In this guide, we’ll discuss when you may be eligible to claim for a fractured bone birth injury caused by medical negligence. It is possible for a mother or her infant to suffer injuries during the process of giving birth. However, you are only able to claim compensation for these birth injuries when you can show they were unnecessary and occurred because a medical professional breached the duty of care they owed you.
This guide will provide information you may find useful when considering a claim for medical negligence. For instance, we provide examples of what negligent medical care could entail, the time limits you must consider, and how compensation is calculated for this type of claim. We also discuss how a No Win No Fee solicitor may be able to assist you.
Fractured Bone Birth Injury Compensation
Keep reading to learn more about whether medical negligence played a role in your or your baby’s birth injuries. Additionally, we’ve provided several methods you could use to get in touch with our team of advisers, who can tell you more about starting a birth injury claim. Learn more today:
- Complete the form on our ‘Contact Us’ webpage
- Call 0800 073 8801
- Speak to an adviser using the chatbox onscreen now
Choose A Section
- Fractured Bone Birth Injury Claims Guide
- Can I Claim Compensation For Fractured Bones During Childbirth?
- Providing Proof Of Medical Negligence
- Fractured Bone Birth Injury Compensation Examples
- How Do No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors Work?
- Medical Negligence Birth Injury Claims
Fractured Bone Birth Injury Claims Guide
You may be eligible to claim compensation for a fractured bone birth injury when you can show that certain criteria are true of the circumstances in which you or your infant were injured. This includes:
- Showing that a medical professional owed you a duty of care
- Showing that this duty of care was breached
- Demonstrating that avoidable or unnecessary harm occurred as a result of the breach
Together, these elements constitute medical negligence. The first requirement is not usually difficult to establish because all medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. This means they must provide their patients with an adequate level of care. If they don’t provide this, their patients could suffer unnecessary or avoidable harm as a result.
If doctor negligence contributed to a birth injury to you or your baby, you might be eligible to claim compensation. Contact our advisers if you’d like more information about claiming for negligent injuries, or read on to learn more about time limits.
Time Limits On Clinical Negligence Claims
According to the Limitation Act 1980, clinical and medical negligence claims must begin within 3 years of:
- The date the incident occurred. Medical negligence could occur during your antenatal appointments, during the labour itself, or soon after your baby is born.
- The date of knowledge. This is when you became aware that medical negligence played a role in the injuries you or your baby experienced.
These time limits do have exceptions. For instance, you may choose to claim on behalf of your infant for their fractured bone birth injury. If, however, you don’t claim on their behalf, your child’s time limit is suspended until they turn 18. At this point, the time limit resumes and they have 3 years to begin a claim.
Contact our advisers for more information about birth injury compensation claim time limits. Furthermore, our team can help you establish if medical negligence is likely to have played a role in the injuries you or your child experienced.
Can I Claim Compensation For Fractured Bones During Childbirth?
It is important to realise you may not be able to claim for all birth injuries. A medical professional must breach the duty of care they owe to you and your baby for it to constitute medical negligence.
Below, we’ve provided a few examples of how a fractured bone birth injury to a mother or her child could occur:
- A doctor may use unnecessary force while assisting the birth with forceps, causing injury to both mother and baby. The mother’s pelvis could break if the baby can’t fit through it, and the baby’s skull, clavicle, or humerus bones could be fractured.
- Inadequate care during birth checkups could mean that your doctor is unaware that your baby has a bone disorder, meaning that a forceps delivery could be considered unsafe.
Additionally, a doctor or nurse may have missed the fracture entirely, meaning that you or your baby suffer delays in treatment. This could cause further complications or unnecessary suffering.
Providing Proof Of Medical Negligence
If you make a hospital negligence claim, you are expected to produce evidence regarding the negligent nature of the care you received. For instance, this could include:
- Contact details for anyone who can provide a witness statement
- A copy of your medical records
- An independent medical assessment, which may provide information about the extent of avoidable or unnecessary harm you or your baby experienced
Speak to an adviser if you have questions about the evidence that may benefit fractured bone birth injury claims.
