Stillbirth claims – when you have a right to receive compensation

Recovering emotionally following a stillbirth will take time, it is perfectly natural to never fully recover.

The loss of a baby due to stillbirth is devastating and families naturally want transparent answers to understand their bereavement.

When medical professionals fail to provide adequate care

Following a serious maternity incident such as a stillbirth, parents can sometimes be left in the dark.

Some hospitals fail to investigate what happened, and fail to provide answers to explain why a baby has died.

This adds to the pain and suffering felt by families who have a right to understand the medical facts leading to the loss of their baby.

An internal investigation should be conducted by the hospital and information provided to families to identify whether medical staff could have prevented the serious incident.

Medical negligence may be the cause of a stillbirth

 Some stillbirths are unavoidable. There may be medical complications or genetic conditions that mean a baby just could not survive a pregnancy.

When a family has lost a child to stillbirth, having honest, and transparent answers helps in the grieving process.

Bereaved parents who are often told ‘it was one of those things’ are left with too many unanswered questions adding to the trauma experienced.

What to do if medical negligence is suspected

Suspecting that medical care fell below acceptable standards, and may have caused a stillbirth, is heartbreaking however, families have a right to pursue answers, even if they are proven wrong and they find that the loss of their baby could not have been prevented.

Specialist medical negligence solicitors will support families during their child’s inquest, and subsequent stillbirth compensation claim, if it is believed that clinical errors led to the stillbirth.

Diligent, and consistent, patient care may avoid stillbirth incidents

Carefully monitoring both mother and baby consistently, and diligently, throughout a pregnancy and birth can help to mitigate the risks of circumstances that may cause an avoidable stillbirth.

The baby’s heart rate needs to be consistently within the normal range and any changes require attention, and potentially a medical intervention as it signifies that the baby may be in distress.

Other red flags can also be picked up in a timely manner, and acted on appropriately, when medical staff are delivering the correct level of safe patient care.

When bereaved families should question what they are told following a stillbirth

 The days, weeks, and months that follow a stillbirth will likely go by in a fog as parents come to terms with what has happened.

If there are things that do not make sense about what happened, if the hospital involved does not provide very clear answers and reassurance around why a pregnancy ended in a stillbirth, it is every parent’s right to pursue answers.

Often families believe something went wrong but can’t put their finger on what – it is always worth challenging the information provided by medical staff if there are concerns that there was more to it.

Starting a medical negligence compensation claim

Contacting a solicitor if there are any question marks around what led to a stillbirth is important for affected families. It may help make some peace with, and sense of, what happened.

A specialist stillbirth claims law firm will have years’ worth of expertise and will be able to indicate from an initial enquiry whether it is worth requesting medical records to delve deeper into the sequence of events.

Most stillbirth claims are pursued on a no win no fee basis so, other than small disbursement fees, it costs nothing to start a medical negligence claim.

Stillbirth compensation claims require specialist legal advisors

Proving that a serious birth injury such as a stillbirth could have been prevented with better medical care is complicated.

It requires significant legal and medical expertise to identify exactly if, and when, patient care fell below acceptable standards, and to prove that the failings were enough to cause a baby’s death.

To win these robustly fought compensation claims requires a team of true specialists.

A general personal injury, or medical negligence lawyer, may not have true expertise in this complex area, nor the established relationships with the right independent medical specialists to secure the answers, and justice that bereaved parents need.

Clinical negligence under the spotlight

Stillbirth compensation claims must prove that clinical negligence caused the loss of a baby.

Medical records are forensically reviewed with every scan, test result, and timeline, scrutinised. No stone is left unturned when a specialist stillbirth claims team is instructed.

Common clinical negligence errors that sadly lead to a stillbirth claim include:

• Failing to carefully monitor mother and baby throughout, leading to red flags being missed
• Delays in emergency medical intervention as a result of poor communication between medical staff, failure to recognise an emergency situation, or failing to follow up in a timely manner

Medical negligence a serious issue across England and Wales

Clinical negligence in maternity settings across England and Wales has sadly consistently been in the headlines in recent years with scandals in Shropshire, south Wales, East Kent and Nottingham hitting the news.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has also published sobering findings around the quality of patient care in maternity wards.

