Understandably, we put our trust and faith in medical professionals to look after us and our babies when we give birth. However, if mistakes are made, this could lead to devastating complications, including your baby being starved of oxygen immediately before or during delivery.
Being starved of oxygen at birth, known as birth asphyxia, can have a life-long impact on an infant and their family. If your baby has experienced birth asphyxia, our expert medical negligence solicitors can support you in making a compensation claim. Although it is impossible to rewind the clock, if your child is entitled to make a claim, our lawyers can help to ensure that we achieve the very best settlement possible in order to help secure their future financial independence and access the very best treatment and care.
We are well aware that witnessing your child suffer birth asphyxia can be extremely traumatic, particularly where avoidable mistakes were made. As such, at Ashtons Legal, we approach the work we conduct with empathy and compassion, taking every necessary step to secure the maximum available compensation.
Accessing compensation for birth asphyxia will not be able to reverse what has already been done. However, it can be used to help you improve the quality of your child’s life and to help you look ahead to the future with confidence.
Our birth asphyxia solicitors can offer you:
- A free initial consultation on your claim
- No win no fee funding
- Legal Aid funding
- A negotiation-led approach that means most claims are settled out of court
- Independently accredited expertise you can trust
- A very high track record of successful claims
- A sensitive, personal service to support you during this difficult time
- A free rehabilitation service to aid your child’s recovery.
Have a question? Please take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions About Birth Asphyxia Claims or get in touch and we will be happy to guide you.
Contact our Birth Asphyxia Solicitors
To make a compensation claim for birth asphyxia, please contact our experienced solicitors. You will be offered a free initial consultation to sensitively discuss the particulars of your case in order to allow our legal specialists to assess and advise you on the merits of any claim, and plan the potential next steps.
You can get in touch by calling 0330 191 4774, emailing enquiries@ashtonslegal.co.uk or filling in the enquiry form on the right-hand side of our contact page.
Ashtons Legal Medical Negligence Team
We are a client-centred firm first and foremost, which means we always strive to provide solutions that are well-suited to the needs of our clients.
We avoid legal jargon, communicating in language you will understand. This is likely to be an extremely stressful time for you and your family, and you may be feeling particularly vulnerable. To give you confidence, we will explain all of your options in as simple terms as possible.
Our medical negligence solicitors have many years of combined experience and expertise, using this to support families who have experienced birth asphyxia. We have established a strong success rate, with a detailed understanding of the complexities that come with these types of cases.
Ashtons Legal is an industry-leading law firm. We are recognised by top client guide the Legal 500, and are commended for Medical Negligence in The Times Best Law Firms 2024. We also hold many specialist accreditations, including Lexcel, AvMa, Brain Injury Group, APIL and many more.
Senior members of our team are recognised by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) as either Senior Fellows or Senior Litigators. They are on the Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel and Sharon Allison, our Head of Medical Negligence, also belongs to the Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA) Clinical Negligence Panel and is Chair of The Society of Clinical Injury Lawyers (SCIL).
Birth Asphyxia Claims Case Studies
- Hospital admits that negligent care resulted in young man’s cerebral palsy
- £4.9 million obtained for birth injury resulting in cerebral palsy
How To Make a Birth Asphyxia Compensation Claim
Our birth asphyxia solicitors will be able to take you through every step involved in making a claim, ensuring that you do not need to turn anywhere else for support.
Our birth asphyxia compensation claims service includes:
- Assessing the likelihood of succeeding in a birth asphyxia claim
- No win no fee funding
- Legal Aid funding (if appropriate)
- Building your birth asphyxia medical negligence case, including access to experienced medical experts who will help advise on the standard of care received and whether or not any substandard care caused brain damage
- Drafting and submitting a Letter of Claim to the defendant where allegations of negligence are identified
- Issuing Court proceedings if the Defendant denies the allegations of negligence
- Mediation processes to reach a settlement wherever it is possible and in your child’s best interests
- Representing your child in Court if necessary
- Access to our free rehabilitation service for ongoing support.
To make a birth asphyxia claim, get in touch with our solicitors at Ashtons Legal. Below, you can find more information about the specific processes involved.
Our Birth Asphyxia Claims Compensation Service
Assessing your birth asphyxia claim
The start of the process will involve our team assessing the details of your case and how any birth asphyxia occurred. You will have the opportunity to discuss what happened to you and your child and the subsequent impact this has had on your family. This will give us the information we need to assess the merits of a potential claim and its prospects of success.
