Midwives have a duty of care to ensure that they provide the correct medical care to mothers and babies during pregnancy, labour and after the birth. If they fail to meet expected professional standards or make negligent errors you could have grounds to claim compensation. In this guide we will discuss midwife negligence claims.
We look at the eligibility criteria involved in clinical negligence claims. We then look at the ways in which negligence could occur, how you or your baby could be harmed and how payouts for midwife negligence compensation claims may be calculated. Finally, we then look at how midwife negligence experts could help you claim compensation.
For further information on how our team could help you please read the guide below. When you are ready to get in contact with us, you can use the methods below.
- Call now on 0800 073 8801.
- Start your claim online using our contact form.
- Use our live support feature.
Browse Our Guide
- What Are Midwife Negligence Claims?
- How Can Midwife Negligence Occur?
- What Injuries Or Conditions Can Be Caused By Midwife Negligence?
- How Long After Birth Are Midwives Responsible?
- How Much Compensation For Midwife Negligence Claims?
- Claim For Maternity Negligence On A No Win No Fee Basis
- More Resources About Making A Medical Negligence Claim
What Are Midwife Negligence Claims?
Midwife negligence claims are a type of medical negligence compensation claim. They deal with instances in which either a mother or baby has been harmed by negligent care provided by a midwife. This may occur during community care before or after the birth, or whilst in hospital.
In order to make a midwife negligence compensation claim, potential claimants need to show that they meet the following eligibility criteria. These are that;
- They were owed a duty of care by a medical professional, such as a midwife.
- That the midwife breached this duty of care by failing to meet professional standards of practice.
- This breach caused avoidable harm to the mother and/or the baby.
To check if you are eligible to make a claim for a birth injury, please contact us to be connected to a midwife negligence solicitor.
How Can Midwife Negligence Occur?
Midwife negligence could occur in a variety of different ways. These could include the following examples:
- A midwife failing to diagnose potential problems or complications during the pregnancy. Midwives will carry out routine appointments to check on the progress of a pregnancy. They should spot potential complications, such as the baby being in a breech position, during these appointments.
- A midwife failing to refer a woman to hospital or a hospital turning a woman away whilst displaying symptoms which could be dangerous, such as the symptoms of pre-eclampsia.
- Midwives not correctly monitoring the baby’s heart rate during appointments and/ or failing to diagnose that the baby is in distress or that there is an otherwise abnormal foetal heartbeat.
- Hospital staff or midwives failing to spot the symptoms of and diagnose jaundice in a newborn.
Contact an expert to learn more about midwife negligence claims.
Can I Claim On Behalf Of My Baby?
The short answer is that you may be able to claim for midwife negligence which has harmed your baby. Those under the age of eighteen are not able to make medical negligence claims on their own behalf. If your child has been harmed through maternity negligence you could apply to the court to act as a Litigation Friend.
A Litigation Friend may be a parent or guardian, other trusted adult or even a midwife negligence solicitor. They must be someone who can make decisions on behalf of the child in a competent and fair way.
For more information on how to make midwife negligence claims, please contact a member of our team today.
What Injuries Or Conditions Can Be Caused By Midwife Negligence?
From birth defects to brain injuries, midwife negligence could harm a mother, baby or both in a wide range of different ways. Examples of the different ways in which someone could be harmed by a medical negligence could include;
- Cerebral palsy. This is a name for a group of conditions. They are life long and may be caused by damage to the baby’s brain during or soon after the birth. You could make a Cerebral Palsy compensation claim if medical negligence led to this condition.
- Erb’s Palsy. During delivery, a child’s head may need to be shifted to one side in order to get the shoulders out. This can stretch or tear the nerves in the brachial plexus, causing a birth defect known as Erb’s Palsy.
- Fractured bone birth injuries. This type of harm may be caused by the use of excessive force whilst using forceps to deliver a baby.
- Birth brain injuries. A birth brain injury could be caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain during childbirth or through trauma to the head.
- Retained placenta. This could result in a life-threatening loss of blood or infection. A mistake may be made during delivery in which the placenta is not delivered.
- A stroke. For the mother, negligent treatment could lead to severe complications, such as paralysis caused by a stroke.
They are further types of birth injury to a mother or baby which could be caused by a healthcare professionals negligence. For more information on birth injury claims, please contact our specialist team.
How Long After Birth Are Midwives Responsible?
Following the birth of a baby and discharge from hospital your community midwife may visit you in the home, depending on the nature and circumstances of the delivery and medical needs of the mother or child. Following this, your community midwife will refer you to a health visitor.
