value cases with a range of circumstances and complexities from start to finish, where she reviews medical records, liaises with experts and gathers evidence in order to negotiate the best possible settlement for her clients.
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