Pregnancy, Gynaecology and Birth Injury

Injuries sustained during pregnancy, labour and delivery of your child can be devastating.  If you or your child (either born or unborn) suffers injury owing to a medical practitioner’s negligence you or your child should be compensated for this and we will be able to help you bring your claim. A claim could also be brought as a result of an injury during a gynaecological operation or procedure such as sterilisation, or the failure of that operation.  

We know how upsetting dealing with these types of injuries can be and how intimidating many people find the thought of making a claim. By providing clear, compassionate guidance based around your needs and those of your loved ones, we can help you get the support and assistance you need while making the claims process as simple and stress-free as possible.

Each member of our team has many years’ experience in making such claims for adults and children.​ Our clinical negligence lawyers are ranked by leading client guide Chambers & Partners, with exceptional specialist expertise in all types of medical negligence claims in relation to pregnancy, gynaecology and birth. As such, we can provide the tried and tested, highly effective advice and representation you need to secure fair compensation.

Please take a look at our FAQs for answers to some of the most common questions we hear from clients – such as “am I eligible to make a personal injury claim?”, “how is my injury claim pursued?”, “how long will my personal injury claim take?” and “how much compensation will I receive from my negligence claim?”.

If you or your child have suffered an injury due to medical negligence during pregnancy or birth, please speak to one of our specialist medical negligence solicitors now.

You can call us on 01689 887 887 or use the simple form above to request a call back.

Birth injury claims

Injuries caused at birth to either mother or baby can have profound lifelong health consequences. Where a baby suffers serious brain damage, it can leave them needing full time care and support for the rest of their lives, seriously impacting their life and the lives of their family.

Our birth injury claims solicitors’ expertise includes:

• Cerebral palsy claims
• Erb’s palsy claims
• Hospital Acquired Infection claims
• Meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia
• Birth trauma

Pregnancy injury claims

During pregnancy, we rely extensively on various different medical professionals, including doctors, nurses and midwives. If the care you receive during pregnancy is negligent, this can have very serious consequences for the long-term health of you and your child, with the potential to cause life-changing injuries or even death.

Our pregnancy injury claims solicitors’ expertise includes:

• Misdiagnosed miscarriages
• Still birth
• Wrongful birth claims

Gynaecology injury claims

Gynaecology deals with the health of female reproductive organs. All women will normally receive various types of gynaecological advice and treatment during their lives and any mistakes in the care given can have devastating consequences, including the potential to cause infertility and other serious health issues.

Our gynaecology injury claims solicitors’ expertise includes:

• Contraception negligence
• Hysterectomy negligence
• Misdiagnosis or late diagnosis of ovarian cancer
• Negligent treatment of a UTI
• Infertility issues
• Failed sterilisations

Funding a pregnancy, gynaecology or birth injury claim

There are various options for funding these types of medical negligence claims, including using legal expenses insurance, Legal Aid or a conditional fee agreement (also known as ‘no win, no fee’).

Legal expenses insurance is often offered alongside home insurance and motor insurance, as well as with some bank accounts and credit cards. This can often be enough to cover the cost of your claim.

Legal Aid is available for some pregnancy and birth injury cases where medical negligence has resulted in a neurological injury to the child leaving them severely mentally or physically disabled. Legal Aid is only available for injuries that were sustained while the baby was in the womb, during birth or shortly after birth.

Conditional fee agreements (‘no win, no fee’ claims) allow us to represent you for no upfront cost, with our legal fees only being payable if we secure compensation for you. This means if we do not achieve a settlement for your claim, you will not owe us anything.

We will be happy to discuss all of these options with you during your initial consultation with our team and help you find a way of funding your claim that works for you.

Time limits for pregnancy and birth injury claims

For injuries to the mother during pregnancy or birth, there is usually a time limit of 3 years from the time the injury occurred to bring a compensation claim. However, if you only later became aware of the injury or that it was due to medical negligence, the 3 year time limit may be counted from the date of awareness instead.

For injuries to a child during pregnancy or birth, a claim will usually need to be brought by the time the child turns 21. The child’s parents or guardians will have until the child is 18 to bring a claim and once the child turns 18, they will have a further 3 years to bring a claim of their own (if required) giving a final deadline of the child’s 21^st birthday.

If the injured party has been left without the mental capacity to bring a claim, there is usually no time limit for someone else to bring a claim on their behalf.

Where someone has died due to medical negligence during pregnancy or birth, you will typically have 3 years from the date of death to bring a claim.

The exact time limits applicable to your circumstances can vary based on a number of factors, so please get in touch with our team to discuss your particular situation.

Our specialist expertise in birth injuries, gynaecology negligence and pregnancy injury claims

Our Personal Injury team is ranked band 1 by leading client guide Chambers & Partners, reflecting our exceptional expertise and track record of success with a wide range of personal injury claims, including for pregnancy, gynaecology and birth injuries.

Our head of Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence, David Greenhalgh, has decades of experience supporting a wide range of clients in relation to serious medical negligence claims. David is ranked band 2 by Chambers & Partners for clinical negligence and is a member of the Law Society’s Personal Injury Clinical Negligence panels, the Action against Victims of Medical Accidents (AVMA), Headway (the charity for victims of head injuries) and the Spinal Injuries Association.

Alex Wormald is a partner specialising in catastrophic personal injury and clinical negligence litigation. Having originally qualified as a barrister before cross qualifying as a solicitor, Alex has exceptional litigation experience, helping to achieve the best available results for clients under even the most difficult circumstances. Alex is actively involved with the UK’s largest medical negligence charity – AvMA.

Clarkson Wright and Jakes is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), providing assurance that we continue to meet the highest standards of legal practice.

Speak to our pregnancy, gynaecology and birth injury solicitors in Orpington today

For clear, compassionate advice on claiming compensation for a birth injury, gynaecology negligence or injury during pregnancy, please contact our medical negligence solicitors in Orpington, Kent now.

Please call 01689 887 887 or use the form at the top of the page to request a call back.