Fractured Bone Birth Injury Compensation Examples
A hospital negligence claim could compensate you for two types of harm you or your baby experienced: physical or psychological suffering as well as financial losses. This is reflected in up to two heads of claim.
The first head of claim is called general damages, which is intended to provide compensation for you or your baby’s fractured bone birth injury. A solicitor will generally use a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for an assessment of how much this head of claim could be worth. This is because the JCG provides compensation brackets for different forms and severity of injury.
The table below contains entries found in the JCG. However, these are only guidelines, as your exact circumstances could alter how much you receive in general damages.
| Injury | JCG Information | Further Details |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Paralysis Injuries | £324,600 to £403,990 | Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia. Award will consider level of pain felt, level of awareness regarding the disability, and other factors. |
| (c) Moderate Head Injuries (i) | £150,110 to £219,070 | Head injuries that cause a moderate to severe intellectual deficit, effect on senses, and significant risk of epilepsy. |
| (c) Moderate Head Injuries (iii) | £43,060 to £90,720 | Cases that cause small risk of epilepsy, reduce ability to work, and which affect memory and concentration. |
| (a) Severe Hip and Pelvis Injuries (i) | £78,400 to £130,930 | Pelvis fractures extensive enough to involve disolation of a back joint or a ruptured bladder. Leads to residual disabilities. |
| (b) Moderate Hip and Pelvis Injuries (i) | £26,590 to £39,170 | Significant injury without a major risk of permanent disability. |
| (a) Severe Shoulder Injuries | £19,200 to £48,030 | This injury is often associated with damage done to the shoulder nerves and neck injuries. |
| (b) Serious Shoulder Injuries | £12,770 to £19,200 | May involve shoulder dislocation that leads to serious sensory side effects or a fractured humerus that restricts shoulder movement. |
| (e) Shoulder Injuries | £5,150 to £12,240 | Award for a fractured clavicle that considers residual symptoms, the temporary or permanent nature of the disability, and other factors. |
| (c) Less Severe Arm Injuries | £19,200 to £39,170 | Substantial degree of recovery occurs, though initial disabilities were significant. |
| (d) Simple Arm Injuries | £6,610 to £19,200 | Forearm fractures that are simple in nature. |
How Special Damages Could Also Compensate You
A second head claim, called special damages, is intended to reimburse you for financial losses you’ve experienced. For instance, this could include:
- Lost earnings
- Certain treatments that are required for you or your baby to recover
- Prescription medications
Speak to our team to learn more about the losses that could be reimbursed through special damages.
How Do No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors Work?
If you’re eligible to claim birth injury compensation, it may be prudent to see if a solicitor could help you, such as our own. After all, an experienced solicitor would know how to build a strong case. They could help you gather relevant evidence and could negotiate for a compensation payout on your behalf.
One of our solicitors could offer to work on your case under a No Win No Fee arrangement. Under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), a type of No Win No Fee agreement, you would not have to pay them upfront for their work, or throughout the progression of your claim.
Instead, your birth injury solicitor would deduct a small success fee from your total compensation payout. Should there be no payout, you would not have to pay your solicitor for their work.
To check if one of our solicitors could take on your case under such terms, or ask questions about your eligibility to claim, you can contact an advisor at any time.
- Call today on 0800 073 8801.
- Use live chat to connect with an advisor instantly
- Contact us online and an advisor will get in touch with you.
Medical Negligence Birth Injury Claims
Further guides on this topic:
10 Things You Should Know When Claiming For Medical Negligence Compensation Guide
How Do I Make A Claim Against A Hospital?
Medical Negligence Claims and the Bolam Test Case
Third-party resources that may be of use:
How Do I Know If I Have Broken A Bone – NHS
The NMC Code – Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC)
NHS Constitution For England – UK Government
We hope this guide has provided useful information about when you could be eligible to claim compensation for a fractured bone birth injury. If you still have questions, you can contact one of our advisers using the methods mentioned just above.
