You must meet certain criteria to make a compensation claim for a broken bone birth injury. Medical professionals owe an automatic duty of care to all the patients they treat. If this duty of care is breached, causing you to suffer harm that could have been avoided by the right level of care, this is classed as medical negligence, and you could be entitled to make a claim.
Broken bone birth injury claims guide
In this guide, we will discuss what counts as medical negligence in more detail. Additionally, we will explain the time limits you must adhere to when making your claim.
Furthermore, we will provide examples of the compensation you could receive following a successful claim and the evidence you could collect to help support your case.
You can contact our advisors today. They are available 24/7 to offer free legal advice and answer your questions.
To speak with an advisor today, you can:
- Call on 0800 652 3087
- Complete our claim online form
- Talk to an advisor using the live chat feature
Browse Our Guide
- Check If You Could Make A Broken Bone Birth Injury Claim
- Types Of Fractures Which Occur During childbirth
- Showing Medical Negligence Caused A Broken Bone Birth Injury
- Compensation Payouts For A Broken Or Fractured Bone In Childbirth
- Check If You Could Make A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claim
- Learn More About Birth Injury Claims
Check If You Could Make A Broken Bone Birth Injury Claim
During the birthing process, there are various injuries that the mother and baby could suffer, such as a broken bone. However, to make a claim for a broken bone birth injury, you must prove the following:
- A medical professional (such as a doctor, midwife or nurse) owed you a duty of care.
- This medical professional breached their duty of care.
- Due to this breach of duty, you and/or your baby suffered avoidable harm. A breach of duty that causes avoidable harm is known as medical negligence.
Time Limits In Birth Injury Claims
Before starting your medical negligence claim for a broken bone birth injury, it’s important to be aware of the time limits. These are:
- 3 years from the date medical negligence occurred; or
- 3 years from when you knew (or would have been expected to know) that your injuries resulted from negligence. This is otherwise known as the ‘date of knowledge’.
If your baby was injured, they would have 3 years to start a claim from their 18th birthday. Before this, a court-appointed litigation friend, such as a parent or solicitor, could claim on their behalf and the time limit for doing so is suspended.
Contact our advisors today to see whether you’re still within the time limit to begin your claim. As well as this, they could inform you of any further exceptions to the time limits listed above.
Types Of Fractures Which Occur During childbirth
There are various broken bone injuries that either the mother or baby could suffer during the birthing process. For example, the mother could suffer from a broken pelvic bone that was unavoidable in the safe delivery of the baby.
However, to claim for a broken bone birth injury, the injury must have been the result of medical negligence. Some examples of injuries that a baby could suffer during the birthing process include:
- A fractured clavicle.
- A broken shoulder bone. This could cause nerve damage, such as a brachial plexus injury that results in paralysis.
- Growth plate injuries.
- Broken femur bone.
Furthermore, a birth that is made difficult because of medical negligence might cause mental injuries. For example, the mother could experience postnatal post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.
It is important to remember that there may be instances where a broken bone injury could occur when the right level of care was provided. For instance, a baby’s shoulder sometimes needs to be dislocated or broken in order to deliver them as quickly and safely as possible. In this instance, you may not be eligible to claim compensation.
Contact one of our friendly advisors today to discuss your potential claim. They could also advise you on how to claim compensation for medical negligence.
Showing Medical Negligence Caused A Broken Bone Birth Injury
To help strengthen a broken bone birth injury claim, you must present sufficient evidence. Some of the evidence you could collect to help support your claim include:
- Scans, e.g. X-rays.
- Doctor or hospital reports.
- Medical records.
- The results of an independent medical assessment. If you work with a lawyer from our panel, then this could be arranged as locally as possible to you.
Additionally, the findings from the Bolam test could be used to support your claim. This is when a panel of medical experts trained in a relevant field assess whether you received the correct standard of care.
Contact our advisors today if you have any questions about providing proof of medical negligence in your claim. If your case is valid, you could be connected with a No Win No Fee lawyer from our panel to work on your case.
Compensation Payouts For A Broken Or Fractured Bone In Childbirth
If you make a successful medical negligence claim for a broken bone birth injury, your compensation settlement will include general damages. This compensates you for the pain and suffering you have endured due to a medical professional’s negligence.
When valuing claims, many legal professionals will use a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them. This is because the JCG lists compensation guidelines for various impacts on your health at different severities. For the table below, we have used the compensation brackets listed in the most recent edition of the JCG, published in April 2022.
However, it is important to remember that the specific factors of your claim could affect how much compensation you receive. So, you should only use this table as a guide.
| Injury | Severity | Description | Compensation Guidelines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelvis & Hips | (i) Severe | Substantial pelvis fractures that involve a ruptured bladder and the dislocation of the lower back joint. | £78,400 to £130,930 |
| Pelvis & Hips | (i) Moderate | A serious pelvis/hip injury. However, it won’t result in a permanent disability with little future risk. | £26,590 to £39,170 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderately Severe | The person will suffer with a significant disability. However, there will be room for some recovery with professional help. | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderate | An almost full recovery will be made within 1 to 2 years with only minor symptoms persisting. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
| Arms | (b) | One or both forearms have serious fractures and results in a significant functional or cosmetic residual disability. | £39,170 to £59,860 |
| Arms | (d) | Simple forearm fractures | £6,610 to £19,200 |
| Legs | Severe (iii) Serious | Serious comminuted/ compound fractures that result in instability and require prolonged treatment. | £39,200 to £54,830 |
| Legs | (ii) Less Serious | Simple fractures of the femur that result in no damage to the articular surfaces. | £9,110 to £14,080 |
| Shoulder | Severe | A shoulder injury often associated with neck injuries and involves damage to the brachial plexus. | £19,200 to £48,030 |
| Shoulder | Fracture of Clavicle | How much is awarded will depend on various factors such as the extent of the fracture. | £5,150 to £12,240 |
Special Damages In Birth Injury Claims
Any financial losses you have experienced due to your broken bone birth injury could be compensated with special damages in your medical negligence claim. Some examples of the financial losses you could be compensated for include:
- Medical expenses.
- Loss of earnings.
- Care costs.
You will need to provide evidence of these losses to claim them under special damages. For example, bank statements and invoices could be used as evidence.
Contact our advisors today to see whether you may be eligible for compensation. They could also answer questions such as ‘how much is medical negligence worth in compensation?’.
Check If You Could Make A No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claim
A solicitor from our panel could help you with your medical negligence claim for a broken bone birth injury. They have experience handling medical negligence claims and could help you build a solid case. Additionally, they may offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). A CFA is a type of No Win No Fee agreement.
When working with a No Win No Fee solicitor, you are usually not expected to pay them any upfront or ongoing fees for their services. Furthermore, you are generally not expected to pay them for their services if the claim is unsuccessful. Alternatively, if the claim is successful, you will pay a success fee to your solicitor. This is a percentage taken from your compensation settlement and is legally capped.
Contact our advisors today if you still have questions about how to claim compensation for medical negligence. They could also put you in contact with a solicitor from our panel if they believe you could be entitled to compensation.
Contacting Our Team
We understand you could still have questions this guide may not have covered. If so, you can contact our friendly team of advisors today. Our team is available 24/7 to help answer your questions regarding broken bone birth injury claims.
Additionally, they could offer you free legal advice concerning your potential claim. If our team believe you could be eligible for compensation, they could connect you with a medical negligence solicitor from our panel.
To speak with an advisor today, you can:
- Call on 0800 652 3087
- Complete our ‘claim online’ form.
- Use the live chat feature.
Learn More About Birth Injury Claims
Additional articles by us about medical negligence claims:
- Medical Negligence Stillbirth Compensation Claims.
- Hospital Negligence Compensation Claims.
- Medical Negligence Compensation Calculator.
Or, if you are looking for further information:
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) – Standards for competence for registered midwives.
- Royal College of Nursing (RCN) – Duty of care.
- Department of Health and Social Care – The NHS Constitution for England.
Do not hesitate to contact our advisors today if you have any questions about pursuing a medical negligence claim for a broken bone birth injury.
Writer Megan
Publisher Fern