£10,000 Settlement
Christina came to us after she suffered delivery complications during a stressful and upsetting medical termination.
Medical termination
Christina, a mother of two young children found out she was pregnant again, with a baby boy.
Unfortunately, at her 17 week scan, she was told that her baby’s kidneys were not developing properly. The medical team advised her that there was a low chance of her baby boy surviving. The doctors therefore asked her to decide whether to terminate the pregnancy or try and get to 24 weeks.
Torn by the news, she turned to friends and family for help and advice. In the end, however, doctors advised Christina that, even if she carried on, the prospect that the baby would survive was low. She therefore decided, with a heavy heart, to proceed with the medical termination.
She said; “This was a very difficult few weeks of my life. It was an incredibly hard decision to make in the first place, and am really thankful my sister was there to help. I struggled after hearing that there was no chance of my baby surviving and attended counselling to help me come to terms with it.”
Delivery complications during a medical termination
In June 2016, Christina attended the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle to start the termination. She then moved to her local hospital, South Tyneside District Hospital, to deliver her baby.
On arrival doctors placed Christina in a standard delivery suite. She was surrounded by other mothers giving birth to healthy and living babies. The sound of other babies being born left Christina feeling heartbroken, knowing that at the end of her birth, she would not be holding her son.
They moved Christina to another room, so that she didn’t have to listen to other babies being born. Unfortunately, her distress did not end there. The delivery was delayed by 12 hours which resulted in complications during the birth. The registrar’s review was delayed, so she was left with her baby in her vagina whilst they considered delivery options. Christina began to lose a lot of blood, but again, this wasn’t escalated quickly enough and there were discrepancies in estimating the blood loss. In the end Christina lost around 2.4 litres, so urgently required a blood transfusion. These delays and complications added to her pain and suffering, at what was already a distressing time.
Coping with the trauma
The whole episode left Christina feeling drained and empty on top of the grief she felt for her baby boy.
The hospital discharged Christina the following day, but the complications continued to trouble her. She struggled to leave the house, and often needed her sister to help with the cooking and cleaning.
Christina was still quite traumatised by the whole experience, she said; “I couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened, it was such a terrible way to lose a baby. At night I would often lay awake thinking about it, worrying about everything that had gone wrong. I felt so sad for my poor baby boy.”
Her GP prescribed her medication to help ease the pain and help her sleep.
However, despite the pain and hurt, she still managed to find a silver lining when she found out she was pregnant again.
Christina said: “I was so pleased when my baby girl was born. I had to stop taking the sleeping tablets though, so I could look after her during the night when she woke up. I was still so anxious, so some nights I would stay awake watching her sleep”.
Compensation for pain and suffering
Christina turned to Pryers for help getting her life back on track. After consulting with our medical experts, it was clear that Christina had received very poor care.
We began negotiations with NHS Resolution (NHSR) on behalf of the trust. They agreed that the care she received fell below an acceptable standard. Christina, had lost a large amount of blood in the maternity suite. She now fears the sight of it and has flashbacks of the hospital bed covered with blood. The birth psychologically affected her and more than likely will continue to do so.
Our expert team of medical negligence solicitors were therefore able to successfully negotiate £10,000 compensation for Christina.
How Pryers can help you
If you, like Christina, have suffered from complications with a medical termination, Pryers Solicitors can help you start your claim and get the compensation you deserve. Our experienced team of solicitors will be able to advise you whether we can act for you on a no win no fee basis. Contact us now, call or email help@pryers.co.uk.
