Birth Injury Claims

This page will explain the process of bringing a claim for birth injuries caused by medical negligence. You will learn more about the birth injury lawyers at Osbornes Law and why choosing experienced birth injury solicitors with the right knowledge and understanding can help you get the compensation you deserve.

Highly experienced birth injury lawyers

At Osbornes Law, we fight hard to get birth-injured children and mothers the best care, advocacy and support. We are proud to work with charities that support injured patients and their families. These include Action Against Medical Accidents, Headway, The Brain Injury Group, Spinal Injuries Association and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.

With over 50 years of experience, our expert birth injury lawyers have secured clients multi-million compensation settlements for birth-injured children and mothers. We understand the devastating effects a birth injury can have on the whole family. We can help you prove that a medical mistake happened and secure compensation to cover the costs of any treatment, rehabilitation, and home adaptations you may need.

What is considered a birth injury?

A birth injury is any injury that a mother or baby suffers before, during or directly after childbirth. These injuries are relatively common. Fortunately, most are minor and heal by themselves in a few days or weeks.

Some birth injuries are more severe. They can result in long-term injury to the mother, or a child having a disability for the rest of their life. For the birthing mother, common injuries include maternal infection, uterine rupture, haemorrhage, third and fourth-degree perineal tears, and complications caused by episiotomies and caesarean sections.

For the baby, common injuries include fractures to the skull or limbs and oxygen starvation, which can lead to conditions such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy and learning difficulties. Rarely, a child will be stillborn because of a medical mistake.

We specialise in serious and often complex birth injury claims, including:

• Cerebral Palsy Claims
• Stillbirth Claims
• Erb’s Palsy Claims
• Spina Bifida Claims
• Miscarriage Misdiagnosis Claims
• Birth Injuries to Mother Claims
• Group B Strep Claims
• Pregnancy Negligence Claims
• Wrongful Birth Claims

Working hand-in-hand with you and your child’s support team, we can help signpost you to charities, groups and medical practitioners who can provide life-changing services to support your child’s future. Our job is to ensure you have access to the best therapists and care packages to help protect your family’s quality of life.

What is a birth injury claim?

A birth injury claim is a type of medical negligence claim. It arises whenever a doctor, midwife or other healthcare professional makes a mistake during pregnancy or childbirth, and that mistake causes you or the baby harm. Forms of medical negligence during childbirth include:

• Failing to monitor the pregnancy or birth properly
• Failing to spot a problem such as a prolapsed umbilical cord
• Being slow to act in a dangerous situation
• Allowing the labour to go on too long before moving to caesarean
• Misuse of tools such as forceps or vacuum extractors
• Use of unnecessary force during childbirth
• Surgical errors

To prove birth injury negligence, we work with independent medical experts to investigate what went wrong and whether the care you received fell below the acceptable standard.

You can make a birth injuries claim about both NHS and private treatment. Please contact us to establish your legal position today.

How do I make a birth injury claim?

Birth injury claims can be complicated and challenging, so it is vital to consult with a specialist birth injury solicitor to guide you through the process effectively.

1. Contact our specialist birth injury lawyers.

We’ll meet you face-to-face before taking the case on. The appointment can take place at your home, in hospital or at our offices, whatever is best for you. We will assess your case and advise whether you have a valid injury claim.

2. Decide to work with us.

Following our meeting, we’ll advise you about the prospects of success, the potential value of your birth injury claim, and how long it will take. If we all agree that Osborne Law should take your case on, we will discuss the funding of your claim, including whether to run your claim under a No Win No Fee agreement.

You’ll have direct access to a dedicated case worker throughout your case. They will keep you informed of the progress of your claim and consult you about all decisions relating to your case.

3. Investigate the claim

To help us prepare your claim, we’ll obtain a full set of your medical records and review them in detail. We will also take a detailed record of your version of events and check this against your medical records. Sometimes, there are discrepancies between your account and the medical records, which we need to know about when preparing your case.

4. Independent medical reports

To help prove that negligence occurred, we may consult with a medical professional who can provide an expert opinion on whether the injury was a result of medical negligence or an unavoidable complication. They will conduct a physical examination and prepare a medical report giving their opinion about the injuries to the mother or baby and what treatment should (or should not) have been given.

The medical report helps us to establish a link between substandard medical care and subsequent birth injuries. It’s important that the medical assessment fully reflects the injuries so we can negotiate the settlement figure you deserve.

5. Letter of claim

We’ll write to the healthcare provider that treated you, telling them that you’re taking legal action – this could be your GP or the local NHS Trust. While the Letter of Claim is not an official court document, it outlines your allegations and requests compensation. The NHS Trust has 14 days to acknowledge receipt of the letter and four months to conduct their own investigations and respond. At this point, we find out if the healthcare provider admits liability or disputes the claim.

6. Negotiate a settlement

If the healthcare provider accepts liability, we can start negotiating a settlement based on what we think you’re entitled to. The amount will reflect the type and severity of your birth injuries. We can also apply for an Interim Payment if you need urgent funds or medical care before the settlement is agreed upon.

7. Issue court proceedings

If the healthcare provider denies liability or we can’t agree on a suitable settlement, we may need to start court proceedings. As a first step, the Court will set a timetable for the various stages of the litigation. This can stretch over many months, so we keep negotiating with the other side and try to reach an agreement before a court hearing is necessary. We may arrange mediation or some form of alternative dispute resolution at any point of the claim, as this can often lead to a faster, more amicable outcome and help keep costs down.

8. Settlement or court decision

Only a very small percentage of birth injury claims go to trial. If yours does, then a judge will decide on the outcome after hearing evidence from both sides. You will receive compensation for your injuries, financial losses, and legal costs if successful. If unsuccessful, you may not receive compensation and may have to pay the defendant’s legal costs.

Why choose Osbornes Law?

Birth injury claims can be complex, but having experienced solicitors on your side can make a difference. For over 50 years, our firm has specialised in complex birth injury claims, focusing on achieving life-changing compensation awards for our birth-injured clients and their families.

We are widely recognised as being at the top of our profession, achieving consistent top rankings by The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners for our reputation as specialists in this field.

We work primarily on a No Win, No Fee basis, which makes it easier for everyone to pursue their rights. If your claim is successful, we will deduct our fee from the compensation you receive at the end of your claim.