Anne's Case

Anne's mum was admitted to the Defendant's hospital when she was in labour following an unremarkable pregnancy. After about 6 hours she was fully dilated and advised to start pushing. Despite pushing for almost 85 minutes, there was no progress of Anne's head and the obstetric SHO reviewed her. It was decided that, although there were no worrying signs on the CTG, that a trial of instrumental delivery should take place in theatre. When this failed, an emergency caesarean section was carried out, but neither the SHO or the Registrar were able to deliver Anne. A crash call was put out which was responded to by two of the Consultants, who finally managed to deliver Anne, but she suffered damaged to her skull and was left with a permanent left-sided paralysis. Our obstetric expert felt that the standard of care provided to Anne fell below a reasonable standard for a number of reasons, but primarily because they placed unnecessary pressure on her head during delivery, causing the damage to her skull.

Results of the Case
Anne's case settled at a round table meeting for a sum which included her legal costs, with Anne getting an award of around £705,500.

Please note that all names have been changed to maintain anonymity.