Our client, Ms C, a young woman from Medway became pregnant with her first child in 2016. There was nothing abnormal on any of the early ante – natal scans and Ms C was classed as a “low risk pregnancy”.
On 21 st January 2017, her waters broke and she went to Medway Maritime Hospital. The Nurses used a Doppler to monitor the baby’s heart rate but did not use a CTG Trace. Ms C was sent home even though the Nurses had struggled to find the baby’s heartbeat.
At home, Ms C felt reduced foetal movement and returned to hospital after a few hours. A scan was performed and no foetal heartbeat could be heard.
Ms C gave birth to a stillborn child in the early hours of the 22 nd January 2017.
After this tragic event, Medway NHS Foundation Trust commissioned a Root Cause Analysis Report, which attributed the still birth to the failure to perform the diagnostic CTG.
Ms C’s ordeal was exacerbated by the fact that she was provided with a memory card, which was supposed to contain images of her baby to retain as a memory. When she looked at the card, however, it contained images of not only her baby but also other babies who had died.
Ms C suffered psychiatric injury as a result of her experiences.
She decided to instruct this firm believing the care provided by the hospital had been substandard. After completing investigations a Letter of Claim was sent to Medway NHS
Foundation Trust alleging that the midwifes had been negligent in failing to take a detailed history regarding the absence of / reduced foetal movements and perform a CTG on 21 st January 2017. Moreover, there had been a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 with the provision of images of other babies and their families.
The Trust admitted failings but inexplicably stated that their failings made no difference to the overall outcomes.
Rather than embark on costly and time consuming litigation, Fairweathers successfully persuaded the Defendant that the sensible course of action would be to settle the claim and after a negotiation Ms C accepted compensation in the sum of £42,000.
Stephen Evans the Solicitor with conduct of this claim commented, “This was a very emotive case which required a high level of client care. The Defendant adopted an unrealistic approach and it is pleasing that a satisfactory settlement was reached without costly Court proceedings.”
If you or a member of your family believes you have a claim then please do not hesitate to phone us free on 0800 999 5585, request a call back or submit your case details.