Compensation for birth trauma PTSD

[User334567]

Has anyone been through a claim for birth trauma ? I had awful care in hospital after a traumatic birth it was mostly the care and neglect that caused my PTSD which I had therapy for. I went for a meeting and the hospital apologised and acknowledged the care wasn’t good and a plan for change. It was nearly two years ago (meeting 6 months ago) and I want to get the courage to ask a solicitor if I should pursue a claim for compensation. Any advice on if it’s worth it?

An apology and acknowledgment of failure is one thing, but unless you have lost out financially as a result of what happened, then “compensation” is not going to make it better but deprive a cash strapped NHS of funds and line the pockets of fat cat lawyers (my sister is a family law solicitor and has a very low opinion of personal injury lawyers as the costs the losing side have to pay the winner’s lawyers often outweigh the compensation).

I have PTSD through my job, would not dream of claiming compensation. Money grabbing, that's all it is.

@Wondermule those births can be extremely traumatic. Don’t belittle these experiences.

A traumatic birth is actually how one perceives it, not a measure of intervention or outcome
Read the research

@needsahouseboy

I am very sorry to hear you experienced such a traumatic birth as that.
I hope since then,
You have had all/or enough the support to help you heal emotional from this this ect. x

I'm very surprised that some people are advocating that the op goes ahead with trying to gain some compensation. Given her description of what she feels has caused her trauma, I don't think this is good advice. Being left in dirty sheets and not providing support with looking after the baby, is poor care certainly but surely not enough to win any compensation. It sounds as though the op had a traumatic birth but there is no indication that the hospital was to blame for this. Unless there are significant details missing it seems extremely unlikely that any legal action will end up in a positive result for the op and in fact the whole process is likely to cause more stress and upset.

@DancingQueen85

I'm very surprised that some people are advocating that the op goes ahead with trying to gain some compensation. Given her description of what she feels has caused her trauma, I don't think this is good advice. Being left in dirty sheets and not providing support with looking after the baby, is poor care certainly but surely not enough to win any compensation. It sounds as though the op had a traumatic birth but there is no indication that the hospital was to blame for this. Unless there are significant details missing it seems extremely unlikely that any legal action will end up in a positive result for the op and in fact the whole process is likely to cause more stress and upset.

True, but she seems hellbent on it and wanted to hear 'Aw, hun, you go get some money, you deserve it!'

I work in patient safety in the NHS.

Slightly bizarrely there are circumstances under which I think that patients / families should sue.

But med neg. litigation is complex - my gut feeling is that your case would be very difficult and any potential payment is likely to be small.

In your circumstances I would speak to a med neg solicitor (you need someone with solid experience in this area) and ask them if they think you have a claim. They should be well placed to give you good advice.

It’s time the NHS was held accountable for the horrific experiences women and babies endure in this country and I’m quite frankly sick of all the people who think we should just put up with it and be quiet and anything to protect the sacred NHS.

Let me tell you if there wasn’t so much incompetence in the NHS we would be saving money by requiring less horrifically expensive intensive care treatments for the poor little babies who have been so terribly let down by the service you think is so amazing.

If you are dying and require emergency care the NHS is usually pretty good. The NICU staff are amazing.

It’s sad they have be so amazing and so many I’ve spoken to have alluded to their frustration that so many babies end up with them due to the sheer incompetence of midwives and midwife led centres.

I could be wrong but I’m guessing the likes of wondermule haven’t experienced the horrors of birth trauma and bereavement, which is why it’ll be so easy for them to downplay the significance and the long lasting impact of trauma and PTSD on the whole family along with career etc.

@YawnyOwl

"Under Threat"! ? " from whom" !?

NHS is under threat of becoming Similar /or somwhat to the American style medical model system !

(its just not really effectively sustainable for long term future to be continue to be run the way it is currently.!

(Its taken for granted far too much, for e.g people making appointments/and stockpiling medication and NHS health Tourism and management practices,
need to be run more effectively.!

ps Health Tourism should only be in expectional cases for e.g. a child needing the most effective medical expertise for medical health disorders/trauma
, that is rare /and , or unausaul,
and that child country of origin,
does not have the same/similar expertise in that field of medicine .

