What are Medical Negligence Birth Injuries?
During birth, medical practitioners need to ensure that both the baby and mother are adequately cared for and receive proper medical attention. Medical practitioners need to respond appropriately to both patients’ needs. Unfortunately, accidents can arise causing injuries to either the baby or the mother.
Injuries to the mother can include perineal tears, caesarean section injuries, infections, injuries to the uterus, mismanagement or misdiagnosis of pre-eclampsia, mismanagement or misdiagnosis of gestational diabetes, prescription of incorrect medication, and so on.
What is a Medical Negligence Claim for Birth Injuries to the Mother?
This is a type of claim brought by or on behalf of the mother for compensation for injuries caused by a breach of duty in the mother’s medical care during birth. The mother’s injuries may be of a physical and/or psychological nature.
What is the Process Involved in Making a Medical Negligence Claim for Birth Injuries to the Mother?
The first step is to speak to a medical negligence Solicitor who has expertise in dealing with these types of claims and will be able to provide legal advice backed by experience. Your Solicitor will take detailed instructions from you regarding how the birth progressed and what occurred to cause the injuries.
They will need to request copies of your medical records from all relevant practitioners, including from the maternity hospital, your General Practitioner and any other practitioner who provided treatment to you in the aftermath of the birth.
Once the records are received, your Solicitor will carefully review them and will discuss them with you.
They will then decide what expert reports are required in your circumstances and will brief the relevant independent expert(s) with your instructions and copies of the medical records. The expert(s) will be asked to provide reports dealing with liability and causation.
Once a liability report is to hand and the expert is able to identify a breach of duty in the care provided to you during birth, legal proceedings can be issued. Your Solicitor will then brief a barrister and ask them to draft proceedings.
The draft proceedings will be reviewed with you before being issued in court and served on the Defendant(s).
What Do I Need to Prove in a Medical Negligence Claim?
You will need to prove two things:
- Liability – that there was a breach of duty in your medical care provided. You must be able to show that no reasonably competent doctor with the same qualifications, skills and expertise, faced with the same set of circumstances, at the same time would have acted in the same way.
- Causation – that you sustained injuries or suffered an adverse outcome, and that this was caused by the said breach of duty.
Independent experts will be briefed to review the relevant medical records and provide reports on liability and causation. The liability report will usually be provided by an expert with the same specialty and qualifications as the medical practitioner who provided the medical treatment complained of. You may need multiple causation reports, depending on your circumstances and your Solicitor will advise you on what is required.
What are the Time Limits for Making a Medical Negligence Claim?
The time limit for medical negligence claims is two years from the date the cause of action accrues or two years from the date the Plaintiff first had the requisite knowledge, as under Section 2 of the Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Act 1991. With a medical negligence claim for a birth injury, the time limit will usually be two years from the date of the birth. However, every case is different, and you Solicitor will advise you on what the time limits are for you, depending on your particular circumstances.
It can take some time to gather all the relevant information and documentation before legal proceedings can be issued. It is, therefore, very important that you consult with a medical negligence solicitor as early as possible if you intend to make a claim to ensure that you understand the claims process and what is required of you from an early date.
Fachtna O’Driscoll – Medical Negligence Solicitors Cork
Fachtna O’Driscoll Solicitors are specialists in medical negligence and can guide you through a claim, with efficiency and clear, comprehensive advice.
You can contact our Medical Negligence Solicitors Cork team by calling 021 427 8131 or by emailing info@fodlaw.ie.