Recurring issues leading to serious patient harm, including stillbirth incidents, have been exposed.

Cultural issues have been identified in different hospitals with poor communication between medical staff, and a toxic blame culture highlighted as amongst key concerns.

Families’ rights following stillbirth incidents

Bereaved parents are entitled to answers. Being told by medical professionals that it ‘was one of those things’ is not sufficient, nor fair.

When a pregnancy results in a stillbirth, parents are entitled to know exactly why they have suffered such a devastating loss.

When parents have suffered a stillbirth, and the hospital has not provided transparent answers, questions must be asked.

Instructing solicitors for stillbirth compensation claims

Stillbirth claims are pursued primarily for families to get the answers that they need, and are not getting, from the hospital involved in the care of mother and baby.

The stillbirth compensation claims process involves carefully securitising medical records to provide a clear picture of how a pregnancy has progressed, and looking at scan and test results to identify when signs of a problem first arose.

Often in stillbirth compensation claims, the early signs that a baby may be in distress, or other indicators that timely medical intervention is required, are sometimes missed.

This results in unnecessary and dangerous delays leading to catastrophic injuries.

Stillbirth compensation for pain and suffering

 When it is suspected that a stillbirth could have been avoided, the pain and suffering is further compounded.

Stillbirth compensation claims are calculated based on the pain and suffering experienced as a result of a stillbirth caused by medical negligence.

This may include accounting for the inability to work to full capacity, or at all, for a period because of the psychological harm resulting from a preventable stillbirth.

Securing justice for bereaved families

To make a claim for stillbirth compensation takes a lot of strength. Questioning the information, or lack of, given by a hospital when a family has suffered a stillbirth, requires courage.

The stillbirth compensation claims specialists at Diane Rostron understand that families will be grieving for some time.

Empathetic guidance through the stillbirth compensation claims process

We understand that taking the legal route may feel daunting, and may be overwhelming, in addition to processing and coming to terms with losing a child.

We listen empathetically, and guide clients through the process – from representing families at their child’s inquest, to pursuing a clinical negligence claim.

Members of our team have lost their child to medical negligence within a couple of hours’ of their birth, we offer a true understanding of the depth of loss felt, in addition to legal expertise.

Making a stillbirth claim

Contacting a law firm to start a stillbirth claim involves providing some details about what happened, where and when, and the circumstances leading to a suspicion that medical negligence caused the baby’s death.

Claims are pursued on a no win no fee basis. Specialist solicitors can advise from the information provided whether the claim can be progressed.

There are time limitations on making these types of claims of three years from the date of the incident, or three years from the date of knowledge that it may have been an avoidable stillbirth.

Going to court during medical negligence claims

The legal process for medical negligence claims does not always involve going to court. A specialist birth injury solicitor will endeavour to reach a settlement without the need to take matters to court.

As these are complex, difficult claims to prove, and in addition, are robustly fought every step of the way, some cases do have to go to court to resolve the matter.

The legal team at Diane Rostron, working with leading barristers, support families in the lead up to, and during court proceedings if the matter reaches this stage.

Choosing the right stillbirth claims solicitor for your family

Going through the stillbirth compensation claims process will feel painful. Choosing the right law firm for your family, a team of specialists who make you feel comfortable, and supported, is essential.

The right solicitor will put you at complete ease from the start and will provide a personal service throughout.

It can feel desperately lonely following clinical negligence giving rise to a stillbirth claim.

Processing the loss, in addition to the knowledge that the medical staff trusted with keeping both mother and baby safe, failed to do so, is challenging at best.

Having the right legal team fighting for a family’s rights to transparency, and justice, can help devastated parents feel less alone, and less defeated by the hospitals who have failed them.