Birth Injury Compensation Claims

Birth injuries can be wide-ranging in both nature and severity. No matter your experience, or whether harm was caused to you or your baby, we understand that this is one of the most difficult situations you could be faced with.

At Been Let Down, we have extensive experience in dealing with cases of all types. If you or a member of your family experience this distressing situation, we can help with multiple forms of birth injury compensation claims. A few of these include:

Cerebral palsy

In the UK it is estimated that 1 in every 400 babies is born with cerebral palsy. This condition can be caused by oxygen deprivation during birth.

Erb’s palsy

This condition can be caused at birth if a baby’s shoulders become stuck. In Erb’s palsy, structures of the neck can be damaged along with nerves and muscles in the shoulder, arm, and hand.

Mother being injured

These injuries can include ineffective suturing of vaginal tears, failures to carry out episiotomies, infections and pre-eclampsia mismanagement.

Other birth injuries

Forceps trauma, stillbirths, placental rupture and even umbilical cord problems can all have devastating effects on your baby.

If you believe you could have a case to make a birth injury compensation claim, please contact us. As soon as you get in touch, a member of our legal team will listen to you with care. Wherever possible, we will offer you the support and advice you need to take the first steps in making a claim.

We know that nothing can undo the pain you’ve been through – and the potential impact of birth injuries can be life-changing for parents. In many cases, the ability to work may be affected if constant care is required, and long-term plans may need to be put in place for the child’s future health and wellbeing.

By ensuring compensation is paid, you can regain some control over your lives and that of your baby. With the necessary measures in place, you will be able to care for your child. Financial support could cover payments for modifications to your home, or costs for:

• Purpose-built accommodation
• Special schooling
• Medical equipment
• Specialist childcare and bespoke transport

Furthermore, successful birth injury compensation claims may prevent the same mistakes from happening again.

You can make a birth injury compensation claim on behalf of your child or yourself, depending on who has been affected. Typically, you will be required to prove:

• That the medical professional provided treatment to you that fell below a reasonable standard of care i.e. the standard of treatment given was such that no responsible doctor would have treated you in the way that you were treated.
• That the birth injury was a direct result of those negligent actions. This is referred to as causation.

In a court of law, breach of duty is determined in accordance with the Bolam test, whereas causation is considered on the balance of probabilities. Effectively, this means it must be more likely than not that the injury would not have been caused but for the breach of duty.

A judge will also hear the testimony of medical professionals. You will therefore need to appoint a legal team that has access to medical professionals who will support your birth injury claim. If you have been let down by public health professionals, you can sue the NHS.

We appreciate that thinking about birth injury compensation claims is complex, particularly when you’re already dealing with the pain and consequences of the injury itself. Taking that first step can be stressful, but we’re here to guide you through the process.

Our legal team will listen to you with empathy and give you the time you need to explain what happened. If you believe you are eligible to claim for a birth injury, please make an online enquiry or request a callback.

We will then arrange a convenient time to call you to understand more about your case. After our initial conversations, we can advise you on whether we will be able to proceed with a birth injury compensation claim.

No two claims are the same, which is why it is difficult for us to give a simple answer to this question.

The birth injury compensation amounts you could receive will depend on a number of factors, such as the severity of the birth injury, how it has affected your life and that of your baby, and what financial impact it has had – and will continue to have.

At Been Let Down, our expert medical negligence solicitors will assess your situation and put forward the best possible case, so that the maximum amount of birth injury compensation can be sought. Most of our cases run on a No Win No Fee basis, also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement or CFA.

A birth injury claim for a child can be made by parents or legal guardians on their behalf, up until the child’s 18th birthday. Once the child turns 18, provided they have the mental capacity to do so, they will have until the eve of their 21st birthday to claim.

In most cases relating to maternal or parental birth injury claims, you have three years from the date of the negligent injury to make a birth injury compensation claim.

However, medical negligence claim time limits may be extended if you have a later date of knowledge or if you are claiming on behalf of someone who does not have the mental capacity to make a claim.

According to the NHS Resolution Annual Report in 2022/2023 at least 80% of clinical claims settled without court proceedings. It’s likely that your birth injury claim will not require you to go to court, but you shouldn’t rule it out.

If your case does go to court, please don’t worry. At Been Let Down, our legal experts will be here to guide you calmly through the process, offering our presence, support and expertise. As such, you can be confident that we’ll look after you every step of the way.