Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Claims
Losing a baby to neonatal death or stillbirth is an incredibly painful experience. It is a traumatic event that can have lasting consequences on your mental health, emotional wellbeing, and your family’s future.
A lot of parents faced with the loss of a baby are worried about future pregnancies. Many find it challenging to carry on with their everyday lives as they are haunted by feelings of guilt, mourning, and often, failure. Our team of stillbirth and neonatal death claims experts are dedicated to helping parents reclaim their lives and carry on.
We offer compassionate legal support in these sensitive circumstances. Our team of experts devise strong evidence-based cases for your stillbirth & neonatal death claims to ensure you receive the right level of compensation for your significant loss.
To start a stillbirth or neonatal death claim, please get in touch with our medical negligence solicitors by calling 01253 766 559 or completing this form.
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To start stillbirth & neonatal death claim today, or for more information simply complete the form below.
Why do stillbirth & neonatal death claims exist?
If you have never experienced the loss of a baby, you may not be aware of how frequent stillbirths and neonatal deaths are in the UK. Every day, 15 babies born in the UK are stillborn or die shortly after. The tragic loss can happen for a variety of reasons, many of which are, unfortunately, unavoidable, such as complications with the placenta, a genetic physical defect, a haemorrhage during or before labour or premature birth. However, in other cases, medical professionals have made mistakes that could have been avoided. We are leading birth injuries specialists with in excess of 25 years’ experience, committed to supporting families who are dealing with the loss of a baby following a preventable stillbirth or neonatal death.
We know that these circumstances are highly traumatic for parents. A stillbirth is when a baby is born dead after 24 weeks of pregnancy. The death can occur in the womb or during delivery. For mothers, it can be extremely difficult as some have to carry the baby until delivery, knowing and feeling that the child isn’t alive anymore. We stand by your side to help you to obtain compensation in a stillbirth claim if this could and should have been avoided in order to help you to rebuild your life.
With neonatal death, parents welcome a living baby into the world. Sadly, the baby dies within 28 days of birth which is a heartbreaking experience for parents. When a neonatal death occurs, many unavoidable factors can be responsible. A neonatal death claim however, is when the loss could have been prevented had the appropriate medical care been provided.
Who can I turn to for support after a stillbirth or neonatal death?
We understand that in the event of a death, parents can find it hard to say goodbye to their baby. We recommend to parents who consult us for stillbirth and neonatal death claims to reach out to charities such as Little Things & Co, Sands and The Birth Trauma Association for advice and emotional support. You have three years after the incident, or date of knowledge, to start a compensation claim.
What can I do if I believe that the loss of my baby was preventable?
Our team of medical and legal birth injury experts are committed to helping parents receive the answers and justice that they need to move on with their lives. No compensation can replace your baby, but it can help you to rebuild your family’s future. Parents come to see us when they want to investigate whether the loss of their baby was avoidable. They feel that the treatment that both mother and baby received was below acceptable standards and that it could have contributed to the stillbirth or neonatal death.
We request the medical records on your behalf to understand the situation and gather evidence of medical negligence. We work with some of the best independent medical experts in the country to get to the truth of what happened to your baby.
This helps us to identify what went wrong leading to the loss of your baby. This may include:
- Lack of adequate monitoring of both mother and baby during the pregnancy and birth
- Failure to provide timely diagnosis and treatment during pregnancy and birth
- Failure to deliver the timely medical intervention
- Failure to escalate care to a specialist consultant following unusual test results
We offer compassionate legal support in these sensitive circumstances. Our team of experts devise strong evidence-based cases for your stillbirth & neonatal death claims to ensure you receive the right level of compensation for your significant loss.
To find out more about how our team of experts can help, you can listen to Alison’s story.
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What to expect through your birth injury claims process
We will discuss your case with you, including the errors you believe were made during your child’s birth and the effect this has had on their health, wellbeing and ability to function day-to-day. We will then provide an honest assessment of whether we think you have a claim worth further investigation and explain the claims process and fees involved.
We will bring together all the essential evidence to support your erb’s palsy claim, including medical records, witness statements and evidence from independent medical experts.
We will then contact the NHS Trust or healthcare provider that you believe is responsible for your child’s erb’s palsy in writing. This letter will detail the alleged medical negligence and the resulting injury to your child.
The defendant has 4 months to investigate your claim and to provide a response. This will generally either involve them accepting full or partial liability and offering a financial settlement or denying responsibility. If a settlement is offered, we will advise you on whether we think it is reasonable and, if not, what further action can be taken.
If you are not satisfied with the defendant’s response and any offer of compensation, we can issue court proceedings. The defendant will have 28 days to respond, after which the court will set a date for a hearing. Typically, your hearing date will be around 18 months after proceedings are initiated.
In most cases where a claim has reached this stage, we will be able to secure a pre-trial settlement allowing you to avoid a court hearing. We have a very strong negotiating team to help ensure any settlement reached meets your child’s lifelong needs.
If your claim cannot be resolved outside a court hearing, we can offer experienced and highly skilled advocacy to secure the best possible outcome for your family.
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Start Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Compensation Claim Now
If you suspect that medical negligence was responsible for the loss of your baby, contact our stillbirth & neonatal death claims solicitors by calling 01253 766 559 or completing the form below.
