Clinical negligence claims involving labour and delivery—injuries to the child


Produced in partnership with Renée Wood
Practice notes

Clinical negligence claims involving labour and delivery—injuries to the child


Produced in partnership with Renée Wood

Practice notes
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This Practice Note sets out practical considerations when managing these types of claims, followed by an overview of common types of injury to children occurring during childbirth. It focuses on liability rather than Quantum.

The usual Requirements regarding breach of duty, causation and damages apply. See: Clinical Negligence liability—overview, Clinical negligence damages—overview and Catastrophic claims—overview.

Informed consent—Montgomery

When dealing with birth injury claims you should be familiar with Montgomery which involved a child born with cerebral palsy due to oxygen deprivation during a prolonged labour. The liability issues revolved around the information given to the mother about the mode of Delivery and its risks. It has wide-reaching application and has reframed the test for what information should be provided during the consent process. For further guidance on this case and subsequent developments, see Practice Note: Consent in clinical negligence claims—treatment and causation.

In CNZ v Royal United Bath Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust the High Court established that Montgomery was not only concerned with antenatal consultations but also applied to decisions made in the

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Negligence definition
What does Negligence mean?

Negligence is 'the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do' (Blythe v Birmingham Waterworks (1856) 11 Exch 781, at p 784). It is accepted that the test for breach of duty is objective, in the sense that the individual character and mental and physical features of the particular defendant are usually irrelevant.

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