What pregnancy & birth injury claims do we deal with?
Pregnancy & birth claim types
No win, no fee pregnancy & birth compensation
You can be represented by a highly-experienced pregnancy & birth lawyer at no upfront cost to you. Under our No Win, No Fee agreement you only pay a pre-agreed percentage of the compensation awarded if your case is successful.
Specialist pregnancy and birth injury legal support
Pregnancy can be both an exciting and worrying time for expectant parents, and sadly, although the vast majority of cases are trouble free and end with a health mother and baby, there are times when things go wrong, resulting in injuries.
We have a hugely-experienced team of medical negligence solicitors at Hudgell Solicitors who have supported many families through legal claims when errors by medical staff have caused lifelong injuries to babies, including Cerebral Palsy and Erb’s palsy.
We have also supported parents whose children have sadly been stillborn, or died shortly after birth, again due to failings in healthcare provision on maternity wards.
Our team always offers sympathetic support, whilst ensuring we do all we can to investigate the circumstances of your case, and get answers as to what went wrong.
In cases for families bringing up children with life-long and life-limiting injuries, compensation can provide the financial means to help your child long term and improve their quality of life for all, through dedicated care, home adaptations, rehabilitation and specialist equipment.
Supporting families after stillbirth and neonatal death
We know nothing we do can ever lessen the devastation of losing a child during pregnancy and birth, but we passionately believe in using the legal process to help find answers in situations where parents consider that the death was avoidable.
Our role is to investigate the events which led to a baby’s death, seek clear answers as to why the life was lost and, if necessary, hold those responsible to account.
Successful stillbirth compensation claims can provide vital access to therapy, counselling or support and our involvement often leads to changes being made and extra training being provided on maternity wards.
Pregnancy related compensation claims
Negligent care during pregnancy could lead to issues for the mother and/or baby further on in the pregnancy or during labour and birth.
Examples we see commonly at Hudgell Solicitors include errors during maternity appointments with regards to monitoring the baby, failing to diagnose abnormalities, or making errors with regards the medication prescribed to the mother.
Common errors include failing to diagnose and treat ectopic pregnancies, where a fertilised egg implants outside of the womb and can rupture causing bleeding, and pre-eclampsia, which causes high blood pressure during pregnancy and can be serious if not treated.
Other pregnancy claims
Our legal team also have experience in leading claims related to unwanted pregnancies, including cases where people fall pregnant having taken a considered decision to prevent having children through having vasectomy and sterilisation procedures.
In such cases compensation can often be claimed, against both NHS and private health providers, if it can be proved that surgical procedures were substandard and negligent, or in some cases where medical professionals have failed to provide appropriate advice.
Our team also has experience in leading wrongful birth compensation claims, in situations where babies are born with injuries or disabilities which doctors should have detected during pregnancy and informed the mother/parents at the time, and their failure to do so has denied them the opportunity to take the very difficult decision as to whether to continue with the pregnancy, or to elect to undergo a termination.
Hospital agrees compensation after failing to investigate mother’s concerns about her unborn baby which died days later
A mother who suffered the tragic stillbirth of her first child has been awarded damages after hospital staff failed to investigate when she raised concerns about her unborn baby’s reduced movements. The mother believes her baby may have been born alive if the London hospital had carried out a risk assessment 38 weeks into her […]
Medical negligence compensation awarded to first-time mother whose unborn baby died after hospital failed to offer an early birth when complications arose
A 23-year-old mother who was expecting her first child has been awarded damages from a London hospital trust after her unborn baby died when complications arose. When a scan at 37 weeks into the pregnancy revealed the baby was underweight and fluid from the womb had leaked the mother should have been offered an induced […]
Boy, 17, born with cerebral palsy set for possible £20m damages award after High Court judge rules against NHS Trust
A multi-million pound damages settlement is set to be awarded to a 17-year-old boy after a High Court judge ruled in his favour and against Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, saying an obstetrician’s crucial evidence could not be relied upon. The boy, who cannot be named, was represented by Hudgell Solicitors’ joint head of clinical […]
How Hudgell Solicitors won up to £20m in damages for a mother and her son born with cerebral palsy
A multi-million pound damages settlement is set to be awarded to a 17-year-old boy after a High Court judge ruled in his favour and against Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, saying an obstetrician’s crucial evidence could not be relied upon. The boy, who cannot be named, was represented by Hudgell Solicitors’ joint head of clinical […]
‘Families should not have to fight years for justice when medical errors cause life-long harm to babies’
‘Families should not have to fight years for justice when medical errors cause life-long harm to babies’ The mother of a severely disabled 17-year-old boy who is set for a potential £20m medical negligence damages payout says it has been ‘appalling’ that her family has had to fight years for the support they so badly […]
Compensation for mother who suffered infection as part of placenta was left inside her after birth
A Lincolnshire woman who suffered continued bleeding and an infection when a piece of placenta was left inside her after giving birth says she raised concerns which were ‘ignored’ by midwives. The 30-year-old mother, who lives near Gainsborough, says she told midwives that she felt something was wrong at the time, but was discharged from […]
How to make a pregnancy & birth injury claim
Make a claim in six easy steps
Free Initial Advice
Call us, request a callback or complete our online claim form and we will assess whether we think you have a claim.
