Boyes Turner secure admission of liability for 10 year old boy's birth injury after uterine rupture

Boyes Turner’s specialist cerebral palsy lawyers have secured an admission of liability from an NHS hospital in response to a birth injury claim for a 10 year old boy who suffers from cerebral palsy.

The claimant has severe, whole body cerebral palsy, severe spastic diplegia, significant learning difficulties and a divergent squint. His condition was caused by a period of hypoxia (lack of oxygen) which he sustained during the defendant hospital’s negligent management of his mother’s pregnancy.

The claimant was his mother’s second child. Her first baby had been delivered by emergency caesarean section and her second pregnancy was booked to be managed by the defendant hospital under consultant-led care. Towards the end of her second pregnancy, the claimant’s mother was admitted to hospital in labour with continuous pain and a tender, tense uterus - symptoms suggestive of a placental abruption. In these circumstances it was mandatory for her to be monitored continuously by CTG (cardiotocograph) but over the next 6 hours she was monitored inadequately and her condition deteriorated unnoticed, despite two attempts from her partner to call on the midwife for help. By the time she was finally examined, she was extremely unwell, feeling cold and clammy, nauseated and in severe pain, and the fetal heart could not be detected. She was taken to theatre for an emergency caesarean section, during which it was discovered that her uterus had ruptured – a life-threatening condition for both mother and baby. The claimant was found to be severely acidotic at birth and needed resuscitation and ventilation. He has suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the negligent management of his mother’s pregnancy and the delay in his delivery.

Boyes Turner have now entered judgment for the claimant and have secured an interim payment of £250,000 to help the family provide for the claimant’s immediate needs whilst experts’ reports are obtained to assess the value of the claim.