We recently settled a preventable permanent brain injury claim for a girl, now aged eight, who has severe disabilities as a result of inadequate maternity care provided by her local hospital in the North West.
Born in a very poor condition, she was delivered via a delayed emergency c-section. She had no heartbeat and she was not breathing at birth. Extensive resuscitation was required to bring her back to life and a blood transfusion was provided however, avoidable catastrophic brain damage had already occurred.
Our client has dyskinetic cerebral palsy as a result of the harm caused during her care due to inadequate medical care. She is severely disabled and is also blind, has hearing loss, is non-verbal, has suffered seizures since she was born and is fed through her stomach. She is unable to walk, roll or stand without help.
Thirty weeks into the pregnancy the first episode of reduced baby movements was noticed.
A CTG was performed at the hospital with a normal outcome. Our client was not advised of the risks of the baby starting to move less frequently, nor the importance of seeking timely medical attention as soon as this was noticed.
A second episode of reduced baby movements occurred at 34 weeks into the pregnancy. Our client, however, did not report this to the hospital until two days later unaware of the fact that the likelihood of a poor outcome at birth would be increased following delayed medical care.
A further CTG was conducted returning a normal result. Once again, the hospital failed to provide advice on the seriousness of any episodes of reduced baby movements and the importance of reporting this to the hospital without delay.
A growth scan was provided 35 weeks into the pregnancy and a plan to induce labour at around three weeks later was discussed however, a junior doctor two weeks after this appointment advised that this was not the case.
At 38 weeks into the pregnancy, a third episode of reduced baby movements occurred. As our client had not been properly counselled about the importance of reporting the reduced movements without delay, many hours passed before she attended hospital. A CTG showed that the baby was in immediate distress, and that the baby’s heartbeat had slowed. It was also clear that a haemorrhage had been suffered.
Unfortunately, the medical staff did not act quickly enough to deliver the baby, instead opting to perform an illogical ultrasound scan before performing an emergency caesarean section. The crucial minutes lost meant that the effects of the haemorrhage started to cause damage to the baby’s brain.
Our client should have been born a perfectly healthy baby girl with a normal life expectancy. Had her parents been advised to report any reduced movements quickly, they would have attended hospital promptly and should have been delivered earlier. Timely medical intervention would have ensured that her catastrophic injury would not have occurred.
Her life expectancy has been significantly reduced due to the serious harm suffered and is the devastating outcome of the injury caused during the pregnancy. Her life is limited to the age of 16 and she continues to be extremely poorly with frequent hospital visits to meet her care needs.