Clinical negligence solicitor, Caroline Webber-Brown, looks at the key aspects of making an obstetric negligence claim.
Common instances of obstetric negligence
Obstetric negligence claims typically include cases where the standard of medical treatment fell below that which patients are entitled to expect. Cases commonly involve:
- Fetal monitoring / CTG interpretation and escalation: Was the trace correctly interpreted? Was delivery expedited?. Were the NICE guidelines fetal monitoring and acting on findings followed.
- Delay: This includes delays in carrying out reviews, and surgical delays, such as a delay in carrying out a caesarean).
- Systems failures: Was there sufficient staffing, adequate handovers, and accurate medical record keeping?
Consent and obstetric negligence
Obstetric negligence claims can also be made where a patient wasn’t properly warned about medical procedures or alternatives. Clinicians must take reasonable care to ensure that patients are aware of the material risks involved and reasonable alternatives.
Causation in obstetric cases
Even if there has been a breach of the legal duty of care, you still have to prove that it caused the injury. Timing can be crucial in determining causation. And were there any other factors involved, such as infection, placental issues, prematurity, congenital/genetic factors, or metabolic disorders?
The need for supportive expert evidence
Obstetric claims usually need one or more independent medical experts to analyse and comment on:
- Whether the duty of care has been breached; and
- Whether that breach caused the injury.
Expert witnesses in these cases might be specialists in:
- obstetrics
- midwifery
- neonatology
The importance of medical records
Missing, incomplete, or poor medical notes (or disputed CTG traces/printouts) can lead to serious evidential disputes about what was observed and communicated, as well as the timing of key events.
Limitation and “date of knowledge”
Obstetric claims, like other clinical negligence cases, have a three-year limitation period running from the injury, or (if later) the claimant’s ‘date of knowledge’.
If the injured patient is a child, then time generally doesn’t start running until they reach the age of 18 – though a ‘litigation friend‘ (often a parent of the child) can sue earlier.
Time will be further extended where the claimant lacks capacity.
Making an obstetric negligence claim
The first step for most claimants will be to retain a specialist medical negligence solicitor to investigate the claim and gather the evidence that will be necessary to prove the case.
In many cases settlements are reached ‘out of court’ before there is any need for formal court proceedings to be commenced.
Where court proceedings are required the parties are expected to follow the Pre-Action Protocol for the Resolution of Clinical Disputes. This protocol requires letters of notification/claim, disclosure of documents, expert engagement, and the consideration of ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution).
How our team can assist you with making an obstetric claim
Here are just a few of the reasons that make our clinical negligence team ideally suited to helping you recover compensation for obstetric negligence:
- We are recommended by both the Legal 500 and Chambers guides to the legal profession
- We are SRA regulated
- We are Lexcel accredited by the Law Society for excellence in client care
- We have a five-star rating on the independent review website ReviewSolicitors we we are ranked among the best firms in the UK
- We are members of the AvMA lawyers panel
- We work on a fully funded no win, no fee basis, specially created for clinical negligence cases
We operate free consultations, so it costs nothing to find out where you stand and whether you are entitled to receive compensation.
We also offer a popular second opinion service for those who believe they may have been incorrectly advised about making a medical negligence claim.