Funding
We will help you to decide how best to fund your claim. Usually, we will be able to offer you a No win, No fee agreement.
Obtain Medical Records & Medical Reports
We will request copies of your medical records and instruct appropriate medical experts to prepare reports confirming whether your care was negligent and how this caused you injury.
Letter Of Claim
We will send a letter to your healthcare provider with details of your claim, setting out why we think your case was negligent and how this caused you injury.
Prepare Claim Valuation
We will put together a schedule of loss setting out the losses you have incurred and the extent of the injuries you have sustained.
Negotiate Settlement
We will send all the evidence to your healthcare provider inviting their settlement proposals. If we cannot agree a reasonable settlement, we will prepare court proceedings.
Start your claim today
Feel free to give us a call or begin your claim online
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FAQs
What are the time limits for making a pregnancy and birth injury claim?
The time limit for making a claim for medical negligence is 3 years from the date of your knowledge of the alleged negligence. (You may not realise straight away but only after your injury or illness becomes worse).
However, there are a couple of exceptions to this rule:
- Children – medical negligence claims involving a child can be made any time before your child turns 18. On your child’s 18th birthday the three year rule comes into effect, so a claim needs to be started before they turn 21.
- Mental Capacity– if a person lacks the capacity to make a claim themselves, there’s no time limit for making a claim.
How can Hudgells help me if I feel my treatment was negligent?
- Hudgell Solicitors has a highly experienced pregnancy and birth claims legal team that is supported by our own in-house medical experts – including a registered midwife – meaning we are able to fully assess cases and the standard of treatment provided.
- Our first involvement is to listen to your questions, provide some expert initial free advice, and discuss whether you want to start a birth negligence claim.
- There is no commitment when contacting us, but it will enable our lawyers to assess whether your case can be taken forward and inform you what the next steps will be.
- Should we feel we can pursue a compensation claim on your behalf, a specialist medical negligence lawyer will be assigned and dedicated to supporting you through your case. They will explain, in plain, non-legal language, what is likely to be needed from you at each stage of the process, including what evidence and information will need to be obtained.
- Should a case not be pursued, our discussions will always remain entirely confidential.
- Our representation sees us:
- Carry out initial fact-finding by discussing with you what happened, what went wrong and the impact it has had on your life.
- Inform the healthcare provider of our investigation into the care they provided, requesting relevant medical records and details of examinations and treatment.
- Seek independent medical opinion to determine whether a mother or child’s injuries could and should have been prevented, had the proper care and attention been given.
- Make a decision, based on evidence gathered, as to whether we are in a position to make an official claim for damages to compensate for the suffering and hardship caused.
- Should admissions of negligence be secured, consider an application for interim payments, should they be needed to cover the cost of any immediate needs for a child and family.
- Seek to negotiate a compensation settlement out of court which reflects the injury and loss caused, including damages to cover any future care and assistance required.
Speak to one of our advisors
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Meet our pregnancy & birth injury lawyers
Local lawyers at the heart of your community
Vince Shore
Chris Moore
Maria Repanos
Michelle Tebbutt
Advice
Expertise. Trust. Authority
Does my baby have signs of cerebral palsy and what is the cause?
Almost 80 per cent of all child disabilities are detected by their parents; seeing their children every day they are naturally best placed to detect intellectual and developmental delays. Asking questions and seeking expert advice over such concerns can lead to an early diagnosis of conditions such as cerebral palsy. Importantly, it can also secure […]
Serious Incident Reports (SIRs) and what parents can expect following baby loss
Whether it happens to be a stillbirth, a consequence of a birth injury or a sudden unexplained death, every baby loss is a tragedy for the family involved and understandably parents will want to seek answers as to why it happened. Infant deaths are at their lowest since records began but nevertheless 2,226 children aged […]
Neonatal and Stillbirth Claims: Statutory Bereavement Damages
Representing families who have suffered the death of a child is one of the most heart-breaking parts of investigating medical treatment. Our investigations focus on finding out what happened and why. In cases involving the loss of a baby due to pregnancy related care we often instruct independent midwifery, obstetric and neonatology experts to review […]
Get in touch
Feel free to give us a call or begin your claim online