Case studies

Brachial plexus injuries can arise during birth, where excessive force or incorrect manoeuvres are applied to try to deliver a baby whose shoulder may be obstructed, preventing delivery.

Our client was nine days old when he suffered asphyxia because a ventilation tube became blocked, starving him of oxygen and causing permanent brain damage.

Our client suffered congenital abnormalities as a result of which he had to undergo extensive surgery shortly following his birth. The surgery itself proceeded smoothly, but after his discharge our client developed necrotising entercolitis for which he had to be readmitted.

We are pursuing this claim, in which liability is now admitted in full, on behalf of our client who was born a month before her due date. The labour was mismanaged and problems with slow heart rate were not acted on quickly enough.

Our client, K, underwent a caesarean section following complications during labour. Prior to the caesarean section, the defendant negligently failed to undertake a further examination that would have shown that a straightforward instrumental delivery would be possible.

We are currently investigating the circumstances in which a first time mother had an extremely difficult pregnancy, becoming very large and quite unwell in her last trimester. She experienced difficulty breathing, reduced mobility as a result of swelling in her legs and feet, and a huge amount of stress. She had shared care from her GP, her midwife and her consultant and all three simply reassured her that she was having a large baby and she should try not to worry.

We are pursuing a claim arising from a consultant ophthalmologist's failure to recognise signs of wet age-related macular degeneration and to advise our client on the treatment options available.

Ectopic pregnancy presents very particular and potentially life-threatening risks to the expectant mother. Penningtons has acted in a number of cases of delayed diagnosis of ectopic pregnancies.

Our client was referred to hospital with suspected ectopic pregnancy. Ultrasound was inconclusive and pregnancy hormone levels should have been re-tested, but were not.

Our client went into labour with her first child, but the attending midwife failed to remove or deflate the balloon of a Foley catheter that had been inserted.

Our medical negligence solicitors are investigating a claim for a client who successfully delivered her baby, but during childbirth sustained a second degree tear.

Our client, a normally fit and active 40-year-old man, had difficulty walking and developed severe back pain after knee surgery at Wexham Park Hospital. We settled a claim against Heatherwood & Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust relating to the avoidable failure of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, where part of a ligament from his leg was used as a graft to reconstruct the damaged knee ligament.