Delayed maternity care leads to hypoxic brain injury at birth

Our client and his family were supported by solicitor Georgina Tither in reaching a settlement after suffering a hypoxic birth injury at birth. This settlement has helped the family manage the day-to-day realities of the life-long difficulties caused by failures in antenatal care resulting in a delay in delivery causing hypoxic brain injury. This settlement not only allowed the family to purchase an accessible home, but also the employment of a multi disciplinary team necessary rehabilitation for our client’s care. What you can expect in this case study: 

• Details of the birth injury and how it occurred. 
• The physical and psychological impact of the hypoxic brain injury. 
• The support provided by family, as well as rehabilitative treatment. 
• Legal resolution of the case and compensation agreed. 

The birth injury 

Our client, now nearly 10 years old, suffered a severe and permanent hypoxic brain injury during his birth. Throughout labour, there were clear signs that he was in distress and needed to be delivered urgently, yet the medical team failed to act quickly enough. This led to a 57‑minute delay in his delivery that should never have happened.  

During this time, he was deprived of oxygen, causing catastrophic and irreversible damage to his brain. As a result, he now lives with profound, lifelong disabilities that affect every aspect of his daily life and require round‑the‑clock care and support. This has been an incredibly difficult journey for him and for his devoted family, who have cared for him tirelessly since the day he was born. 

Living with the impact of his hypoxic birth injury  

Due to this birth injury, our client has lifelong and complex difficulties. He has:  

• severe cerebral palsy,  
• epilepsy,  
• learning difficulties,  
• visual impairment,  
• double incontinence,  

As well as the above, our client is also unable to walk, talk, sit, or feed himself. He relies on others for every aspect of his care, including a heavy reliance on his family. Our client is now 9 years old (almost 10) and his life expectancy is sadly limited to his mid‑20s. 

Family and rehabilitation support  

His parents were extremely young at the time of his birth (18 and 19), and the effect on the whole family has been enormous. They have cared for him 24/7 his whole life, giving up their careers or the ability to work, and have had to move homes to adapt their living environment to meet his needs. They rarely go out or spend time with others because of the complexity of his care.   

Over the years his family have also been responsible for managing his medical needs such as ensuring he had various therapies and was able to access them such as physical and speech therapy and hydrotherapy. They were also responsible for the equipment needed within our client’s day to day life such as:  

• wheelchairs,  
• hoists,  
• orthotics,  
• specialist seating 

Securing justice and future support 

With the support of Georgina Tither, a solicitor in our birth injury team, a settlement was secured to support our clients and his family. The NHS admitted full liability, and it was found that if our client had been delivered 57 minutes earlier, all injury could have been avoided.  

The over £4 million lump sum settlement including interim payments helped the family to relocate to a house better suited to our clients’ needs and helps pay for general life while his parents focussed on supporting their child. This settlement included “lost years” damages, because his working life and lifespan have been reduced, and there will also be ongoing annual payments which will also cover:  

• A full professional care package: 2 carers during the day and 2 at night 
• All future therapies and specialist medical reviews 
• Orthopaedic surgery, spasticity treatment, eye care, dental care, dietetics 
• A fully adapted property, including specialist equipment and a home hydrotherapy pool 
• All future specialist equipment he will need throughout life 
• Holidays with carers and accessible accommodation 

The agreed compensation was centred around our client’s needs to ensure he has round‑the‑clock specialist care, and his home and equipment needs are met for life, but also to ensure his family receives the support they need to look after him safely.  

Here when you need us 

At Fletchers we understand that traumatic births and birth injuries can be devastating, but the realities of day-to-day life even more so.  We’re home to one of the UK’s leading birth injury teams, dedicated to supporting families when maternity care goes wrong and focusing our support on helping you move forward. 

If you or your baby has been impacted by delayed or negligent maternity or postnatal care, we’re here to support you and to make sure your voice is heard. 

For every birth. For every baby. For every family.