Boyes Turner’s birth injury specialists have obtained an admission of liability from an NHS hospital for a five year old girl who was deprived of oxygen (hypoxia) in the few minutes before her birth. As a result of the negligent delay in her delivery, our client has severe dyskinetic cerebral palsy.
Towards the end of the mother’s pregnancy there were complications which suggested the baby should be carefully monitored in labour. The fundal height stopped increasing suggesting lack of amniotic fluid or a slowing down of fetal growth and the mother attended hospital concerned about vaginal bleeding and reduced fetal movements.
Given these signs at term, the baby should have been delivered immediately but the mother was not seen by an obstetrician and was sent home to await a planned induction of labour a few days later.
When the labour was induced the midwife failed to carry out continuous fetal heart monitoring by CTG. Instead she monitored the baby’s heart-rate intermittently by auscultation (listening with a stethoscope) and failed to recognise signs that the baby was suffering from distress.
At no time did she call for emergency help from an obstetrician, even when the fetal heart-rate dropped to dangerously low levels, suggesting that the baby’s brain was being deprived of oxygen. Her delay in calling the paediatricians to attend the birth led to delays in the baby’s resuscitation.
Our client suffered permanent brain damage and is severely disabled. She will require specialist accommodation, equipment, therapies and care for the rest of her life.
Boyes Turner’s cerebral palsy lawyers investigated the claim and secured an admission of liability from the defendant hospital. We are now arranging for judgment to be entered and are applying for a substantial interim payment to meet our client’s immediate needs whilst we work with the family and our experts to value the claim.
