Birth Injury Claims*

A wide range of injuries to babies can result from negligent decisions or failures during labour, delivery or the immediate postnatal period:

• Cerebral palsy and other oxygen-deprivation related injuries: Caused by lack of oxygen during birth (hypoxia), often linked to failures in monitoring or responding to foetal distress. These injuries can result in lifelong physical and cognitive challenges.
• Brachial plexus injury / Erb’s palsy: Damage to the nerves controlling the shoulder, arm and hand, often due to improper handling during difficult deliveries.
• Brain injuries and developmental delays: Trauma during delivery or failure to act on signs of distress can lead to brain injury, resulting in developmental and learning difficulties.
• Spinal cord injuries: Excessive force or poor handling during delivery can cause permanent damage to the baby’s spine.
• Hip dysplasia: Improper delivery technique can worsen undiagnosed hip dysplasia, affecting mobility and requiring future surgical intervention.
• Facial paralysis: Improper use of forceps or excessive pressure can result in temporary or permanent paralysis of facial muscles.
• Fractures: Most commonly of the collarbone or limbs, caused by poor handling or mismanagement during birth.
• Untreated jaundice and kernicterus: Failure to monitor and treat jaundice can lead to kernicterus, a form of brain damage caused by high bilirubin levels.

Birth injury claims also frequently arise from injuries sustained by mothers due to substandard care:

• Severe tears and lacerations: Third or fourth degree tears caused by rushed or poorly managed delivery, especially where proper preparation was not provided.
• Incorrect stitching, infections post-C section: Inadequate post-operative care following Caesarean section, resulting in infections or long-term scarring.
• Nerve damage and bladder/bowel injuries: Damage to pelvic nerves or organs caused by surgical error or mismanaged labour.
• Uterine rupture: A rare but life-threatening complication that may arise if medical staff fail to monitor a high-risk labour appropriately.
• PTSD and psychological trauma: Increasingly recognised as a serious injury linked to poor maternity care, lack of consent, and traumatic delivery experiences. Many mothers report long-term emotional distress that severely affects their wellbeing.
• Maternal death: In tragic cases, failures in monitoring, delayed intervention or medical error can lead to the mother’s death during or shortly after delivery.

Many families do not realise that both mother and baby can have valid grounds to bring a claim when poor maternity care causes harm. If you are unsure whether the injuries your family experienced might give rise to a case, our team at Crimmins Howard Solicitors is here to listen and advise.

Accurate and continuous monitoring of the baby’s condition during labour is critical. When midwives or doctors fail to detect signs of foetal distress, the baby may be deprived of oxygen, resulting in permanent brain injury or even death. Similarly, inadequate monitoring of the mother can result in complications such as uterine rupture or dangerous haemorrhage being missed.

The timing of interventions such as an emergency Caesarean section is often the deciding factor between a safe delivery and a serious injury. When delays occur because consultants are unavailable or decisions are not escalated swiftly enough, families can be left to suffer devastating consequences.

Improper use of forceps or vacuum devices can cause direct physical injury to both the baby and the mother. Many cases of brachial plexus injury, facial paralysis or fractures in babies, and severe tears or nerve damage in mothers, are linked to poorly judged or unskilful use of these tools.

Birth injuries can also stem from failures to provide proper care before or after delivery. Missing key warning signs during pregnancy, prescribing unsafe medications, or failing to provide appropriate aftercare can all contribute to avoidable harm.

A particularly distressing factor in many modern cases is the failure of medical staff to involve mothers in decisions or to obtain informed consent before interventions. The trauma of being restrained, ignored, or subjected to invasive procedures without proper discussion leaves lasting psychological scars. As recent public reporting shows, this problem remains all too common in Irish maternity care.

Finally, systemic pressures such as understaffing and overcrowded wards contribute to rushed decision-making, missed monitoring opportunities, and a lack of emotional support for mothers. These conditions increase the risk of negligent care and lead directly to preventable birth injuries.

If your family’s experience involved any of these failures, you may have grounds to bring a birth injury claim. We encourage you to seek advice early and explore your options.

