Cerebral palsy news
03/02/2011

£6.4m compensation for cerebral palsy boy's family

Warnings about the standards and protocol at midwife-led birth centres were made after a couple, whose son suffered cerebral palsy as a result of a birth injury, were awarded £6.4m compensation in the High Court.

Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust, which was responsible for the Edgware Birth Centre in Burnt Oak, admitted liabilities for the negligence by its staff and consequent personal injury to the boy which had left him with learning difficulties and quadriplegia.

The court heard that the unit was in error in admitting the first-time mother, who was 38 at the time of the birth in April 2002, as this was in breach of its policy to exclude such births by over-35s.

When she was in labour and left in the care of a student nurse, the baby's heart rate dropped but this was not noticed immediately and that, allied to a delay in transferring his mother to Barnet General Hospital, meant his delivery took longer than it should have done, resulting in oxygen starvation.

After the case, the boy's father said the consequences for the family showed the downside of birth in midwife-led units. "The Government is pushing forward with greater focus on the use of birth centres, but needs to realise higher standards and safer environments cost, and proper training and support is needed if tragedies like this are to be avoided."

The Welwyn Garden City couple intends to use the court settlement to pay for the future care of the cerebral palsy victim who, despite his brain injury, enjoys school, where he has many friends, and watching Formula 1 car racing on TV.