Claim type · Birth Injuries

Maternal Birth Injury claims.

Injuries to mothers during childbirth including severe tears, haemorrhage, failed sterilisation, and pre-eclampsia mismanagement.

Tell us what happened and we'll show you published judgments like yours, outline what you could be entitled to, and, if you choose, put you in touch with specialist solicitors Tomlin & Partners.

Typical range

£20,000 – £500,000

Limitation period

3 years

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Maternal Birth Injury
Typical range
£20K – £500K
Time limit
3 years

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§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENTS

Real maternal birth injury cases, decided by the courts.

Every case below is a published judgment of the courts of England and Wales, linked to its source. Summaries are ours; amounts appear only where the judgment states them. We include claims that failed, because they show what has to be proved.

Settlement approved£3.85M

ERE v East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

[2024] EWHC 2569 (KB)·2024·Settlement approved by the court

A 23-year-old mother was discharged after giving birth in July 2015, developed breathlessness and palpitations, and suffered a cardiac arrest after being readmitted, leaving her with severe hypoxic brain damage. The claim settled on the day the quantum trial was due to start and the court approved the package for her as a protected party.

Maternal claims are not limited to injuries during labour itself; a failure in care in the weeks after birth that causes brain injury can lead to a multi-million-pound settlement. Where the injured person lacks capacity, a judge must approve any settlement.

Claim failed

PXE (by his mother and litigation friend DSD) v University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

[2024] EWHC 2023 (KB)·2024·Liability decided at trial

The mother's recorded history of kidney scarring was said to require consultant-led care and serial growth scans, which were not arranged; the baby was born prematurely at Solihull Hospital with brain damage. The judge held that classifying the pregnancy as low risk was within acceptable practice in 2008, so there was no breach of duty.

Antenatal risk-assessment claims turn on whether the mother's history genuinely required extra monitoring under the guidance of the time. Hindsight that scans might have helped is not the legal test.

Settlement approved£2.5M

CTQ v King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

[2023] EWHC 2975 (KB)·2023·Settlement approved by the court

A 37-year-old mother suffered a cardiac arrest because intravenous fluids were not given during spinal anaesthesia just after her daughter's birth, leaving her with a brain injury; the hospital admitted liability. The court used its inherent jurisdiction to approve a settlement worth roughly £5.56m including periodical payments.

Anaesthetic errors around delivery can found a maternal negligence claim even when the baby is unharmed. Courts can approve settlements for adults with cognitive impairment even where they have not formally been found to lack capacity.

Claimant succeeded£68,742

Rathore v Bedford Hospitals NHS Trust

[2017] EWHC 863 (QB)·2017·Damages assessed at trial

Swabs taken after childbirth showed chlamydia but neither the patient nor her GP was told, and it went untreated for about a year; she suffered repeated pain and an ectopic pregnancy requiring removal of a fallopian tube. The trust admitted breach; the court accepted the ectopic pregnancy and a period of pain disorder were caused by the negligence but rejected the claim that her later chronic widespread pain was.

Failing to pass on an abnormal test result is a clear breach, but the claimant still has to prove which later problems flowed from it. Long-term pain conditions are hard to attribute to a delayed diagnosis.

Claim failed

Manzi v King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

[2016] EWHC 1101 (QB)·2016·Liability decided at trial

A mother alleged that a registrar negligently failed to spot on an ultrasound that a substantial piece of placenta had been left behind after birth, leading to infection and an emergency operation two weeks later. The parties agreed the claim depended on proving a substantial (about 7 cm) piece was retained, and the judge was not persuaded of that on the evidence.

Retained placenta claims often turn on what the scan would actually have shown; if the retained tissue was small, a missed scan finding may not be negligent. Agreed thresholds for success can decide a case.

Browse the case library →

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.

About Maternal Birth Injury Claims

Maternal birth injury claims arise when medical negligence during pregnancy, labour, or delivery causes harm to the mother. These claims are often overshadowed by neonatal injury claims but represent significant suffering and can involve life-threatening complications.

Common maternal injury claims include severe perineal tears (third and fourth degree) that were not properly repaired, post-partum haemorrhage from failure to manage placenta complications, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia mismanagement, unnecessary or negligently performed caesarean sections, failed sterilisation resulting in unwanted pregnancy, and retained products of conception.

NICE guidelines provide clear standards for managing high-risk pregnancies, including monitoring for pre-eclampsia, managing gestational diabetes, and performing caesarean sections when indicated. Deviation from these guidelines provides strong evidence of negligence.

Compensation for maternal injuries varies. Severe perineal tears causing ongoing incontinence or pain typically settle for £20,000 to £150,000. Pre-eclampsia mismanagement causing organ damage can reach £100,000 to £500,000. Maternal death claims result in bereavement awards and dependency claims for the family, typically £200,000 to £3 million. The limitation period is 3 years.

Typical Compensation Range

£20Kto£500K

Based on reported settlements and court awards. Individual case values vary significantly.

Limitation Period

3 years

May vary by jurisdiction. Don't wait — time limits apply.

NHS Negligence Data

See real NHS Resolution data related to maternal birth injury claims.

Obstetrics Non CP/BD Statistics

National data on obstetric claims

NHS Maternity Claims

All maternity trusts ranked by obstetric payments

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