Boyes Turner’s cerebral palsy lawyers secured a £3 million settlement for a young man who asked us to help him claim compensation for his disability from cerebral palsy caused by a hypoxic birth injury 20 years ago. Our client is physically disabled from his cerebral palsy but has retained intellectual function and is able to work part time.We investigated the maternity care he and his mother received during his birth from the defendant hospital. We were able to obtain the 20-year-old maternity records which revealed that three hours into his mother’s labour, the midwife failed to call a doctor when signs of fetal distress appeared on the CTG fetal heart monitor. If a doctor had been called to review the CTG trace, the abnormalities would have prompted them to request fetal blood samples, which would have confirmed that the unborn baby was suffering from lack of oxygen. The baby would have been delivered urgently by forceps or caesarean section and would have avoided his permanent brain injury. Instead, labour was augmented (boosted) with increasing doses of syntocinon (a uterine stimulant), increasing the stress on the baby. At birth, blood tests confirmed our client was acidotic. He had suffered an acute, near total hypoxic ischaemic brain injury in the final 10 to 15 minutes leading up to his birth, which left him permanently physically disabled with cerebral palsy.The defendant hospital admitted that our client’s injury was caused by negligent delays in his delivery. We obtained judgment and interim payments of £100,000 to meet his urgent needs whilst we assessed the full value of his claim. Final settlement was agreed at £3 million compensation.Read more about this case and others on our specialist cerebral palsy website here.If you are caring for a child or young adult with cerebral palsy and would like to talk to one of our specialist solicitors, free and confidentially, to find out more about making a medical negligence claim, contact us at cerebralpalsy@boyesturner.com.
