A young mother shares her birth accident story

The experienced claim handlers at YouClaim received a claim form from a mother who experienced a birth accident that had a significant impact on her physical health and the relationship with her baby for the first weeks of his life.

A young woman from Tyne and Wear told us how the negligence of hospital staff when she was giving birth to her first child lead to a birth accident that left her in great discomfort.

She went into labour and her husband was sent home as the obstetrician thought that it was going to be a while before the baby was born. However, after several more strong contractions the young mother-to-be was re-examined and her husband called back as the baby was well on its way.

As she was wheeled into the delivery room the contractions continued to get stronger and faster and the urge to push was overwhelming, not knowing any better and in the absence of any staff to advise her otherwise, she began to push. After pushing for about 15 minutes a midwife appeared and told her she shouldn't be pushing, but it was too late the baby was crowning and the young woman's vagina was considerably and unnecessarily torn.

After delivery she was taken to a ward with her new son. The next day she was incredibly sore so she asked if she could have a bath only to be told there were limited facilities and that she would be informed when a bathroom became vacant. She waited several hours but no one came, she asked again in the evening but the ward sister told her that she could wait until morning.

The young mother's discomfort continued to grow and by the time the doctors came around for the morning examination she was feeling very sore, quite under the weather and unclean. She pointed the birth injury out to the doctor who sneered and said, "Well, what do you expect?"

Not having been through childbirth before, the young mother felt silly and came to the conclusion that her condition must be normal as no medical staff were showing any concern. She had a bath that evening but the infection was already well under way.

After a few days, she managed to get the attention of a junior doctor and asked for an examination, which turned out to show that she had an infection. She said, "I knew something was up and I've been trying to tell someone" but the medical staff just glared at her. They then sent her up to a different ward and put her on a course of antibiotics and gave her a substance to put in her bath to help clear up the infection.

It took several weeks for her wound to heal in which time she struggled to bond with her new baby as she felt weak and lifting him caused her considerable pain. Her mother recognised what had happened and that a birth accident at the hands of medical staff had been the cause of her daughter's personal injuries. As a result she urged her daughter to contact us to see if we could help.

On reviewing the circumstances surrounding the young woman's birth accident and her physical and psychological injuries we found a personal injury solicitor who specialises in birth injury compensation claims to take her case on under the no win, no fee agreement. Within a matter of weeks the young mother was awarded with compensation of an undisclosed sum.

Contact us to make a compensation claim following a birth accident
Unfortunately, thousands of mothers have been subject to birth accidents and the NHS has had many compensation claims made against it as a result.

If you have been subject to a birth injury at the hands of a member of medical staff then you too could be in a position to make a no win, no fee compensation claim.

We are associated with a panel of some of the best personal injury solicitors in the UK who can help you to make a claim. This won't cost you a penny at any time, regardless of the outcome of your claim.

For more information about our services talk to us on e-chat, send us a call back request and we will get back to you whenever it's most convenient for you, fill in an online claim form with your details or call 0800 10 757 95 and make a claim following a birth accident today.