Paediatric medico-legal reports
Birth Injury Claims
A birth injury claim may turn on whether care fell below an acceptable standard and whether that breach caused avoidable harm. We provide paediatric expert reports addressing causation, the child’s condition and prognosis. You see the expert’s CV before you instruct. Each report is prepared in accordance with the expert’s duty to the court under CPR Part 35. We act for instructing solicitors on either side.
Overview
What a birth injury claim involves
A birth injury is harm to the baby around the time of delivery. It can be caused by a lack of oxygen, by trauma during birth, or by the management of complications such as shoulder dystocia.
Why it matters legally
Claims examining the standard of care in labour and delivery
Birth injury claims are clinical negligence claims examining whether the labour and delivery were managed to the proper standard.
Reports we produce
The reports a birth injury claim relies on
Experts who assess it
The paediatric specialists on a birth injury claim
Neonatologists and a perinatal expert address the events around birth; a consultant paediatrician can coordinate the picture, and a paediatric neurologist addresses neurological injury where the brain is affected.
Case-type context
Where these claims sit
These claims sit in clinical negligence and birth injury proceedings. Where the child has cerebral palsy, see cerebral palsy compensation claims; for a brachial plexus injury, see Erb’s palsy claims.
FAQ
Birth injury claims: common questions
Legal aid can be available for certain birth injury claims involving brain injury; your assessment of eligibility governs.
Independent expert evidence on causation and prognosis supports the advice a solicitor gives on a birth injury claim.
Yes, for instructing solicitors on either side.
Settlement depends entirely on the injury and the child’s needs; our reports address condition, prognosis and care rather than valuation.
No. A birth injury is not always avoidable; our experts give an independent view on whether the labour and delivery were managed to the proper standard.
Paediatric expert instruction for birth injury claims
Send your case details and we will allocate a birth injury expert swiftly, with a same-working-day quotation and the CV before you instruct.