Giving birth to a child can be one of the most fulfilling experiences in your life. However, if you or your child suffers a birth injury, it could lead to life-altering consequences and cause a lot of trauma.
You can go through our guide to learn how to claim birth injury compensation if you or your child has suffered such an injury due to the negligent actions or inactions of a healthcare professional.
Key Points On Birth Injury Compensation
- If you or your child suffer an avoidable injury due to a medical professional’s negligent act, you may have an eligible birth injury claim.
- You can claim on behalf of your child by becoming a litigation friend, or your child can make their own claim after the age of 18.
- Your birth injury claim may include compensation for your physical and psychological injuries and compensation for your financial losses.
- You could also have an eligible claim if you suffer a birth injury during a caesarian procedure.
- You can claim birth injury compensation with the support of the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel.
For more information about medical negligence compensation, you can contact us:
- Message us through Live Chat.
- Call 0800 408 7826.
- Leave your details on our Contact Us form.
Browse Our Guide
- Average Payouts In Birth Injury Compensation Claims
- Am I Eligible To Make A Birth Injury Claim?
- What Childbirth Injury Claims Can Cover
- Can I Claim For Injuries During A Caesarian Section?
- How To Claim For Birth Injury Compensation
- How Our Panel Of Solicitors Can Help You Claim
- More Information
Average Payouts In Birth Injury Compensation Claims
You must be wondering how much compensation you could receive for your birth trauma. Providing an average figure for your compensation payout wouldn’t help you. This is because every traumatic birth claim is unique in its facts and circumstances. No two birth injury compensation claims are identical. Therefore, it’s recommended that you consult our advisors, who will help you value your claim after providing a free case assessment.
What Factors Go Into Deciding Compensation?
Your birth injury compensation may be split into two major heads:
- General Damages: This is the compensation for your/ your child’s physical and psychological injuries.
- Special Damages: This is the compensation which you may be able to claim for your financial losses.
Your birth injury solicitor or the person valuing your claim will refer to the Judicial College guidelines (JCG) to calculate your general damages. The JCG provides various kinds of injuries and a range of compensation you can claim.
The table below summarises some of the JCG figures. However, they are just guidelines and all but the first row are taken from the JCG.
| Injury | Severity | Notes | Compensation Guidelines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Injuries and Special Damages | Very Serious | There are multiple injuries and a loss of earnings along with a need for lifetime nursing care. | Up to £25,000,000+ |
| Brain Injury or Damage | Very Severe | There is severe disability and chance of Cerebral Palsy and other cases of developmental abnormalities. | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Injuries to Female Reproductive System | Infertility and Complications (a) | This includes complications like multiple surgeries and ectopic pregnancies. | £140,210 to £207,260 |
| Injuries to Female Reproductive System | Permanent Sexual Dysfunction (b) | Infertility and sexual dysfunction (highly likely to be permanent) in a person who already has children or was anyway unlikely to have any. | £52,490 to £124,620 |
| Injuries to Female Reproductive System | Diagnostic Delays (f) | There is a delayed diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy. The award varies according to pain, suffering, bleeding and psychological impact. | £4,140 to £24,930 |
| PTSD | Severe | All aspects of life are affected, including the ability to work. | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| PTSD | Moderately Severe | There is significant disability in the near future but better prognosis. | £28,250 to £73,050 |
| Bladder Injury | Serious impairment in control | There is pain and incontinence and a loss of control. | £78,080 to £97,540 |
| Bowel Injury | Severe (c) | There is serious impairment in control accompanied by incontinence and pain. This persists even after surgery. | In the region of £97,530 |
| Shoulder Injury | Severe | These injuries are typically associated with neck injuries and brachial plexus damage. They cause significant disability. | £23,430 to £58,610 |
Claiming Special Damages
As explained above, you may be able to include special damages or the financial losses you’ve suffered due to your birth injuries. Here are the special damages which you could claim:
- Medical expenditures like prescriptions, physiotherapy and counselling sessions.
- Travel costs to the hospital
- Cost of professional care, including life-time nursing requirements
- Expenses incurred for disability equipment and home and vehicle modifications.
- Loss of earnings (both present and future) due to time taken off from work or unable to return to work
How To Use Our Compensation Calculator
Our birth injury compensation calculator is a simple tool that you can use to estimate the payout you might receive. It is simple to use and uncomplicated. You’ll just have to enter the details of your birth injury, specifically which body parts have been impacted and whether the injury is physical or psychological or both. You will then receive an estimated range of the birth injury compensation figures which you could claim.
You can ask our advisors for guidance if you’re unsure about the calculations. They can also give a more accurate valuation of your claim.
Am I Eligible To Make A Birth Injury Claim?
All medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses, surgeons, and technicians, have a duty of care toward their patients. This duty entails providing quality treatment and care that meets minimum standards.
To claim birth injury compensation, you need to establish the following:
- The medical professional owed a duty of care towards you. Therefore, you must prove that you were seeking treatment from that medical professional.
