Irwin Mitchell's expert medical law team have negotiated a settlement for a woman whose baby suffered cerebral palsy, and later death, because of a series of medical failures by staff at St. Mary's Hospital.
Our client - Ms P - became pregnant with non-identical twins in December 2007. She went into labour on 5 August 2008 and was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital. During labour the heart rate of the second twin decelerated, causing concern. Despite this, Ms P was encouraged to continue pushing.
After several hours, the first twin was born. The waters of the second twin were broken shortly after and Ms P was again encouraged to continue pushing even though his heart rate monitor lost contact and wasn't heard for over thirty minutes. When they did hear it again, it was low.
A whole forty minutes after the first twin had been born, hospital staff decided to transfer Ms P to theatre for an emergency caesarean section. Hospital staff delivered the baby, but he was dark blue, floppy and made no sound.
The second twin had been born with severe birth asphyxia (lack of oxygen to the brain) and diagnosed as suffering from severe cerebral palsy, severe spastic quadriplegia, microcephaly, developmental delay and West Syndrome. Sadly, he passed away less than 18 months later.
Shattered by her loss and treatment, Ms P contacted Irwin Mitchell for legal advice and Kate Major, one of our experienced solicitors who specialises in cerebral palsy claims, was able to deal with the claim on behalf of the family.
After investigations, the hospital admitted that the second twin should have been delivered by caesarean section earlier than he was. If he had been, he would have avoided his subsequent brain injury.
Because of these findings and the pain, loss and suffering experienced by the family, they were awarded £500,000 in compensation.
Kate commented: "This is a tragic case which should have never happened. Hopefully lessons will be learnt."
If medical errors during birth caused your child’s cerebral palsy, our expert solicitors could help you claim compensation. Visit out Cerebral Palsy Claims page for more information or call or free on 0808 163 4557.
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