Articles in ‘Maternal injury’ Category

Adjusting to life after a birth injury is a difficult process for any family, and any birth injury is a permanent reminder of a potentially traumatic event. But if we are ever going to confront Erb’s Palsy, we need to change the way that we talk about it and some of the complications it can involve.

Every year, approximately 30,000 women experience birth trauma in the UK, which can lead to not just physical health problems, but mental health problems too. What is supposed to be a joyful and happy experience, can quickly turn into a traumatic and frightening one.

In March 2017 a consultation was undertaken by the Department of Health (DoH) as to the viability of an NHS run scheme (then entitled “The Rapid Resolution and Redress Scheme”) to provide early compensation to children, who, on the face of it, had incurred a neurological brain injury at the time of their birth due to clinical errors in care.

During birth injury awareness week 2020 one of our clients has kindly agreed to share her personal story with others, explaining what she went through, how she coped with her injuries, and how she eventually “came out the other side”.

Kerstin Scheel details a recent claim against a Bristol hospital Trust for significant maternal injuries including vaginal and perineal tears, some of which required a blood transfusion.

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?

Abigail Ringer, a member of our expert Birth Injury team, reviews some recent stats comparing the UK’s performance in maternity care to countries across the world.

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.

Hannah Blackwell reviews a recent study into maternity care, which draws interesting parallels with our own recent What About Mum survey.