Pregnancy and Gynaecology Injury Claims

Making a pregnancy or gynaecology negligence claim begins with a free consultation to review your case and discuss funding options, including no win no fee agreements.

We will then approach those responsible for your treatment to see if they accept liability. If they do, we can seek interim payments to cover ongoing care or expenses while your claim progresses. Any interim payments will be taken from your final compensation amount.

Our medical experts will investigate your case, reviewing the care you should have received and assessing any long-term health implications. Their reports help guide your claim and future care needs.

We aim to resolve claims without going to court, but if responsibility or compensation is disputed, we will pursue legal action on your behalf. Even when a trial is set, many cases are settled beforehand. If your claim does go to court, we will support you at every stage, explaining the process and ensuring you feel informed and supported.

You typically have three years from the date you experienced the negligence to make a claim. If you didn’t learn until a later date that the care was negligent, the three-year time limit begins on the date you found out.

If you are claiming on behalf of a child, you can claim at any time until they are 21. The three-year time limit begins on their 18th birthday.

If you are claiming on behalf of an adult who lacks the mental capacity to do so themselves, like many cerebral palsy cases, there is no time limit.

Many of our cases are funded with a no win no fee agreement. This means that you have nothing to pay until your claim is settled, at which point your opponent will pay most of our fees.

We will always begin by discussing the funding options that suit you best. If you have legal expenses insurance (LEI) or trade union cover, these may be the most suitable for you. Many household insurance policies include LEI, so it’s worth checking.

If a no win no fee agreement is best, we will explain the process, including any necessary insurance policies.

Our medical negligence lawyers have helped hundreds of women with pregnancy, birth injury and gynaecology claims. Our expertise helps make sure that justice is secured for you and that the same medical mistakes aren’t made again.

Some of the pregnancy-related cases we commonly see involve:

• Cerebral palsy
• Erb’s palsy caused by the baby’s shoulder getting stuck during birth
• Failures to properly treat tears caused during childbirth
• Failures to treat infection during or after pregnancy, with injury to either the mother or child
• Group B streptococcus
• Misdiagnosed miscarriage
• Stillbirth or neonatal death
• The mother’s death during childbirth
• Wrongful birth for failure to detect abnormalities on antenatal tests during pregnancy.

We have also helped many women with gynaecological claims relating to:

• Abortion
• Damage during hysterectomy
• Dilatation and curettage (D&C)
• Failed contraception and problems with implants
• Fitting of the coil contraceptive device
• IVF errors
• Laparoscopic sterilisation
• Misdiagnosis of cervical or other gynaecological cancers
• Pelvic floor repairs
• Swabs or instruments being left inside the patient
• Total abdominal hysterectomy.

We treat every case with the sensitivity and discretion needed to help you get the justice and compensation you deserve.

During pregnancy and birth, it’s crucial that hospital staff recognise and act on any sign that the mother or child is in danger as quickly as possible; failure to do this may well be negligent. For example, the failure to recognise a medical emergency like a placental abruption could have tragic consequences for the mother.

Key areas in which mistakes are made include:

• Antenatal errors: Despite highly advanced scans, medical professionals can miss serious problems or, very rarely, misdiagnose problems with a healthy unborn baby. Errors made at this stage can have huge consequences, including misdiagnosed miscarriage, major unexpected conditions for the baby and even stillbirth.
• Errors during birth: Damage from medical instruments, anaesthetics or inadequate suturing can affect the health of both mother and baby. For the mother, negligence can cause serious gynaecological injuries. For the child, potential injuries include cerebral palsy, brachial palsy (Erb's Palsy), brain injury, facial paralysis, spinal injuries, fractured bones and perinatal asphyxia.

Doctors must be able to spot any abnormalities on antenatal tests during pregnancy. If they fail to do this and the mother isn’t given a chance to terminate the pregnancy, it’s known as a wrongful birth claim.

Medical staff should diagnose the severity of any maternal tears caused during childbirth and arrange surgery by a trained specialist if necessary. If this doesn’t happen and the injuries go untreated, it’s likely that there’s a claim for negligence.