£17,000 obtained for woman who suffered psychiatric injury during labour

£17,000 obtained for Norfolk woman who suffered psychiatric injury during the birth of her son.

Amanda Cavanagh, a medical negligence lawyer at Ashtons Legal, has achieved a settlement of £17,000 for Ms N who suffered psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety and flashbacks, following the treatment she and her son received during his birth.

Ms N expected to have a straightforward planned waterbirth of a healthy baby. During labour, Ms N was aware of there being a problem with the baby’s heartbeat and was told she needed to be moved urgently to the delivery suite. That decision was cancelled and by the time there was a further drop in the baby’s heartbeat Ms N was in the final stages of labour and it was too late for an emergency caesarean. The baby was delivered in a poor state with only a faint heartbeat. He had inhaled meconium and required resuscitation before being stabilised and transferred to another hospital for specialised cooling. Ms N was aware of what was happening during the birth and by the time she saw her baby him he was on life support systems and the seriousness of his condition explained to her.

Amanda comments: “Ashtons is assisting Ms N separately in relation to the claim on behalf of her son for the injuries he suffered at birth. The settlement of this claim relates solely to the psychiatric injury Ms N suffered as a result of the traumatic events surrounding the birth of her son. The damages will enable Ms N to fund ongoing counselling to help her deal with the anxiety and flashbacks from which she now suffers.”