And before anybody kicks off saying to have a opinion like this its Racism.!
Its really not.!

Other countries,
Tourists have to have medical insurance,
There's no grey areas about this at all in those countries.

Maternity care is shocking in the NHS.

I had a traumatic birth and aftermath and have been diagnosed with PTSD and I did complain to the hosptial, not for money, but so they were aware and to prevent other women being treated as I was. I also raised concerns about the fact they did not act upon a mental health crisis bordering on psychosis that I experienced after the birth in hospital.

The same.hospital the year before missed my ectopic pregnancy and lost me my fallopian tube as I needed emergency surgery. They told me.my tubes were clear. She hadn't checked. We also complained, not for money, and they said they are more cautious now and have learnt from my experience.

I have had EMDR therapy on both events and I just have to try and get on with my life now.

@thosetalesofunexpected thank you. EMDR, CBT and time have helped.

@DancingQueen85 this is what the solicitor's will determine though. We do not know the full facts but a solicitor will get the OP's notes and discuss and see if it was just poor care or worse. Unfortunately, birth can be traumatic but not negligent but as in my case it was both. When it's both then it should be investigated and if necessary some compensation.

Why on earth would the fact the NHS is free at the point of care (note: not free overall, I pay hundreds for it every single month) mean it should not be held accountable? And why should the fact it has been deliberately underfunded for a decade mean OP doesn't have a right to compensation? I say, go for it OP. If nothing else, to make the point that this is not OK, and that maternity services need to take a hard look at themselves. I hope you're feeling better and are able to enjoy your baby.

The NHS being sympathetically reformed wouldn't be a bad thing. It is hideously inefficient as is.

What OP describes is just normal maternity care. It’s hospital policy that you have to look after your own baby even if you’ve had EMCS. It’s normal that your baby is not taken off you so you can sleep. They don’t take you to the toilet or wait on you. They don’t babysit for you. They don’t change the sheets every five minutes. If your baby need their sheets changed you have to do it yourself. I’m not saying this is right but it’s what happens to EVERYONE not just OP.

@ClearMountain
I completely agree with you. There is absolutely nothing in what the OP says which implies negligence and I'm really surprised that so many are encouraging her to seek out compensation. At some point the op is going to have to accept that birth can be traumatic and no one is necessarily to blame for this. There is a good chance that she or her baby might be dead with out the emergency c-section she received on the NHS.

I had a traumatic birth with my 3rd pregnancy due to the neglect of the hospital. They initially tried to deny it but then I too had the meeting and therepy. I did think that I should claim compensation as I felt them saying that they have learned from there mistakes was not enough. However the NHS would be the ones that would suffer and as a result the care that they are able to provide would be cut back. I went on to have two more babies in the same hospital but those time they treated me like a queen (private room, own midwife ect). This made me feel a little uneasy as it was like a big show but I do hope they did learn from there mistakes. Stick with the therapy if this is helping.

The hospital will only tell you what you want to hear what about justice for you're baby do they not deserve justice?

in the 70s my brother had his skull crushed with forceps and ended up with brain damage. He died when he was 11months old. My parents didn’t sue.

There is no justice for a dead baby, no amount of money can compensate for being deprived of life before it even begins. I lost a baby because of negligence in the 70s too. My thought process was the same as Ladymouse’s.

When a baby is damaged, it makes sense to sue because they’ll need expensive care and adjustments for their whole life. No amount of money is going to make bereaved parents feel any better.

Zombie thread.

They aren’t infallible, have apologised, are funded by us, and have been starved of money and resources by the Tories for years but you want to grub some money out of them?
Are you going fully private from now on, and never using the NHS again? Or would it be better for you and everyone else if people after some quick cash didn’t try to sue the NHS in a time when they’re struggling financially?

@User334567 maybe OP could come back and tell us if they did sue…

This!!

ZOMBIE THREAD