The midwife will discharge a mother from their care when they are happy that the mother and baby are doing well. If the baby is not back to their birth weight, the midwife may provide extra care or refer you to a paediatrician.
Learn more about how midwife negligence experts could help you claim compensation.
How Much Compensation For Midwife Negligence Claims?
Successful midwife negligence claims may be awarded compensation for up to two heads of loss. These are called general damages (for physical pain and psychololigcal suffering, scarring, and disability) and special damages (for related expenses caused by the medical negligence) respectively.
The amount of midwife negligence compensation your claim may be awarded will depend on several factors. Factors such as the type of harm caused, how severe this was and the long-term impact to mother or baby will be taken into account.
When estimating damages for pain and suffering caused by medical negligence, a solicitor (or other parties) could look at medical records for guidance. They may also refer to guidelines published by the Judicial College (JC). This document contains recommended compensation bands for different forms of harm.
The table below looks at relevant examples taken from the JC guidelines. Please be aware that the figure in row one is an example of a payout which includes special damages. The figure does not come from the JC.
| Harm Caused | Severity | Notes | Guidelines On Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple injuries with special damages | Severe to serious | Multiple serious or severe injuries | Up to £20,000,000+ inclusive of special damages. |
| Brain damage | Very severe - A | The person many have little to no meaningful function or awareness of surroundings. | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Brain damage | Moderately severe - B | Serious disability and substantial dependence on others. | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Brain damage | Moderate - C - i | Changes to personality and intellectual deficit. | £183,190 to £267,340 |
| Brain damage | Moderate - C - iii | Moderate to modest intellectual deficit. | £52,550 to £110,720 |
| Epilepsy | Established grand mal | An established grand mal. | £124,470 to £183,190 |
| Epilepsy | Established petit mal | An established petit mal | £66,920 to £160,360 |
| Female reproductive system | C - Infertility, no aggravating features | Infertility in a young woman, no sexual dysfunction | £68,440 to £87,070 |
| Female reproductive system | D - Infertility, no complications | Infertility with no complications in a young woman. | £21,920 to £44,840 |
| Shoulder injury | C - Moderate | Frozen shoulder limiting movement. | £9,630 to £15,580 |
Next we look at other types of damages which could be awarded in midwife negligence cases.
Can I Claim For The Long Term Impact Of Maternity Negligence?
As highlighted in the previous section, in addition to compensation for pain and suffering you can also be awarded damages for the financial impact the midwife negligence has had on you. Costs and losses which may be related to birth injuries to a mother or baby could include:
- The cost of care for a disabled child or for the mother. Care could include care in the home or in a care setting. This may include ongoing or future costs. If the child has suffered a condition such as cerebral palsy special damages can run into the millions as the child may need ongoing care for the remainder of their life.
- Medical treatment from a private provider.
- Medication expenses; for example, prescription fees.
- Transportation costs. This could include the cost of getting to and from medical appointments.
- Lost income during recovery. If the child is left disabled parents may need to take an extended absence from work.
- Home adaptations.
- Vehicle adaptations.
For more information on midwife negligence claims, please talk to our specialist team today.
Claim For Maternity Negligence On A No Win No Fee Basis
Our No Win No Fee solicitors could help you to make midwife negligence claims. Your solicitor will provide their services through a Conditional Fee Agreement or CFA. Under a CFA, you do not need to pay for your solicitor’s services either before or during the claims process.
If you do win, your midwife negligence solicitor will deduct a success fee. This is a set percentage of your payout. The percentage which could be deducted is limited by law.
For more information on how to make a midwife negligence claim, please contact our team.
- Talk to a member of our team 0800 073 8801.
- Please make an online enquiry to start your claim.
- Learn more about how we could help you using our live support feature.
More Resources About Making A Medical Negligence Claim
Here you can learn more about medical negligence claims:
- Get guidance on how to make a hospital negligence claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor.
- Here we look at stillbirth negligence claims for compensation.
- Here we look at further types of birth injury claims you could make.
Resources
- This NHS resource contains further information on Cerebral Palsy including information on diagnosis, causes and treatment.
- Read more about The Nursing and Midwifery Council, the regulation for nursing and midwifery in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- In this resource from the NHS you can learn more about how Congenital Hip Dysplasia may be diagnosed and treated.
Thank you for reading our guide to midwife negligence claims. For further information on how to claim for midwife negligence, please contact our team.
