Medical negligence, NHS or private care related, can be traumatic, as all doctors and medical staff have a duty of care towards you. When this relates to your baby, it can be even more difficult. Lack of oxygen to the brain often causes severe developmental issues for babies, resulting in potential life-long complications needing expert and expensive care.
Birth injury claims can help provide you with a stable financial situation to ensure that your baby receives the best care possible.
What is Birth Asphyxia?
This birth injury occurs when there is a lack of blood flow and oxygen to a baby’s brain and can happen before, during, or after the birth. Lack of oxygen and nutrients to cells in other organs results in acids building up and damaging cells. The damage caused depends on:
- The duration of time your baby didn’t have enough oxygen.
- The speed in which your baby receives treatment.
- How low the oxygen level was.
From low pH levels to abnormal foetal heart rate, birth asphyxia can present several symptoms. The Apgar score, relating to the tests that newborns are given from one to five minutes after being born, can help to determine if your baby’s symptoms are due to this condition.
The Apgar score has five components, with each having a score of 0, 1, or 2 up to a maximum of 10. The lower the Apgar score, the higher the risk of birth asphyxia:
- Appearance
- Pulse
- Grimace
- Activity
- Respiration
What Causes Birth Asphyxia?
Birth asphyxia can be mild or severe, with some symptoms being low heart rate, very weak breathing or absence of breathing, poor muscle tone, very high amounts of acid in the blood, or skin with a blue, grey, or pale colour. Birth asphyxia often occurs due to several reasons such as:
- An extremely long or difficult birth.
- Your baby has anaemia, and cells can’t carry enough oxygen.
- The mother’s blood didn’t have enough oxygen before or during birth.
- Your baby’s airway is blocked.
- There were issues with the umbilical cord during delivery.
- The mother’s blood pressure was too low or too high.
Making a Birth Injury Claim
Making a claim on birth asphyxia for your newborn on the basis of negligence involves proving that medical staff breached their duty of care and that breach resulted in your newborn suffering from birth asphyxia.
A professional solicitor will help you to establish if you have a negligence claim and how to proceed with your compensation claim process. Our team understands how distressing it can be when your child has suffered an injury, and all cases are treated with a compassionate and sensitive approach.
After assessing your case, we proceed with writing to the relevant medical authority where you gave birth. This will state that you are making a claim on your baby’s behalf due to birth asphyxia caused by birth injuries.
The relevant medical authority will have 90 days to investigate your claim, and they can concede to the negligence or challenge your claim. Should the latter occur, our solicitor will file the proceedings for you in court. It’s important to note that you won’t necessarily have to go to court, as many compensation claims are settled outside of court.
Through our No Win, No Fee policy you are assured that, should your claim be unsuccessful, your financial situation will remain the same and you won’t have to pay your solicitor. Contact us on 01772 562084 if you believe your baby has suffered from medical negligence to know how we can help you make a claim.