- They breached this duty of care.
- You or your child suffered an unnecessary and avoidable birth injury due to this breach.
Can I Claim On Behalf Of My Child?
You can claim on behalf of your child by applying to the courts to be appointed a litigation friend. Before making the appointment, the court will just ascertain the following:
- You can make fair and competent decisions related to your child’s claim.
- There is no conflict of interest.
Alternatively, you can wait until your child attains 18 years of age, after which they can make their claim. However, if they’ve suffered a serious injury during the birth, such as brain damage, they may not have the mental capacity to make their claim. In this case also, you may claim on their behalf as a litigation friend.
If you need help in determining the eligibility of your claim, you can contact us for a free case assessment.
What Childbirth Injury Claims Can Cover
Here are some common birth injuries caused to mothers and babies which could form the basis of birth injury compensation claims:
Injuries To The Mother
- Nerve damage due to perineal tears.
- Errors in suturing.
- Incorrectly-performed episiotomies.
- Ruptured or retained placenta
- Retained swabs
Injuries To The Baby
- Fractures or broken bones
- Brain damage or head injury
- Cerebral Palsy
- Erb’s Palsy
- Scars and lacerations
Want to claim for psychological damage? Contact our advisors now for a free assessment. If eligible, they can ensure that every birth injury you can claim for is included in your case.
Can I Claim For Injuries During A Caesarian Section?
A Caesarian section is a surgical procedure in which a baby is delivered by making incisions on the mother’s uterus and abdomen. If you or your baby suffer a birth injury due to a breach of duty of care by the medical professional, you may be eligible to claim compensation. For example, if the surgeon cuts your bowel while performing the procedure.
You can make your caesarian injury claim with us, and we’ll guide you through the process.
How To Claim For Birth Injury Compensation
Although you’re not mandated to engage a medical negligence solicitor for your claim, seeking expert guidance always helps. Our panel of solicitors is capable and experienced in dealing with traumatic birth claims. A solicitor from our panel can help you claim birth injury compensation. They will support you with navigating the claims process. This will allow you to focus on your and your child’s recovery.
Gathering Evidence And Your Medical Records
It’s important to collect evidence to support your birth injury claim. Some of the evidence that you could use are:
- Personal written records or diary entries.
- Photographs of injuries
- Medical records
- Witness statements of those who accompanied you to the hospital
- Correspondence with the doctor or the hospital
- A copy of your maternity notes (also called hand-held notes)
How Long Do I Have To Make A Claim?
Under the Limitation Act 1980, the time limit for starting medical negligence claims is three years. This time is calculated from the date the injury occurred or from the date the claimant became aware that the harm suffered was connected to a negligent medical professional.
However, as explained above, your child cannot claim for injuries before the age of 18. Therefore, this time limit starts only after their 18th birthday. You can initiate their claim at any point before they turn 18.
Additionally, if your child has suffered a brain injury, resulting in a loss of their mental capacity, there is no time limit. That’s because anyone without the mental capacity to handle a claim has the limitation period indefinitely halted. The time limit only starts if the injured party regains this capacity, giving them three years from that date to begin the process.
In both of the above cases, you could act as a litigation friend.
For more guidance on the time limit in your case, reach out to our friendly advisors now.
No Win No Fee Agreements
You may be worried about the costs involved in making birth injury claims. Our panel has No Win No Fee solicitors offering services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means that you won’t have to pay your solicitor any upfront legal fee for their work during the pendency of your claim.
If your traumatic birth claim is successful, your solicitor will retain a fixed percentage of your compensation as the success fee. To ensure fairness, there is a limit on this percentage set by the law. If your claim is unsuccessful, you won’t have to pay your solicitor for their services.
How Long It Can Take For You To Get Compensation
There is no definite period for you to get birth injury compensation. Since every claim differs in its facts, there are different factors which affect the time taken, such as:
- Severity of the injuries
- Claim complexity
- Whether the healthcare provider admits liability
- Negotiations
An experienced birth injury solicitor will be able to provide you with a rough timeline of your case. Please get in touch with us for more information on the time birth injury claims can take.
How Our Panel Of Solicitors Can Help You Claim
The birth injury lawyers from our panel can help you in the following ways:
- Gathering evidence
- Making sure to start your claim within the time limit.
- Communicate and negotiate with the healthcare professional’s insurers.
Make your birth injury negligence claim with our No Win No Fee solicitors:
- Message us through Live Chat to find out if you are eligible to proceed with our services.
- Call 0800 408 7826.
- Leave your details on our Contact Us form and an advisor will get back to you.
More Information
Thank you for reading our guide on birth injury compensation. Here are some more relevant guides from our website:
- Our guide on making a hospital negligence claim.
- Information on amputation claims.
- Details on claiming compensation for a back injury.
Here are some external links for more information:
- Guidance from the NHS on labour and birth.
- Information on pre-eclampsia from the NHS.
- Details from the government on protecting your baby and vaccines.