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?

@SnackSizeRaisin

THE NHS IS NOT A FREE SERVICE

We pay for it through our tax and NI contributions. It's only free if you don't pay any tax or NI!

There's nothing wrong with suing the NHS. If your claim is not deserving you won't win and you will not get any money. If you win, you have suffered a loss that deserves compensation, to be used for whatever would help you to deal with the harm caused. There is money set aside for this, it is not taking away from clinical services. If an individual doctor is at fault, they have their own indemnity insurance to cover them against mistakes or malpractice. And unless we complain about bad service, the funding will never improve.

This with bells on

@SnackSizeRaisin

THE NHS IS NOT A FREE SERVICE

We pay for it through our tax and NI contributions. It's only free if you don't pay any tax or NI!

There's nothing wrong with suing the NHS. If your claim is not deserving you won't win and you will not get any money. If you win, you have suffered a loss that deserves compensation, to be used for whatever would help you to deal with the harm caused. There is money set aside for this, it is not taking away from clinical services. If an individual doctor is at fault, they have their own indemnity insurance to cover them against mistakes or malpractice. And unless we complain about bad service, the funding will never improve.

This with bells on

"They are also insured and have a pot of cash for their fuck ups."

And imagine how much better the service could be, additional staff and resources, if they didn't need to set aside so much money to cover this shit.

@SnackSizeRaisin - exactly! We’re all paying and just because it’s free at the point of service, doesn’t mean it’s actually any good! I’ve no doubt many people work extremely hard within the constraints of a ridiculously constrained and cash-strapped system but the much-revered NHS is not above the law and often falls way short of an acceptable standard of practice. The more complaints, the more will be done!

This is why my friend quit as an obstetrician. Unfortunately having babies is risky, it goes wrong rarely but spectacularly at times. Very hard specialty. I couldn't do it.

Litigation costs the NHS millions every year. I believe there are some cases where it is justified but a huge number are not.
The NHS had been let down by this government and underfunded for years. Staff are, on the whole, bending over backwards to help people.
The NHS has a set amount of money. If you sue them there is less money for everything else so you are taking money away from other patients, elderly folk, children who need care. That's just the way it works I'm afraid.

@AwaAnBileYerHeid

"They are also insured and have a pot of cash for their fuck ups."

And imagine how much better the service could be, additional staff and resources, if they didn't need to set aside so much money to cover this shit.

“This shit”? You mean providing recompense to people who have been harmed by their negligence?

In no other context would we expect the victims of negligence to shut up and suffer the physical, emotional and financial consequences in silence. Why should this be the exception? There will never be an impetus for the NHS to improve if there are no consequences to its failings.

Speak to a solicitor and get some proper advice. I've had two friends sue after avoidable problems relating to birth of their babies - but in both cases the injuries they sustained had a big affect on their jobs (one had to retire from work as no longer physically able to do it) and they needed further treatment etc. So it depends on the impact on you/your child and how definite it is that that was caused by the birth problems. And how avoidable they were. If you need to pay for therapy etc it's worth looking into.
FWIW we had awful problems after the birth and my baby only narrowly avoided serious harm. I pursued that complaint, got an admission of where they'd gone wrong and where they needed to improve. But I didn't got any further than that. It took a lot of chasing just to get that. If you haven't suffered financial loss, but you feel like the apology didn't address everything then you can escalate the complaint to the healthcare ombudsman, which is what I did with a complaint about poor care from health visitors which was ignored initially. Ombudsman will investigate and if complaint is upheld the service than has to explain to the CQC and the NHS area what they're doing to improve. So, it was a good way of getting problems identified and what needs to be done known higher up. It took a LOT of persistence to get that far though!

Thank you to the posters with nice words and understanding of my situation . People assuming I’m money grabbing - I’m not. I may have had therapy but I’m still suffering with pnd and anxiety which I will not be able to get any more therapy on the nhs so yes the money would help.

Also why shouldn’t I be compensated for what I went through because of the nhs? I will never be the same person again it has completely changed me and I can never forget it. I had an emcs under general with a hemmorage and sepsis, When I came round we got 10 minutes as a family before I was dumped on the ward and left to rot in my bloodied sheets for days. I was given barely any support in hospital I was expected to look after my newborn in that state and nearly dropped them multiple times I was so sleep deprived I was hallucinating I nearly lost my mind all I needed was support and help from the midwives and to be able to sleep. The first few months were robbed from me as I was a complete mess with flashbacks to the hospital stay and birth I was so worried about my baby I thought they would die I couldn’t sleep I was on edge constantly.

