All you need to know about making Gynecological and Obstetrics Negligence Claims

If you feel you’ve been subjected to medical negligence in regards to a gynaecologicalor obstetric procedure or diagnosis, you could be entitled to make a claim for the settlement of your losses.

Understanding Gynaecology and Obstetrics
Obstetrics refers to the branch of surgery that deals with pregnancy and childbirth. While gynaecology is the branch that dealswith female reproductive system disorders. Medical practitioners that specialise in obstetrics are referred to as obstetricians, and those who specialise in gynaecology are referred to asgynaecologists, though the two areas significantly overlap,and many practitioners appear to have a practice in both fields.

It’s crucial to understand that the large majority of gynaecological procedures andoperations comprise at least some degree of risk. However, while a great deal of these procedures is carried out appropriately and successfully, errors can occur due to medical negligence or otherwise. If you have suffered at the hands of the medical practitioner in regards to your gynaecological or obstetric procedure, you might be able to take legal action and claim settlement for the suffering you’ve experienced, irrespective of whether your treatment provider was wholly or partly responsible for the loss.

What Qualifies as Obstetric Negligence?
Obstetric negligence is one of the chief reasons for clinical negligence litigation. The parts in which errors can occur that are often the source of litigation include:

Management prior to pregnancy,including infertility advice and treatment and pre-conceptual counselling,

Management through the course of pregnancy and before labour (prenatal and natal treatment), including:

1. The interpretation of ultrasound scans and diagnosing severe abnormalities in the developing fetus

2. The delay in the diagnosis or management of an ectopic pregnancy

3. The failure to appropriately recognise and treat a high-risk pregnancy, like cases with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH)

Management during labour and delivery (intrapartum), including:
1. The interpretation of the wellbeing of the fetus through analysing the cardiotocograph trace (CTG) providing that provides information about the baby’s heart rate and the identification of the need for urgent delivery, particularly by caesarean section if the need arises

2. Selection of the method of delivery (the decision of using ventouse pump or forceps)

3. The technical expertise required to deliver the baby, which may result in preventable damage to the mother and/or the fetus

Management immediately after delivery (postnatal care), which includes:
1. Management of the third stage of labour according to the standard guidelines

2. Incorrect suturing at the site of the episiotomy

What Qualifies as Gynaecological Negligence?
Gynaecology is solely related to female problems, which includes the diagnosis and management of the female reproductive system. Compensation claims for medical negligence that stem from the gynaecological procedure typically consist of the following scenarios:

Failure to carry out abortion and subsequent wrongful birth
Bowel, bladder or urethral injury during gynaecology procedures
Failure of a contraception method, or female sterilisation
Side effects of oral contraceptives and contraceptives administered by injection
Prescription of oral contraceptives with disregard to the risk of thrombosis leading to fatal outcomes
Failure to perform hysterectomy appropriately leading to bladder, bowels or ureteralinjury
Uterine perforation due to negligent insertion of IUD’s during abortion procedures
Laparoscopic negligence, which includes, perforation, haemorrhage or injury to the abdominal wall, the uterus or surrounding neurovascular bundles
Loss of fertility due to post-operative infection after gynaecology procedure

Incontinence after surgery
Delayed diagnosis of genital cancer and ectopic pregnancy
Delayed diagnosis or treatment of endometriosis
Infection that resulted in infertility/subfertility
The impacts of delayed or mismanagement of abnormal cervical smears
How Negligence Claims for Gynaecolical or Obsterics Procedure can Help you?
Mistakes in obstetric care can bear a catastrophic outcome for the family, with injuries being sustained by both the mother and the fetus. The most severe cases include cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy (obstetric brachial plexus injury- OBPI), dislocation of the hip joints in the fetus, and even death of either or both the mother and fetus.

Wrongful birth claims include the cases where there has been clinical negligence in managing and prescribing contraception, sterilisation or termination, which resulted in the birth of an unwelcomed child who, but for the medical or gynaecological negligence, would not have been born. There are generally two types of wrongful birth case: the first is where there has been a failure in contraception or sterilisation/vasectomy resulting in the birth of an unwanted baby; the second is where parents have not been made aware of the presence or likelihood of a disability in their developing fetus, such that pregnancy would have either been terminated or prevented.

What can we do for you at Medical Solicitors?
If you feel that you or a family member has been subjected to medical negligence in the operating room or during the process of childbirth, then it is likely you are entitled to make a claim for medical negligence compensation. Get in touch with the experts at Medical Solicitors and learn how they can help you get the justice and compensation you deserve.

When you choose Medical Solicitors for any form of a serious injury claim or medical negligence claim, you can rest assured that you have the best legal experts on your side. Medical Solicitor’s award-winning medical negligence team is extensively acclaimed and acknowledged as one of the finest clinical negligence lawyers in the UK. We are committed to offering exclusive levels of client support and will work closely and thoughtfully with you to help find the best compensation and help to get your life back together.