Successful claim for client who suffered quadriplegic cerebral palsy at birth

H was born in 2008.  

At the time although her parents were aware that there were difficulties at birth and upon delivery, the umbilical cord gave way and broke, the hospital explained to them that they could not understand why H was born in such a poor condition especially when the CTG trace appeared to look normal until her birth with there being no suggestion that the labour was mismanaged.  For a time H’s parents accepted this despite the significant disabilities sustained by H namely quadriplegic cerebral palsy, with no useful mobility, no speech, incontinence and cognitive problems.  It was only sometime later that H’s parents decided to seek specialist clinical negligence legal advice. 

Our Approach 

The initial medical expert evidence that we commissioned suggested that based upon the CTG trace which looked normal, the expert could not understand why H was born in such a poor condition.  Detailed discussions took place with various experts and then it became apparent that there may well have been a switching of the CTG trace from fetal to maternal.  A specialist in fetal monitoring was instructed and indeed he confirmed that there was no doubt that when the mother’s position was changed, the trace started to monitor her heart rate and not that of H which in fact was not monitored for nearly the last hour of birth.  This suggested that there was negligence on the part of the midwives for failing to recognise that it was the mother’s heart rate that was monitored and had this been realised H would have been delivered earlier and had she been delivered earlier she would have been born undamaged. Once the claim was presented to the hospital, it was accepted in full and an apology was made to H and her family for the devastating injuries she sustained. 

Solicitor Comments: 

“This was a very difficult claim to investigate.  H was born in a poor condition but the CTG trace immediately prior to birth suggested otherwise.  It was only through our tenacity and perseverance that we were not prepared to accept this explanation, hence the involvement of a specialist fetal monitoring expert.  We were delighted for H and her family when the hospital accepted fault.  The compensation which she has been awarded will allow H to live in an adapted property to meet her disability related needs and will enable her family to purchase specialist equipment and therapies.” 

Family Comments: 

“I have to say a massive thank you for all the hard work and perseverance with our case. The whole process of dealing with the firm and Sahida Patel has been made easier  because of the amount of information by letter, emails and phone calls along with being able to pick up the phone at anytime and ask any questions we may have had. 

We are so pleased for our daughter that she can make up for lost time in a fully adapted one level  property and will get as much physiotherapy, specialist help and carers required to make her life as wonderful as possible. She is such a beautiful and happy girl and  deserves every opportunity possible and we are all looking forward to what the future holds for our family.”