I should not of been treated like that and they need to change it the hospital has already been in the papers for bad maternity care. I don’t believe them at all when they say they have put forward new ways of doing things etc new checklists. Suing them might make them listen more. Just because the nhs is underfunded doesn’t mean they can treat people like shit we all pay for it out of taxes anyway.

I had a traumatic birth and wanted some help with the constant flashbacks and night terrors I was having in the first few days and weeks afterwards, but instead they brought through some tired nhs workers, some of whom I recognised from the birth, who nervously tried to tell me what had happened in a way that eradicated any blame on their side. I wasn't after that kind of thing, I just needed some really good counselling, time to heal and some sleep (the latter of which I got a couple of years later😉). It did make me realise how common complaints must be that they had this process in place. However I know that in some cases there is negligence and, of course, a need for things to change plus financial compensation if money has been lost as a result. I really hope you manage to get better and wish you luck in your recovery OP and any other Mums who have been through this kind of trauma. It can be completely life- altering and I feel lucky that I'm not in that PTSD place still.

@WorraLiberty

No actually it is not enough ! I am still suffering an apology means nothing to me.

I've recently been in touch with a solicitor re suing the NHS for inadequate care. Basically, crap care / negligence sn't grounds for suing. You must be able to prove that the negligence has exacerbated your condition / had a consequence of some sort. I'm not sure how that plays out re childbirth cases. You would really have to speak to a solicitor and see what they say, the advice is generally free and they won't suggest pursuing it unless they think there is a good chance you will win. The solicitor I spoke to said the hospital will usually admit negligence but deny the other bit (causation) that you can actually sue for.

And don't feel guilty or whatever about it. The NHS is not beyond redemption and yes there's lots of great doctors / nurses, but there's also some absolutely shocking treatment of patients and things need to change, people should be held accountable.

Go for it if you feel you're strong enough op. They've fucked up. And medical staff do fuck up. I had ptsd after a traumatic birth where the doctors failed to give me sufficient information to be able to give informed consent. I would have made a different choice but they forced me into what was easiest for them. 4 years of private therapy it took me to recover. I am not up for the fight, i just want to move on but yeah, at least speak to a solicitor. The bar for women's rights in the NHS is way too fucking low.

They have apologised, so ..? What good is an apology, it means absolutely nothing, empty words, and care is not free you pay it through your NI if we were allowed to opt out we could afford private care

I think suing should only ever be done when the money can be used to put therapy in place to cover the cost to manage the condition you were left with.

I'm sorry you had such an awful time.
Nobody should have to go through that and now you've spoken up it could stop someone else suffering the same way.
They have acknowledged your feelings and apologised.
Leave it there.

I work in psychology and work with ptsd survivors. I'd say trying to get money from the nhs would be very hard and you'd probably come off emotionally worse for it. Don't you think they'd have some of the best lawyers going that would probably eat your solicitor for breakfast. I feel they'd drag you through the water and make you really live all the trauma and you run the risk of your health worsening. To get an apology is quite a bit step, some patients I work with wouldn't even have had that. However it is your right to try snd pursue it if you want but I'd tread cautiously as ptsd can be re triggered. Maybe try and move on now your symptoms have improved good luck xx

My first birth was very traumatic and haunted me for many months. But no-one fucked up. It's just like that sometimes. Honestly, it's dangerous having kids sometimes. Just look at how many of our ancestors died during it. Medicine has its limits

I understand why you might want to. In practice I think you need to consider the additional trauma that a lengthy court case over many years (with no guarantee of winning) would cause.

@User334567 I had birth trauma after my first child, so I completely understand how you are feeling. But why would you claim compensation from a strapped cash organisation that have already apologised? Surely you'd want practices to change.
This compensation culture drives me insane and it's making people selfish.

• THIS

An organisation which cancels children's cancer treatment due to lack of funds yet you want to seek monetary compensation...

Get private medical treatment in future...

Compensation culture is pretty bad.
They apologised, hopefully you have a live baby and most births are less than stellar.
Anyone can claim PTSD for anything these days, but don’t think NHS will pay you out.

OP - it’s clear that your experience was frightening and traumatic.
I’m the one who posted above about abysmal care.
You need to be clear what your complaint would be...
The sepsis?
The fact you were left without support after an EMC? Sadly that is “normal”
Something else?
Get your thoughts together and speak to a solicitor.

@User334567

Thank you to the posters with nice words and understanding of my situation . People assuming I’m money grabbing - I’m not. I may have had therapy but I’m still suffering with pnd and anxiety which I will not be able to get any more therapy on the nhs so yes the money would help.

