Poor treatment during pregnancy, labour and after labour can have catastrophic effects for both mum and baby.

Cases that we have investigated include:

1. Failure to diagnose and tell the parents of problems with the baby
2. Difficult labour leading to oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) in the new born
3. Problems following a caesarean section or following forceps or vacuum delivery
4. Failure to diagnose and treat in a timely manner a placental abruption
5. Failure to diagnose a vaginal and / or perineal Tear
6. Incorrect treatment given to premature babies
7. Problems with Infertility treatment
8. Complications of multiple pregnancies
9. Brachial plexus injury following shoulder dystocia.

If you believe you had a badly managed pregnancy or labour or there were issues in relation to your  post natal care then please contact us.

Case reports

Forceps delivery not in theatre, delayed caesarean section;cerebral palsy; spastic quadriplegia

Our client was born at Calderdale Hospital in Halifax in 2002.  After enquiries and correspondence, Claire Horton, specialist clinical negligence solicitor, liability and causation in relation to her injuries (which are severe) has been admitted.  Her injuries were caused by the application of the forceps which trapped the umbilical cord.   As the attempted delivery by forceps was made on the ward, not in theatre, and failed partly due to the wrong type of forceps being used, the serious deprivation of oxygen suffered by the baby caused by the trapped cord lasted for 22 minutes before transfer to and delivery in theatre by caesarean section could occur.  We said that the wrong type of forceps were used and the attempt to deliver by forceps was bound to fail.  In any event, the attempted delivery by forceps should not have been made away from the theatre where such attempts are usually made, and where it would have been possible to change over quickly to caesarean section when the attempt inevitably failed.

Our client now has severe cerebral palsy which affects all her limbs.   She cannot swallow and is fed via tube.  She is severely mentally disabled and has a very small head.  She suffers from epilepsy.  Her vision has been affected by the damage to her brain. 

Our client will require substantial care and assistance throughout her life and work is now being carried out in the case to assess the total value of the compensation the hospital will have to pay.  This may be the subject of a further Court hearing if it cannot be agreed, but in the interim the hospital have paid a substantial sum in damages so that a care regime can be set up. Our client has been given immense care by her family and in particular, her mother, who has looked after her in very difficult circumstances, owing to the extensive nature of her injuries.

This case was brought with the help of Legal Aid.  The support of the Community Legal Services Commission was invaluable in helping pay for the medical evidence needed in this case.

If you would like to speak to the solicitor who settled this case please contact Claire Horton on freephone 0808 144 0957or at our Manchester office telephone number on 0161 834 1251 or email: hort@johnpickering.co.uk

Always use a specialist clinical negligence solicitor; Birth causes stroke

Claire Horton specialist clinical negligence solicitor who lives and works in Manchester assisted our client to bring a claim.

Our client who was born in 1986, brought a claim for compensation since he believed that the hospital had been negligent at his birth at Withington Hospital, Manchester.  During delivery as his trunk was rotated to assist with delivery of his arms, his head was moved into a position at 180˚ rotation to its body.  His trunk was then left suspended but unsupported to assist the delivery of the head, without the 180˚ turn being appreciated by the trainee and senior obstetrician responsible for the delivery.

We said that the 180˚ twist on the baby’s head to its trunk should have been appreciated because of abnormalities in the wrinkles on the back of his neck.  The twist would have been more obvious if the surgeon had also checked with his fingers, having seen the wrinkle, to ascertain the true position of the head.  We said the baby was actually delivered with his head rotated through 180˚ to his neck and that the torsion and traction on the neck resulting from this led to damage to the carotid artery which caused an embolus or emboli (blood clot or clots) to travel up into the baby’s brain causing damage to the brain in the form of a stroke.

As our client grew older, it became apparent that he suffered from a weakness to his right side and therefore had to become a left hander, although he probably would have been right handed otherwise.  He had weakness in his hand and foot which led to some difficulties of movement.  He also has moderate learning difficulties which when combined with his physical disability, meant that it was difficult for him to obtain work as an adult and meant that he will needed care and support in managing his affairs throughout his life.

