Experiencing birth trauma could have serious and even life-long physical, emotional and financial impacts on a person. If you, your child or a loved one has suffered harm due to negligent care during childbirth, you may wonder whether you could claim compensation. In this guide,e we look at when and how to sue the NHS for birth trauma. Our guide examines the medical negligence claims process, covering eligibility to make a claim and the steps you may need to take when claiming compensation. We also break down how compensation may be calculated. Finally, you can find information on how a No Win No Fee solicitor could help you.
Get support from one of the experienced birth trauma solicitors from our panel and take the first steps towards claiming compensation.
- Call us on 0800 408 7827.
- Click here to contact us online about birth injury claims.
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Select A Section
- Am I Eligible To Sue The NHS For Birth Trauma?
- How To Start Your Birth Trauma Compensation Claim
- How Much Compensation Claims Cost The NHS
- Average Compensation Amounts
- How Our Panel Of Birth Trauma Solicitors Can Help
- More Information
Am I Eligible To Sue The NHS For Birth Trauma?
Every experience of pregnancy and childbirth is unique. In some instances, mothers or babies may be harmed during pregnancy or childbirth. Such harm may be physical or psychological and could have a lasting impact on that person’s health. Whilst some birth injuries may be unavoidable, others may be caused by medical negligence.
Birth injury claims could be made if you, your child or a loved one suffered harm due to medical negligence. The general criteria which compensation claims must meet are:
- The party harmed was owed a duty of care by a medical professional. This is automatically owed when under their care.
- A medical professional breached this duty of care.
- The breach resulted in mother, baby or both being unnecessarily or avoidably harmed.
Claiming For The Mother
Birth trauma could impact mothers both physically and psychologically. Mothers could suffer physical harm, such as perineal tears, uterine ruptures or complications due to poorly managed C-sections. A traumatic birth experience could also lead to emotional distress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Mothers could sue a doctor for compensation themselves. In instances where they are unable to do so, another person may make a birth injury claim on their behalf.
Claiming On Behalf Of A Child
During a traumatic birth babies may suffer harm such as cerebral palsy and other types of brain injury, erbs palsy, the break or fracture of a bone or nerve damage.
Those under the age of eighteen are unable to claim on their own behalf. As such, a parent, guardian or other suitable adult must act on their behalf in the claim. To do so, they must apply to become a litigation friend.
If appointed to make a birth trauma compensation claim on behalf of a child, you may do so at any point until they turn eighteen. If no claim has been made by this point, the child may claim on their own behalf.
Find out whether you could sue the NHS for birth trauma experienced by yourself or a loved one by contacting our team. A Solicitor from our panel could help you to claim birth injury compensation.
How To Start Your Birth Trauma Compensation Claim
You could sue the NHS for birth trauma on behalf of yourself or a loved one if your case meets the eligibility criteria set out in this guide. One of your first steps may be to make a formal complaint. If you were harmed due to negligent NHS care you could make a complaint to your local Integrated Care Board or the relevant NHS trust.
Following this, there are additional steps you can take to sue a hospital or other body for harm caused by a traumatic birth.
Gathering Evidence
In order to sue the NHS for birth trauma, you need to provide a strong body of evidence. You must be able to clearly demonstrate how a medical or healthcare professional breached their duty of care to you, how you were harmed and how severe this harm was.
Evidence which could show how you were harmed includes:
- Copies of medical records. These may be from your initial diagnosis and treatment, subsequent care received or from a medical assessment.
- Photos of any visible injuries to the person harmed, either mother or baby.
- Contact information for anyone witness to your negligent care.
- A diary detailing what symptoms you had and the impact these had on you.
How Long You Have To Make A Claim
Typically, patients harmed by negligent medical care have three years in which to begin a compensation claim. This time limit is set by the Limitation Act 1980. There are exceptions where time limits may vary.
If you are making a claim on behalf of a child or on behalf of an adult who lacks the mental capacity to make their own claim, this limit may not apply. When claiming for a child, the three year limit does not start until they reach the age of eighteen. If claiming on behalf of a mother who lacks the mental capacity to claim on her own behalf, there is no time limit in which to make a claim. This may be reinstated if the person harmed regains their mental capacity.
Whilst the time limit is not in effect another person may act as a litigation friend in the claims process. They could apply to the courts to be appointed to act as a litigation friend.
Making A No Win No Fee Claim
The solicitors from our panel could help people to make birth injury claims on a No Win No Fee basis. This may be done by taking the case on via a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). A CFA is a type of contract which sets out the services a solicitor will provide as well as when and how they will be paid for such services.
If you make a successful birth injury claim your solicitor will then deduct a ‘success fee’ from your compensation. This fee is set as a small percentage of your award and what may be charged is legally capped. If your birth injury claim is not successful, there will be nothing to pay for the solicitors’ work.
