Bowel Damage During Childbirth - Can I Get Compensation?
If you are suffering severe bowel difficulties due to negligent maternity care of a 3rd or 4th degree tear, it may be possible to make a claim for compensation.
Childbirth and damage to bowel function
Astonishingly, giving birth through the vagina can cause permanent and shocking damage to the bowel. A severe 3rd or 4th degree perineal tear can injure the muscles which work to control and prevent the passing of both wind and faeces. If these muscles are damaged, a woman may find that she can no longer control these bowel impulses and becomes incontinent.
How do severe tears occur?
A severe perineal tear is one which damages the anal sphincter muscles.
Many women experience small injuries to the perineum during childbirth but a few also receive an injury to the crucial anal sphincter muscles.
The pressure of vaginal childbirth sometimes causes the skin and muscles around the vagina to tear and, in some cases, this tear extends so far that it affects the area around and sometimes inside the anus.
This is a particular risk for first-time mothers, women who are giving birth to a larger than average baby, women of Asian ethnicity and women who have undergone an instrumental delivery.
Appropriate medical management of 3rd and 4th degree tears
As a severe birth tear is a known risk for a significant number of women, NICE and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists both offer guidelines as to how they should be managed by medical professionals.
A prompt, full and effective repair is essential if a woman has suffered a 3rd or 4th degree tear. A delay in diagnosing and repairing the injury may reduce the chance of recovery. A delayed repair is likely to be less successful in preventing bowel symptoms than had it occurred shortly after the birth.
Medical professional who attend the birth of a baby should ensure that the new mother undergoes a thorough examination including a digital rectal examination and that all damage is identified accurately. This should trigger a surgical repair which needs to be carried out in a n operating theatre by a skilled physician.
Claiming compensation
If medical professionals have failed to examine, diagnose or repair a severe birth tear, leaving a woman to suffer significant symptoms which she would not otherwise have experienced , it may be possible to make a claim for compensation. A successful claim would include any financial losses, such as loss of income, which are identified as having been caused by the negligence.
Speak to a legal specialist
Glynns Solicitors is a dedicated medical negligence legal practice with extensive expertise in high-value maternal birth injury claims. Contact us today to speak with a specialist solicitor, free of charge, about the possibility of claiming compensation.
Please call us on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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