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Pregnancy is an exciting and wonderful time for parents to be.  From first finding out that you are pregnant, to that all important 12 week scan, and if you wish, to be able to find out the sex of your baby at the 20 week scan, you look forward to seeing your growing baby and imagine what they will look like when born.

Although following most births, babies are born healthy, sometimes tragically, for a number of reasons, babies can be stillborn.

According to the charity, Tommy's, during 2016, 1 in every 225 births ended in a stillbirth in the UK. A stillbirth occurs when a baby is born dead after 24 completed weeks of pregnancy.

For some stillbirths, the reason cannot be found, or it was a cause that simply could not be prevented. Sometimes however, the cause of a stillbirth can be due to the fault or negligence of the medical professionals whose care you were under during or leading up to the birth of your baby.

Medical professionals have a duty to ensure that you and your baby are appropriately monitored during and leading up to the birth of your baby.   If as a result of these failures, your baby is stillborn, you may be able to make a claim for compensation for the pain and suffering you have endured.

Compensation for a stillbirth arising out of negligence can be made where such negligence can be proven, or can be shown to have been a major factor in the cause of the death of a baby. Any compensation that you receive will be as a result of the pain and suffering you have endured as a result of that negligence.

With the recent widely reported Baby Loss Awareness week, we look at some of the causes of stillbirth, and discuss when a stillbirth may have been preventable.

Causes of stillbirth include;

  • placental abruption
  • bleeding before or during labour
  • pre-eclampsia
  • problems with the umbilical cord
  • obstetric cholestasis (liver disorder developed during pregnancy)
  • genetic defects
  • pre-existing diabetes
  • infection in the mother, which passes to the baby.

However, if the cause of stillbirth is possibly the result of negligence, it could have been as a result of one or more of the following scenarios;

  • failure to properly look at scan, test results, or any misinterpretation of these
  • inadequate monitoring in relation to the baby’s development during pregnancy
  • inadequate monitoring of mother and/or baby during labour
  • failure to properly assess a pregnant woman if deemed as a high-risk pregnancy.

One of the most common causes of stillbirth is reduced oxygen levels to the baby. This can be due to misinterpretation of results from equipment used to monitor a baby’s heart rate during labour.

If you have experienced a stillbirth and would like to discuss matters with us, our specialist medical negligence solicitors have many years’ experience in this area, both advising clients on whether they have a sound basis for a claim, and taking them through the claims process to achieve the best results possible.  

We are here to offer support and guidance as well as legal advice on how to take matters forward.  We have a range of funding options available which we can discuss with you.

To speak to someone who can help you claim the compensation you deserve, call us now on 0808 169 5899 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of our team will get back to you right away.

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