Also why shouldn’t I be compensated for what I went through because of the nhs? I will never be the same person again it has completely changed me and I can never forget it. I had an emcs under general with a hemmorage and sepsis, When I came round we got 10 minutes as a family before I was dumped on the ward and left to rot in my bloodied sheets for days. I was given barely any support in hospital I was expected to look after my newborn in that state and nearly dropped them multiple times I was so sleep deprived I was hallucinating I nearly lost my mind all I needed was support and help from the midwives and to be able to sleep. The first few months were robbed from me as I was a complete mess with flashbacks to the hospital stay and birth I was so worried about my baby I thought they would die I couldn’t sleep I was on edge constantly.

I should not of been treated like that and they need to change it the hospital has already been in the papers for bad maternity care. I don’t believe them at all when they say they have put forward new ways of doing things etc new checklists. Suing them might make them listen more. Just because the nhs is underfunded doesn’t mean they can treat people like shit we all pay for it out of taxes anyway.

From what you’ve said there I don’t think you’d have a leg to stand on. Unless poor care caused the haemorrhage or the sepsis or one of them wasn’t treated appropriately.

If it’s more the poor care on the postnatal ward it wouldnt meet a medico-legal definition of neglect. I’m not saying it’s right, but sadly being left without as much support as you’d like on a postnatal ward is quite common.

I used to work on a postnatal ward as a midwife and there would be 3 of us on a ward with 38 beds....so potentially 38 women and babies. One hcsw to help. If someone was sick there were 2 midwives. The hospitals are aware of the ratios and sadly it doesn’t matter how much the staff on the ward say that we need more staff it doesn’t happen. My priorities would be looking after anyone who is ill, obs, meds. Followed by breast feeding support and more general support if I had the time. The midwives don’t have time to look after the babies no matter how tired the women are. I’m sorry, I know it’s shit.

Many hospitals now let partners stay overnight....which I get can have it’s own set of issues and while I agree it’s a cheap/free way of hospitals getting out of having to provide adequate staffing I think it can be a benefit for many women. Is that something you could campaign for if they don’t already offer it?

@User334567

Thank you to the posters with nice words and understanding of my situation . People assuming I’m money grabbing - I’m not. I may have had therapy but I’m still suffering with pnd and anxiety which I will not be able to get any more therapy on the nhs so yes the money would help.

Also why shouldn’t I be compensated for what I went through because of the nhs? I will never be the same person again it has completely changed me and I can never forget it. I had an emcs under general with a hemmorage and sepsis, When I came round we got 10 minutes as a family before I was dumped on the ward and left to rot in my bloodied sheets for days. I was given barely any support in hospital I was expected to look after my newborn in that state and nearly dropped them multiple times I was so sleep deprived I was hallucinating I nearly lost my mind all I needed was support and help from the midwives and to be able to sleep. The first few months were robbed from me as I was a complete mess with flashbacks to the hospital stay and birth I was so worried about my baby I thought they would die I couldn’t sleep I was on edge constantly.

I should not of been treated like that and they need to change it the hospital has already been in the papers for bad maternity care. I don’t believe them at all when they say they have put forward new ways of doing things etc new checklists. Suing them might make them listen more. Just because the nhs is underfunded doesn’t mean they can treat people like shit we all pay for it out of taxes anyway.

From what you’ve said there I don’t think you’d have a leg to stand on. Unless poor care caused the haemorrhage or the sepsis or one of them wasn’t treated appropriately.

If it’s more the poor care on the postnatal ward it wouldnt meet a medico-legal definition of neglect. I’m not saying it’s right, but sadly being left without as much support as you’d like on a postnatal ward is quite common.

I used to work on a postnatal ward as a midwife and there would be 3 of us on a ward with 38 beds....so potentially 38 women and babies. One hcsw to help. If someone was sick there were 2 midwives. The hospitals are aware of the ratios and sadly it doesn’t matter how much the staff on the ward say that we need more staff it doesn’t happen. My priorities would be looking after anyone who is ill, obs, meds. Followed by breast feeding support and more general support if I had the time. The midwives don’t have time to look after the babies no matter how tired the women are. I’m sorry, I know it’s shit.

Many hospitals now let partners stay overnight....which I get can have it’s own set of issues and while I agree it’s a cheap/free way of hospitals getting out of having to provide adequate staffing I think it can be a benefit for many women. Is that something you could campaign for if they don’t already offer it?