For a birth injury claim to succeed, we must establish three key elements:

• Duty of care existed between the healthcare providers and the mother or child. This is typically clear in maternity care.
• Breach of duty occurred. The care provided fell below what a reasonably competent professional should have delivered in the circumstances.
• Causation is proven. The breach of duty directly caused or materially contributed to the injuries suffered.

The strength of a birth injury claim rests on gathering the right evidence. We work closely with independent medical experts to ensure that all relevant facts are presented clearly and persuasively.

Important types of evidence include:

• Medical records: Detailed hospital notes, labour and delivery records, antenatal charts, CTG traces (foetal heart rate monitoring), theatre reports and postnatal care notes are critical. These documents help establish exactly what care was or was not provided, and when.
• Expert medical opinions: Independent consultants in obstetrics, paediatrics, neonatology, and where relevant, psychology or psychiatry, are engaged to analyse the records and give an expert view on whether negligence occurred and what harm it caused.
• Developmental records (for child injury claims): In cases involving infants or young children, health visitor records, physiotherapy notes and educational assessments can help demonstrate the long-term impact of birth injuries.
• Witness statements: Testimonies from parents, family members present during birth, and occasionally from medical staff, can add valuable context to the medical records.
• Psychological assessments: Where mothers or fathers pursue claims for psychological trauma or nervous shock, expert psychiatric or psychological reports are essential to demonstrate the emotional impact of what occurred.

Building a robust birth injury claim is not a quick process. Gathering and reviewing records, consulting independent experts, and carefully documenting developmental outcomes takes time and care. However, this thorough approach is essential to ensure the best possible chance of success.

If you would like to understand how your case might be built, or what evidence could be available in your situation, Crimmins Howard Solicitors can guide you through this process in plain, supportive language.

For birth injury claims brought by mothers in respect of physical or psychological injuries they suffered, the standard limitation period applies:

• Two years less one day from the date of injury or from the date the mother became aware that the injury was linked to negligent care.

This is a strict deadline. It applies to physical injuries (such as surgical errors or nerve damage) as well as psychological injuries, including PTSD resulting from traumatic delivery experiences.

Children benefit from an extended time frame:

• A claim may be brought at any time up to the child’s eighteenth birthday.
• After the child turns eighteen, they then have two further years to bring the claim themselves.

This flexibility allows time for delayed injuries to become apparent. Some conditions linked to birth injury, such as developmental delays or cerebral palsy, may only be diagnosed months or years after birth. The extended limitation period gives families time to assess the full impact before proceeding.

Parents may also bring nervous shock claims if they suffered psychological harm as a result of witnessing injury to their child during birth. For such claims, the two-year limit applies from when the parent became aware of the connection between the traumatic event and their psychological injury.

Even where a longer limitation period applies (as with child claims), early legal advice is vital. Medical records and potential witness evidence are much easier to secure promptly after the event. Early action also helps ensure that any potential claim is built on the strongest possible foundation.

If you are unsure whether your claim falls within the time limits, our team at Crimmins Howard Solicitors will be happy to advise you clearly and without pressure.

Compensation in birth injury claims typically includes both general damages and special damages:

• General damages: This is compensation for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity experienced by the mother, the child or both. It also covers the psychological impact of the injury, which is particularly important in cases involving trauma or nervous shock.
• Special damages: These are financial losses and costs resulting from the injury. They may include:
  • Future care costs for a child with long-term needs (home care, specialist therapies, respite care)
  • Medical expenses, including private treatment not provided by the HSE
  • Psychological counselling or psychiatric support for the mother or family members
  • Costs of adapting the family home to meet a child’s disability needs
  • Educational supports or specialist equipment for the child
  • Loss of earnings for parents where time off work is required to provide care
  • Travel and incidental expenses associated with the injury

The Courts assess compensation based on the severity of the injury, its impact on the family’s quality of life, and the likely future costs arising from the harm done.

In cases involving children with profound disabilities, compensation can run into millions of euros, reflecting the lifelong care needs involved. For less severe but still significant injuries, awards are carefully calculated based on expert evidence about likely future outcomes.

It is vital to remember that compensation is not about placing a value on a life or a child’s potential. It is about ensuring that the family has the resources needed to provide the best possible care and quality of life going forward.

If you would like to understand what level of compensation might be appropriate in your case, we can provide clear guidance based on experience with similar claims.