Mishandled birth results in cerebral palsy case

Our client already had one child that was delivered by caesarean section when she gave birth to her second child in August 2005. The labour was slow and so the decision was made to administer drugs to speed up the contractions. Following the treatment, our client began to experience severe abdominal pain and began to feel light headed.
 
The midwife who was with our client called the doctor to review the labour but there was a significant delay in assessment. The decision was then made to deliver the baby by emergency caesarean section. During the caesarean, it became apparent that the uterus had ruptured at the site of the previous caesarean scar.

Our investigation questioned whether the use of the drugs the client was given in order to speed up the labour had over stimulated the uterus and potentially led to the rupture.

It was concluded that slow assessment and decision making at the birth had contributed to the injuries the baby sustained and the claim for clinical negligence was successful.
 
Our client is being represented Rachelle Mahapatra, Partner in the Clinical Negligence team in our Leeds office. She said:

"Whilst being physically very disabled she is a very intelligent little girl. The challenge for me, when quantifying her claim, was finding the equipment she will need to aid her mobility and enable her to access education and have the best quality of life possible".