Birth Injury Solicitors

Our Birth Injury Lawyers Can Help You Claim Compensation

If something goes wrong during childbirth, Osbornes Law can help. Our birth injury solicitors are experts in the field of medical negligence and secure multi-million-pound settlements for birth injuries that were caused by improper care.

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  • “Osbornes have specific expertise regarding birth negligence cases, including those which involve cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy injuries.”

  • “Stephanie is absolutely fantastic. She works incredibly hard for her clients and has a great deal of compassion.”

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.

Table of Contents

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 nearly 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:

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 extractor
  • 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, having experienced solicitors on your side can make a difference. For 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.

Birth Injury Lawyer FAQs

How long do you have to make a birth injury claim?

For birth injuries to the mother, you have 3 years to make a claim. In respect of a child, you have 3 years from the child’s 18th birthday, so until they turn 21.

This may seem like a lot of time. However, we recommend that you speak to us as soon as you can. There may be many costs involved in looking after a brain-injured child, including therapies, equipment and specialist education. We can help secure interim payments as early as possible in your case. These payments can be extremely helpful in providing financial support for your family, especially if you have to give up work.

How much compensation might I receive for a birth injury?

Many families ask how much birth injury compensation they’ll receive, but there is no set amount. The goal of compensation is to meet the additional financial needs of the injured child or mother, for as long as their injuries last.

All cases are different. Medical reports are an important part of the process, as they help us to understand the severity of the birth injuries and the impact they have on the child’s life.

Here are some of the things that your birth injuries lawyer will take into consideration when calculating your compensation:

  • The pain and suffering caused by the injury
  • The lifelong cost of medical care and rehabilitation
  • The cost of any special equipment and alterations to your home
  • Money lost through changes to work, for example, if you have to leave your job or reduce your hours to care for a birth-injured child
  • The cost of everything your child might need in the future, such as a care provider, special education and personal equipment as your child grows

According to NHS Resolution, the average payout for birth injury is £50,000. Read our case studies to find out more about how we have helped our clients claim compensation.

What is birth asphyxia?

Birth asphyxia is a result of a baby not receiving enough oxygen before, during, or right after birth. If not treated immediately to ensure that the baby receives sufficient oxygen it can lead to severe injury and can endanger life.

In mild to moderate cases, babies can fully recover. However, in serious cases where immediate treatment is not provided, birth asphyxia can cause permanent brain and organ damage or be fatal. The severity of the injury depends upon how long the baby does not get enough oxygen, the level of oxygen and how quickly the right treatment is receieved.

The most common risk factors leading to birth asphyxia are infections to the mother, multiple births, such as delivering twins, premature births, preeclampsia or eclampsia and abnormal position of the fetus during delivery.

Causes of birth asphyxia include: long and difficult deliveries, problems with the umbilical cord during delivery, the placenta separating from the womb too soon, high or low blood pressure in the mother, anemia – where the baby’s blood cells doesn’t carry enough oxygen, the baby’s airway being blocked.

Speak to a birth injury lawyer

For a free initial conversation call 020 7485 8811

Email us Send us an email and we’ll get back to you






    • Stephanie Prior is head of the clinical negligence department at Osbornes Law. She acts on a wide range of issues, including claims for brain injuries sustained at birth and delays in diagnosis. She frequently represents clients in fatal claims involving surgical error.

      Chambers UK 2023

    • "Stephanie Prior is the leading spokesperson on the high profile maternity scandal cases involving many NHS Trusts."

      Legal 500 2023

    • Stephanie has developed a particularly strong reputation for her handling of birth injury claims, as well as cases concerning surgical negligence and delays in surgery.

      Chambers UK

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