Gynaecology and Pregnancy Negligence Claims

Most women will need some kind of gynaecological care during their life, whether related to pregnancy or other health issues. Any errors made during a gynaecological procedure or failure to carry out an appropriate test or procedure can result in serious negative consequences, including infertility, birth injuries or an unwanted pregnancy, any of which can have a huge impact on your life.

If you believe you or your child have been injured as the result of negligent gynaecological treatment or treatment you received during your pregnancy, you may be entitled to claim compensation. This can be vital to enable you to deal with the physical and emotional consequences of the injury suffered and allow you and your family to move on.

Wolferstans’ medical negligence solicitors offer sensitive, practical support for gynaecology negligence claims, helping to keep the process of claiming compensation as simple and hassle-free as possible. If you believe you or a loved one has suffered an injury as a result of negligent medical care during pregnancy you may wish to consider our maternal birth injuries, loss of a baby or birth injuries page which deal with these specific types of injury.

We have secured substantial compensation for our clients under even the most difficult of circumstances, giving us the experience and expertise to make sure no detail is missed and that your claim has the very best chance of success.

In most cases, we can help resolve gynaecology claims without the need for court action, using our skills in non-confrontational dispute resolution. As well as allowing you to avoid the stress of a court hearing, this approach is usually faster with lower legal costs involved.

As part of our process of assessing your claim, we will provide a highly accurate estimate of the level of compensation you are likely to be able to secure. This can be vital to ensure you do not end up settling for less than your claim may truly be worth – something that can be a real risk with less experienced firms.

We offer a free initial no obligation consultation during which we will be able to tell you if you have a claim worth investigating further.

To arrange your consultation please contact the new client team on 01752 292204.

Our gynaecological injury claims service

We help clients across England and Wales claim compensation for a wide range of gynaecological injuries, including those related to:

Birth defects
Wrongful birth
Misdiagnosed miscarriage
Failed sterilisation
Injuries caused during a termination
Contraception negligence
Perforation of the uterus during contraceptive procedures
Fertility treatment negligence
Delay in diagnosis of cervical or ovarian cancer
Injuries sustained during a hysterectomy

Read about some of the cases we have successfully pursued in relation to obstetrics and gynaecology claims.

How gynaecology negligence claims work

Our clinical negligence lawyers will support you and your family through the entire claims process with compassion and sensitivity, making it as simple and stress-free as we can for you to secure compensation.

A typical gynaecological injury claim will involve:

Building your case e.g. applying for medical records, collecting witness evidence and consulting independent medical experts.
Contacting the relevant healthcare provider with the details of your claim.
Ensuring the defendant responds to your claim in a timely fashion.
Assessing the defendant’s response and advising you of your options.
Negotiating with the defendant and/or using alternative dispute resolution (ADR), such as mediation or independent evaluation, to secure a suitable settlement.
Submitting your claim to the relevant court and representing you at a court hearing where required to resolve the matter.

Find out more about the process of making a clinical negligence claim,

Funding a gynaecological injury compensation claim

Given how distressing and stressful gynaecological injuries often are to deal with, we want to reassure you that, as long as we believe you have strong grounds for a claim, we will make sure we help you find the right funding option for you.

If the injury is to yourself, we will normally be happy to work with your on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, also known as a conditional fee agreement. This allows you to start a claim without needing to worry about paying towards your legal fees and expenses up front.

You will then only need to contribute towards these costs if your claim is successful, with the amount you pay being based on a percentage of the compensation we secure for you.

Other options include legal expenses insurance, which may be included as an optional extra with your home insurance policy, or offered with your bank account or credit card.

To discuss your options for covering the cost of a gynaecological injury claim, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Find out more about funding a medical negligence claim.

Our expertise in gynaecology claims

Our medical negligence team has a very strong track record with gynaecological injury claims, having secured substantial damages for our clients, including in a number of highly complex and contentious claims.

Wolferstans is accredited by the Law Society for Clinical Negligence, recognising our particular expertise in this area. We are also Lexcel accredited by the Law Society for excellence in legal practice management and client care .

Various members of our medical negligence team are also on the Law Society and AvMA (Action against Medical Accidents) Specialist Clinical Negligence Panels and have been accredited by APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) as Clinical Negligence Specialists and Brain Injury Specialists.

Find out more about our medical negligence claims team.

Common questions about gynaecological injury claims

This will depend on the nature of the injury and the circumstances surrounding it.

If you are making a claim for an injury to yourself, you will normally have 3 years to do so from the time the injury occurred. However, if you only realise you were injured or that negligence was the cause later, the time limit may be counted from this point instead.
If you are claiming for an injury to your child due to gynaecology negligence, you will normally have until they turn 18 to bring a claim. They would then be able to bring their own claim once they turn 18, having until they turn 21 to do so.
If you need to make a claim from gynaecology negligence on behalf of someone who does not have the mental capacity to make their own claim, there is no time limit to do so.
Where a gynaecological injury has caused the death of a loved one, you will normally have 3 years from the date of death to make a claim, as long as they passed away within the original 3-year time limit.

Working out which time limit applies and whether you are still within the window to make a claim can be complicated, so we always recommend speaking to one of our medical negligence lawyers to find out more, no matter how much time has passed.

You can normally claim two types of damages for gynaecology negligence:

Special damages – For specific financial costs incurred up to the date of settlement. Examples of eligible costs you can recover include paying for private treatment and care support, buying specialist equipment and lost earning due to having to take time of work.

General damages– For non-financial losses (e.g. pain & suffering and lifestyle changes), as well as foreseeable future financial losses and expenses (e.g. paying for on going care, future medical treatments etc.).

Whether an error in your gynaecological care meets the standard to be considered negligent (and therefore eligible for a compensation claim) can be challenging to determine and prove.

We will need to be able to show that:

The care provided fell below medically acceptable standards i.e. a competent medical professional would not have acted in the same way under the same circumstances.
That the negligent care you received directly caused your/your child’s injuries.

To prove these two factors, we will need to gather various types of supporting evidence, including:

Medical records
Witness evidence
Evidence from independent medical experts

Further information about obstetrics and gynaecology injury claims

For more information about gynaecology negligence compensation claims and all types of medical negligence claims, please take a look at our news, blogs and our series of helpful leaflets covering specific issues.

Start a gynaecological injury claim with us today

To arrange a free initial no obligation consultation and find out more about starting a pregnancy and gynaecology negligence claim: