§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2023

CNZ (suing by her father and litigation friend MNZ) v Royal Bath Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

[2023] EWHC 19 (KB)·High Court (King's Bench Division)·11 January 2023

The mother of twins asked for a caesarean during labour and was refused; the second twin was delivered 6.5 minutes later than she should have been and suffered damaging oxygen deprivation. Ritchie J found the Trust negligent for the delay and held that without it the whole of her brain injury would have been avoided.

Outcome

Claimant succeeded

Sum stated in judgment

Not stated

Claim type

Cerebral Palsy

Decided

Liability decided at trial

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: Royal Bath Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (first defendant); Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (second defendant)

Injury: Acute profound hypoxic-ischaemic injury around the birth of a second twin in February 1996, causing quadriplegic cerebral palsy

Specialty: Obstetrics · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“was negligent in delaying the birth of the Claimant by 6.5 minutes (the mid point of the range 5 and 8 minutes of delay)”

The money

Liability and causation trial only; the claimant succeeded against the Trust and recovers 100% of her damages, to be assessed. The separate claim against the Secretary of State over antenatal consent failed.

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

A delay of only a few minutes in delivery can be negligent and can be enough to cause the entire injury. A mother's reasonable request for a caesarean during labour should be properly considered and explained, not simply refused.

About cerebral palsy claims →

§ MORE CEREBRAL PALSY JUDGMENTS

Claimant succeeded

CCC (by her mother and litigation friend MMM) v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2026] UKSC 5·2026·Appeal decision

A child left profoundly disabled by negligence at birth was refused 'lost years' damages for earnings she would have made in the years her injury cut from her life, because a 1982 Court of Appeal case barred such awards to young children. The Supreme Court (Lady Rose dissenting) overruled that rule and sent the case back for the lost-years loss to be assessed.

Claimants injured as young children whose life expectancy has been shortened can now claim for earnings in the 'lost years', on the same principles as adults. This can add substantially to catastrophic injury awards.

Claim failed

LMN (a protected party, by his mother and litigation friend PQR) v Swansea Bay University Health Board

[2025] EWHC 3402 (KB)·2025·Liability decided at trial

The claimant alleged the registrar at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, delayed delivery after a pathological CTG in a labour complicated by pre-eclampsia and an impacted fetal head. The judge found the plan of fetal blood sampling, attempted forceps and then caesarean met the standards of the day and dismissed the claim.

A poor outcome after a difficult delivery is not enough; the claimant must show specific decisions fell below acceptable practice at the time and that earlier action would have avoided the injury. The material contribution argument does not help if no negligent cause of delay is proved.

Settlement approved£5.75M

AXA (a child, by her father and litigation friend MXA) v Airedale NHS Foundation Trust

[2024] EWHC 2499 (KB)·2024·Settlement approved by the court

A child born in April 2019 after an induced labour suffered fetal bradycardia and a brain injury; the Trust admitted the clinical failures by letter in April 2021. The court approved a settlement of a £5.75m lump sum plus lifelong index-linked periodical payments, worth about £16.7m in total.

Serious cerebral palsy claims are usually settled as a lump sum plus annual periodical payments for care, so the headline total depends on how long the child lives. Before approving a deal for a child the judge checks it sits within the range a court would have awarded.

All cerebral palsy judgments →

Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0. Judgments from Find Case Law, The National Archives. Summaries are ours; amounts only where printed in the judgment.

This guide is general information about the law in England and Wales, not legal advice about your case. ClaimGavel is run by Costart Projects Ltd on behalf of Tomlin & Partners, a specialist medical negligence firm regulated by the SRA. The free assessment on this page is an AI overview to show you roughly where you stand; a solicitor confirms the position in a free, no-obligation conversation.