Birth Trauma Awareness Week is an important time to highlight the physical and emotional injuries that can occur during childbirth, and, crucially, how clinical negligence can play a significant role in many of these cases.

The Clinical Negligence team at Williamsons Solicitors has extensive experience supporting individuals and families affected by difficult or traumatic births. In many cases, these experiences are linked to avoidable mistakes made by medical professionals. While not every complication is the result of negligence, there are circumstances where failures in care planning, delayed decision-making, or improper intervention have led to serious and lasting harm to either the mother, the baby, or both.

What Is Birth Trauma?

Birth trauma refers to physical or psychological injuries that occur during labour or delivery. For babies, this can include:

Cerebral palsy

• Shoulder dystocia
• Erb’s palsy (brachial plexus injury)
• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) due to oxygen deprivation
• Fractures, bruising or lacerations

For mothers, trauma may involve:

• Severe perineal tears or surgical injuries
• Bladder or bowel damage
• Postpartum haemorrhage
• Psychological injuries such as PTSD or depression due to traumatic delivery

In many of the cases we work on, families were not given the right information, options, or timely care. In some instances, mothers felt their concerns were ignored or dismissed altogether.

How Clinical Negligence Happens

Clinical negligence in birth trauma cases may arise from:

• Failure to monitor the baby’s heart rate
• Delayed response to signs of the baby being in distress
• Misuse of forceps or ventouse during delivery
• Failure to perform a timely C-section
• Poor handling of shoulder dystocia or breech presentations
• Lack of informed consent around delivery methods

These are not just medical errors; they are often avoidable events with long-lasting consequences. In legal terms, if a medical professional breached their duty of care, and that led to injury that otherwise would not have happened, there may be grounds for a claim.

Why Birth Trauma Awareness Matters

During Birth Trauma Awareness Week, we want to do more than just raise visibility; we want to support those who have experienced it and may not realise that what they went through could be linked to negligence.

Many parents carry feelings of guilt or confusion after a traumatic birth. Some do not ask questions at the time, especially when they are overwhelmed with caring for a newborn or managing an emergency situation. Unfortunately, that means many families go years without ever knowing they had legal rights or that mistakes were made.

We want to change that.

How We Can Help

Our team deals with these cases every day. We understand how emotionally charged and sensitive they are, and we know that no amount of money can undo the harm caused. But pursuing a claim can:

• Provide answers and accountability
• Help secure funding for lifelong care and therapy
• Support emotional recovery
• Ensure lessons are learned to prevent future mistakes

We offer free, confidential consultations to help you understand if your experience could be classed as negligence. If we believe there is a valid claim, we will talk you through the next steps clearly and at your own pace.

When to Get in Touch

You might consider speaking to us if:

• You or your child were injured during labour or birth
• There were delays or failures in monitoring or treatment
• You feel something was not right, but you never received a proper explanation
• You have been left with lasting physical or mental health issues

You are Not Alone

This Birth Trauma Awareness Week, we want to send a clear message: your experience matters, and you deserve answers.

Whether you simply want to understand what went wrong, or you are ready to explore a legal claim, we are here to support you every step of the way.

If you or a loved one has experienced birth trauma resulting in a clinical negligence injury, please contact a member of our experienced clinical negligence team to discuss your situation further.