We took over this case from another firm.  The first solicitors who acted in this case investigated the case for over 16 years, but Claire Horton took over the conduct of the case and carried on further research and developed a team of medical advisors.  The case recently settled with compensation of £800,000.00 being obtained. This represents a significant percentage of the damages that our client could have received at trial if the matter had not settled beforehand.  This was a very good settlement because the case could have lost at trial because of the very difficult issues in the case.  This case medically represented one of the most technically difficult cases that Claire Horton, who handled it has experienced.

This case was brought with the help of Legal Aid.  The support of the Community Legal Services Commission was invaluable in helping pay for the medical evidence needed in this case. 

If you would like to speak to the solicitor who settled this case please contact Claire Horton on freephone 0808 144 0957or at our Manchester office telephone number on 0161 834 1251 or email: hort@johnpickering.co.uk

Tear sustained during childbirth

Rachel Donovan, Associate solicitor at John Pickering and Partners has successfully represented a number of women who sustained a tear injury during child birth that was missed.

Perineal tears vary in severity and are classified as first, second, third and fourth degree tears. In the most severe of cases the tear into the rectum can cause a common opening between the rectum and the vagina (recto – vaginal fistula) leading to disastrous consequences.

In one of the cases Rachel succeeded in, the hospital missed a fourth degree tear and the 19 year old girl was left with a colostomy bag. This case settled for £215,000.
Allegations of Neglect in these cases involve:

Often it is the case that women are so embarrassed about their symptoms or they think it is normal after childbirth, that they can go undiagnosed for quite some time.

Wrongful Birth

In claims for wrongful birth the claimant is almost always the parent of a disabled child.

To bring a successful claim it must be proven that an opportunity to terminate the pregnancy was lost because of some  kind of negligent action or inaction such as :

1. Lack of proper counselling  which would include genetic counselling
2. Inaccurate interpretation of scan and /or blood test
3. Failure to perform a test for example Group B streptococcus
4. Omission to screen for fetal abnormalities
5. Failure to inform parents of actual or possible abnormalities
6. Misinterpretation of signs during pregnancy

Undetected Genetic Condition

Mrs T was pregnant with her first child and the doctors were concerned due to slow growth after the 20 week scan. Mrs T was sent for an amniocentesis and there was a failure to detect an abnormality on chromosome 5.

The pregnancy continued and the child was born with a disorder of chromosome 5 namely spinal muscular dystrophy. The child sadly died and the case was settled in a out of court settlement meeting.

This can be a very difficult area for parents to talk about therefore please contact Rachel Donovan who has experience of these cases.

Notes

John Pickering and Partners LLP

About Us

Our clients are people who have suffered injury as a result of a medical accident in the UK.  We are clinical and medical negligence solicitors.  We handle negligence claims against hospitals, GP’s and other medical practitioners for clients across the UK. 

We try to obtain maximum amounts of compensation. 

We are committed to providing public funding (previously known as Legal Aid) and have a franchise from the Community Legal Services Commission.  This means that they have looked at the firm carefully and approved of the way we work.  They consider that we are medical negligence claims specialists.  They trust us to handle medical accident claims properly. 

If you are not eligible for public funding, we can offer a Conditional Fee Agreement, also known as a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement with insurance.  We shall check the best method of funding your claim. 

All 3 of our offices (Liverpool, Manchester and Halifax) are accredited by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. 

Claire Horton is an experienced clinical negligence solicitor who is based in our Manchester office.  She continues to practice as an independent funding ajudicator for the Legal Services Commission and acts on a pro-bono basis for the AvMA helpline.

For further advice on medical negligence in Liverpool please also contact Rachel Donovan and for Halifax contact Ruth Davies, who are both experienced in the field of clinical negligence.

We provide free initial advice to people seeking information about a potential clinical negligence claim. 

If you need advice about a clinical negligence claim, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.