Couple seeks clinical negligence compensation after baby is injured at birth

Posted 04/10/2010

A couple is suing an NHS trust for clinical negligence compensation after their baby suffered permanent injuries at birth.

Xavier Cutillo was delivered at Scunthorpe General Hospital in December 2009, but got into difficulties while he was in his mother Emma Portogallo’s birth canal.

Medics used forceps to try to pull the baby out, but Ms Portogallo insists they employed excessive force, resulting in the child’s eyeball being injured and his skull fractured.

A later examination found nothing could be done to save Xavier’s sight.

“My son will have to live with the consequences of this for the rest of his life … we’ve been left physically and emotionally traumatised,” said Ms Portogallo.

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has admitted liability and is now working towards a clinical negligence compensation settlement with Xavier’s parents.

Earlier this year, the Stourbridge News reported that Kaysie-Jane Bland, now six, had been awarded a payout after she was left brain damaged by errors made during her birth.