Tragic Case Involving a Home Water Birth

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Nicholas Leahy

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Introduction to the case

Nicholas Leahy is acting for a young woman who had a water birth at home and two midwives were allocated to her at the very last minute. One of the midwives was newly qualified and expressed concern about attending the Claimant’s home due to inexperience. The other midwife was on her way to another appointment when she was told to divert to the Claimant’s home to assist in delivering the Claimant’s baby. The situation was fraught with difficulty and mistakes were sadly made. Tragically, the Claimant’s baby was delivered stillborn, and a claim was pursued and successfully settled after a Serious Untoward Incident Report identified significant failings.

Specialist legal advice and support

Osbornes Law specialises in assisting families who have experienced birth injuries. We have represented families who have faced the loss of a newborn during childbirth or where insufficient maternity care, whether it occurred before, during, or after labour, resulted in harm to the baby or mother.

Our dedicated team is led by Stephanie Prior, with over twenty-five years of experience supporting families in pursuing birth injury claims and holding NHS Trusts accountable. Before her career as a lawyer, Stephanie was a senior NHS nurse. This background equips her with a deep understanding of medical terminology and procedures, enabling her to detect any irregularities within her clients’ medical records swiftly.

To speak with Nicholas Leahy about your situation and to find out if it may be possible for you to bring a claim, please fill in the form below and we will reply.

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  • “Osbornes Law is an established firm which handles a breadth of complex and high-value clinical negligence matters.”

  • “Osbornes handles a wide range of high-value and complex clinical negligence cases, with particular expertise in birth injury, delayed cancer diagnosis, spinal injury, and fatal claims.”

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