If the claim has a reasonable prospect of success, we can explain the options available to you, including how ‘no win, no fee’ funding will work and whether your child is eligible to apply for legal aid funding.
‘No win no fee’ birth asphyxia claims
At Ashtons Legal, we provide a ‘no win no fee’ birth asphyxia claims process. This means that you will only contribute to your legal fees if your case is successful and you are awarded compensation. Where this is the case, and you are successful, the majority of your legal costs will be paid by the defendant. If for any reason your claim is unsuccessful, we will write off any legal fees that you have incurred, meaning that there will be no cost to you for the work undertaken.
Legal aid for birth asphyxia claims
Legal aid funding is a form of funding that is paid for publicly. There are strict criteria that have to be met in order to be eligible for funding and only applies to infants who were brain damaged at or around the time of delivery. Ashtons Legal have a franchise with the Legal Aid Agency, meaning that we are able to offer such funding in circumstances where we consider that an infant will be successful on application. We will discuss this form of funding with you when you first meet.
Our team will ensure that you understand exactly how the fees work and what to expect before your case begins. We will ensure that whatever the outcome, win or lose, you are not placed in a worse financial position as a result of any investigation undertaken on your behalf.
Building your birth asphyxia medical negligence case
When building your case for birth asphyxia compensation, we will start by gathering relevant evidence, witness statements, medical records and liaising with medical experts. This will give us a comprehensive idea of exactly what happened, where mistakes were made and what the impact has been on you and your child.
Submitting the Letter of Claim
If the evidence supports a claim for medical negligence, we can then serve a Letter of Claim on the defendant. This will detail the allegations of substandard care being made. It will also set out very clearly how those allegations of negligence caused your child’s birth asphyxia. The defendant then has four months to respond, either by accepting or denying the allegations of negligence.
If the Defendant admits negligence, we will proceed to value your birth asphyxia compensation claim and look to agree a settlement. We will also arrange for interim damages to be paid by the Defendant in order to meet any immediate needs you and your child have.
Should the Defendant deny that any substandard care and/or that any substandard care caused your child’s brain damage, we will review their response carefully with our experts.
If our experts continue to support your claim, we will issue Court proceedings on your behalf. Although proceedings will be issued at Court, we will continue to attempt to resolve the claim via negotiations. Most claims will settle without the need for trial, but in some circumstances, a trial could be required.
Mediation processes
In cases where the Defendant has admitted that their actions were negligent and caused birth asphyxia, our birth asphyxia solicitors will seek to negotiate a settlement using mediation or arbitration processes. We have substantial experience in a wide range of birth injury cases and also have a great success rate in securing high levels of compensation.
Court processes
If it is not possible to resolve your matter outside of court, we can also provide robust representation at trial. We routinely work with very talented and knowledgeable barristers, so we can guarantee that you will be adequately prepared for the process that follows.
Free rehabilitation service
We understand that our clients may require additional health care, support and rehabilitation as a result of experiencing birth asphyxia. Our lawyers work closely with our rehabilitation team to provide a free rehab service, no matter whether your claim is successful or not.
For more information about this service, please get in touch with our medical negligence team at Ashtons Legal.
Frequently Asked Questions About Birth Asphyxia Claims
How do you classify birth asphyxia?
Birth asphyxia can occur when a baby is deprived of oxygen before, during or shortly after delivery.
When a baby is deprived of oxygen, this can decrease a baby’s heart rate, blood pressure and blood flow out of the heart. This, in turn, can limit blood flow to organs and tissues, leading to improper cell function or damage.
What are the long-term effects of birth asphyxia?
Birth asphyxia can have a number of long-term effects. For instance, it could lead to anoxic or hypoxic brain injuries.
This, in turn, could lead to further complications such as cerebral palsy or hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
Does birth asphyxia cause brain damage?
Yes, potentially. The lack of oxygen to the brain could lead to permanent damage due to the emergence of anoxic or hypoxic injuries.
Can you claim compensation for birth asphyxia?
It may be possible to claim birth asphyxia compensation if any subsequent brain damage was directly caused by any substandard care. This is something our medical negligence solicitors can support you with and advise you on.
Get in Touch With our Birth Asphyxia Solicitors
To make a birth injury claim, please contact our experienced birth asphyxia solicitors. You will be offered a free initial consultation to sensitively discuss the particulars of your case and plan the potential next steps.
You can get in touch by calling 0330 191 4774, emailing enquiries@ashtonslegal.co.uk or filling in the enquiry form on the right-hand side of our contact page.