Can I Get Compensation for a Colostomy Due to a Birth Tear?
If you are trying to cope with a colostomy bag due to damage to your anus during the birth of your baby, it is likely that your birth tear was mismanaged. It may be appropriate to make a claim for compensation for your pain, suffering and loss of income.
Severe birth tears
Perineal tears, even including severe tears, are a risk of vaginal birth. Especially if you are giving birth via the vagina for the first time or you require an instrumental birth, you are at risk of suffering a severe 3rd or 4th degree perineal tear.
These severe tears cause damage to the anus as well as the perineum, the region between the vagina and the anus. A third or fourth degree tear will unfortunately affect your ability to control your bowels. This means that you may either experience extreme urgency when you need to open your bowels or you may not be able to prevent the passing of wind and faeces at all. This is an extremely distressing scenario and can have a dramatic impact on a woman's working life, her ability to socialise and her personal relationships.
Treating severe tears
Such severe damage should be diagnosed shortly after the birth and repaired in an operating theatre by an experienced surgeon as soon as possible. In these circumstances, most women make a good recovery even though it will take time.
If a woman continues to suffer serious bowel problems, it may be that either their severe tear was not diagnosed accurately at the time of her child's birth or that her repair was inadequate in some way. That may mean that the full extent of the tear was not repaired or that inappropriate techniques or materials were used.
Cause and effect of severe tears
A woman suffering with severe difficulty controlling her bowels is likely to be finding it very difficult to work. It may be that some fields of employment have become completely impossible. Working at all may seem problematic. In these circumstances, you may be suffering significant loss of earnings.
There are a number of situations when it may be worth making a claim for compensation:
- You did not receive a diagnosis of your 3rd or 4th degree tear at the time of your child's birth
- You received an inaccurate diagnosis, possibly due to having no examination or an inadequate examination
- You received a substandard repair
Speak to a solicitor
If you were fitted with a colostomy because your severe tear was mismanaged in some way by your medical professionals, contact Glynns Solicitors to talk to a specialist medical negligence solicitor.
We have supported numerous women in making successful compensation claims for misdiagnosis of severe birth tears and will be very happy to advise you.
Please call us on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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