A five week inquest recently found that baby Ida Lock died six days after her birth as a result of neglect and a catalogue of errors while under the care of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) in 2019.
She suffered preventable brain damage during her birth at the Royal Lancaster Hospital with the hospital’s initial internal investigation into her death finding that there were no medical failings during her care.
It has been reported that the hospital self-certified that it had met all ten safety standards to receive in excess of £734,000 in the same year – the trust had to return much of this a year later after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) review finding.
Ida’s inquest concluded in 2025 – ten years after a damning report following a review of the trust’s maternity services was published by expert Dr Bill Kirkup who told the inquest that the same avoidable mistakes were still being made.
The review into the maternity care delivered in Morecambe was the first significant review of its kind in NHS history. This has since been followed by high profile reviews into patient safety in the maternity units in Shropshire, East Kent, the maternity services run by the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board in south Wales, and an ongoing current review in Nottingham.
Maternity negligence is a serious issue in England and Wales. According to reports, the reviews conducted to date have sadly not led to improvements in patient safety. According to expert Dr Bill Kirkup following the inquest into baby Ida’s death, the mistakes made in her care are part of widespread systemic failings in maternity care across the country.
The scope of maternity negligence
Maternity negligence is when medical care falls below adequate standards causing significant and preventable injuries. Serious medical mistakes can occur either during a pregnancy, during childbirth, or the period just after a baby is born.
Negligence may involve a hospital failing to diagnose or treat medical conditions in time, or at all; failing to monitor a mother and baby appropriately; or not recognising or acting swiftly when there are signs present showing that a baby is in distress requiring an intervention.
Permanent birth injuries, the most serious being those leading to irreversible brain damage or the loss of a baby, can also occur when the delivery of a baby is not managed appropriately.
This can sometimes happen when a vaginal birth is allowed to progress when a timely c-section may have been the safest option for mother and baby. It may be that an assisted vaginal delivery has caused a significant life altering injury due to mismanagement.
The care delivered during the neonatal period in the days or weeks post birth may have fallen below adequate safety standards causing catastrophic outcomes.
It is devastating for families that the same serious failings in maternity negligence continue to occur across England and Wales despite key learning opportunities and evidence based recommendations following extensive reviews conducted at different NHS Trusts.
Common consequences of maternity negligence
The consequences of maternity negligence can alter the life of entire families. Inappropriate, delayed, or inadequate maternity care can result in:
1. Physical injury to the baby: Oxygen deprivation experienced before, during or just after a baby is delivered can mean that irreparable brain damage occurs. This can lead to significant lifelong disabilities such as cerebral palsy. This also means that the loss of mental capacity is highly likely, and the harmed individual becomes a permanent protected party due to this serious vulnerability.
2. Stillbirth and neonatal death: One of the most tragic outcomes of maternity negligence is a stillbirth or the death of the baby shortly after they are born. This may be due to a failure to monitor or recognise signs of distress in a timely manner, dangerous delays in delivering the baby, or not addressing issues of common infections such as group b streptococcus.
Legal recourse for maternity negligence in the UK
Victims of maternity negligence have the right to seek legal recourse. The legal route is sadly commonly the only way for families to get to the truth of what happened, and to access much needed compensation to cover the substantial care costs if their child has brain damage.
If a family believes that their child has been harmed due to the negligence of medical professionals, even in instances when the hospital may have conducted its own internal review and advised that nothing more could have been done to change the outcome, they have a right to access legal advice.
This may lead to starting a medical negligence claim against the hospital believed to be responsible for causing preventable serious harm.
Legal action involves proving that a healthcare provider failed to meet the standard of care expected in maternity services to keep both mother and baby safe. This complex process requires proving that the negligence directly caused significant harm to a mother or their child.
Claims can be brought against NHS trusts or private healthcare providers and compensation may be awarded for both physical and psychological harm. During the legal process, a thorough investigation into what happened, what did not happen, and when, is undertaken.
A complete picture of the lifelong impact on the harmed individual’s life, and what good support and care would look like to provide the best quality of life possible, is conducted once the full impact of their disability is known.
Interim support is available to families during maternity negligence claims
Due to the complexity of birth injury claims, and the essential need to wait until a full understanding of a disability are known, maternity negligence claims can take a few years to conclude.
Day to day care needs, which can be extensive in brain damage cases, still need to be met in the meantime of course. Families can apply for interim payments through a specialist birth injury solicitor to help cover the cost of carers, specialist equipment and a range of therapies while the legal investigation is progressed.
Answers and the truth
Ida Lock’s parents had to push for the truth after the hospital trusted with her care found that it had made no errors following its own internal investigation. This is in stark contrast with the coroner’s recent findings that Ida’s death was caused by neglect and a catalogue of medical failings.
The reality is that families often carry the burden of not only proving that medical errors caused harm to their loved one, but are also increasingly responsible for simply getting to the truth of what really happened – often against hospitals unwilling to provide transparency.
Instructing the right team to fight your corner
Maternity negligence claims can be a tough process, particularly when a family is already grieving what should have been and for those who find themselves providing 24 hour care for their child’s complex needs.
The legal route is not a quick one and the fight requires robust medical and legal knowledge and expertise in order to conclude with the right outcome. For families already traumatised and struggling with their new reality, having the right legal experts on their side is paramount.
Providing empathetic, transparent, committed, and thorough specialist legal support means that families have the support that they need and deserve.