How Long It Can Take To Get Birth Trauma Compensation
Whereas there are time limits in which to start your claim, there are no such limits on how long birth injury claims may take. How long your birth trauma compensation claim could take may depend on factors such as:
- What investigations are carried out by the healthcare provider, how long they take and what their findings are.
- Whether the medical professional or organisation accepts responsibility for the harm you suffered.
- How severe the harm was and how long it takes for you to recover.
- Whether parties can agree upon a settlement.
Because birth injury claims may be complex and take longer to settle, you may be able to apply for an interim payment. This is a payment deducted from your final compensation settlement and which may be paid out to meet immediate costs, such as those for medical care. To be awarded an interim payment you must have a very high chance of making a successful claim.
Please contact our team for more information on how birth injury compensation claims work.
How Much Compensation Claims Cost The NHS
According to statistics published by NHS Resolution, the cost of clinical negligence claims in 2023/24 was £2.8 billion. This figure includes both damages paid to claimants and legal costs associated with such cases.
The same data from NHS Resolution shows that during this period 41% of all compensation payouts were related to maternity negligence. Data also shows that there has again been an increase in the number of claims made, with 13,784 claims being made in 2023/24, up from 12,629 in 2020/21.
You can find these and other figures in the report on annual statistics from NHS Resolution.
Average Compensation Amounts
All birth injury claims are individually assessed. This means that your case will be assessed on its own merits and knowing the average compensation payout may not benefit you. Whilst we can not provide you with an accurate figure without first knowing the full details of your case, in the next part of our guide we look at how compensation payouts may be calculated.
Factors That Can Affect Your Payout
Traumatic birth compensation may be calculated as two heads of claim. The first of these is general damages. The second is special damages. The combination of these two heads compensates you for your pain and suffering as well as financial losses.
General damages compensate for harm suffered, whether physical or psychological. To calculate this, birth injury lawyers may check documents such as your medical records and the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG contains guideline figures covering compensation for different illnesses and injuries.
Figures below have been taken from the JCG with the exception of the top row, which illustrates what could be awarded if special damages are taken into account.
| Harm | Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple, serious injuries | Serious or severe | Up to £1,000,000+ (with award for special damages). |
| Brain damage | Very severe (A) | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Involving paralysis | Paraplegia (B) | £267,340 to £346,890 |
| Kidney damage | Serious, permanent injury or loss of both kidneys (A) | £206,730 to £256,780 |
| Bowel | Loss of natural bowel function (B) | Up to £183,190 |
| Bladder | Loss of natural bladder function and control (B) | Up to £171,680 |
| Bladder | Serious impairment of bladder control | £78,080 to £97,540 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | Severe (A) | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | Moderate (C) | £9,980 to £28,250 |
| Spleen | Loss of spleen, minimal or no risk of infection (B) | £5,310 to £10,550 |
Special Damages – What You Need To Know
The purpose of special damages is to compensate claimants for financial losses. Special damages are not awarded automatically. Claimants must have been harmed, been awarded general damages and be able to prove that the expense or financial loss is related to the harm they suffered.
Examples of special damages;
- Loss of earnings, income or workplace benefits such as pension contributions or entitlement to overtime. You may use payslips to prove this.
- The cost of medical treatment and/or prescription medication. You can show such costs using invoices.
- The cost of specialist equipment or adjustments to your home. Invoices may be used to prove such losses.
Our team can provide more information on how to sue the NHS for compensation and how your compensation payout may be calculated.
How Our Panel Of Birth Trauma Solicitors Can Help
It may seem overwhelming or even daunting to think about starting a birth injury claim. At How To Sue we work with a specialist panel of birth injury solicitors. They are experienced at helping people to claim for birth injuries on their behalf and on behalf of others.
They could support and guide you through the claims process. A solicitor or lawyer from our panel could help by walking you through how to make a birth injury claim. They could help to explain key medical or legal terms and assist in gathering evidence to show your eligibility to claim. They could also advise claimants on what special damages may be claimable and what evidence could help to do so. Further, they could help build your case, contact any third parties, and negotiate your compensation settlement.
To sue the NHS for birth trauma, get in contact with an expert today by:
- Calling 0800 408 7827.
- Talking to us live below about birth injury claims.
- Visiting our contact page.
More Information
You can get further information on making medical negligence claims by exploring the links below.
- Check how to sue a hospital for MRSA in this guide.
- A GP may miss the initial signs or symptoms of birth trauma. Find out how to sue a GP for negligence here.
- A retained placenta could cause serious health complications for mothers. Find out how to claim compensation in this guide.
References.
- Learn more about standards for nurses as set out by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
- The NHS Constitution for England sets out patients’ rights and responsibilities. You can learn more in this guide from the government.
- Read more about the quality and safety of maternity care in this parliamentary research briefing.
Thank you for reading our guide on how to sue the NHS for birth trauma. If you are ready to make a birth injury claim, one of our panel of birth injury lawyers could help support you every step of the way.