Articles by ‘Kerstin Scheel’

Baby loss awareness week takes place for the 19th year between 9-15 October 2021 with a request to light a candle between 7-8pm on 15th October in remembrance of all babies lost to us in pregnancy or infancy. We are asked to create a wave of light and to post photographs or memories on social media of babies lost to parents and families.

Kerstin Scheel reviews the current state of maternity care in the UK, and what is being done to improve patient safety in this area.

A fantastic study led by the University of Nottingham seeks to definitively assess the value of GBS testing in pregnancy in NHS maternity services in England. July 2021 is GBS awareness month #GBSAM2021 and studies such as this will be imperative, if supportive in its findings, in persuading the NHS to fund routine GBS testing in pregnancy and reducing the number of cases of early-onset GBS infection in newborns.

A young boy has been awarded substantial multi-million pound damages following the negligent care afforded to his mother during her pregnancy.

In January 2021 MBRRACE published is latest report into maternal deaths. It was noted that between 2016-2018 23 women in the UK lost their lives to sepsis, accounting for 11% of all maternal deaths in that period. The report made a number of recommendations to improve these figures going forward.

The claimant, a 40-year-old woman, received damages for the injuries she suffered as a result of the failure of the staff employed by the defendant trust to diagnose and treat infection with Streptococcus group A following the delivery of her child. As a result of the negligence she suffered sepsis leading to myositis and a blistering skin rash; and underwent total hysterectomy with salpingo-oophorectomy. She also developed post-traumatic stress disorder and a depressive episode of mild severity.

The claimant, a 39-year-old woman, received damages for the injuries she suffered as a result of the failure of the staff employed by the defendant Trust to diagnose and treat infection with Streptococcus group A following the delivery of her child. As a result of the negligence she suffered sepsis and kidney failure requiring admission to ITU; and underwent total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. She also developed post traumatic stress disorder.

Kerstin Scheel reviews the key findings from the recent MBRRACE-UK report into maternity care.

A significant cause of maternal deaths in the UK results from sepsis (around 10%) (1). The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) have clear guidelines on the management of bacterial sepsis before and after pregnancy, but is this enough to prevent serious harm to mother and babies from sepsis?

A 30-year-old woman was represented by Kerstin Scheel; she received £165,000 in compensation for the injuries sustained when an appendicectomy was negligently performed.

Kerstin Scheel represented a 27 year old man who received £90,000 for the damages to his radial nerve sustained during an operation.

Kerstin Scheel explains the changes made to processes of the NHS Early Notification Scheme (ENS) and Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) in light of COVID-19.