Perineal Injuries in Childbirth and When to Claim Compensation.
A perineal injury during vaginal childbirth is a common experience as the area around the vagina stretches due to the pressure of the baby’s delivery. For the vast majority of women, this is a fairly small tear which should resolve quickly.
If medical negligence has left you with an unrepaired severe tear, however, you may wish to consider making a claim for compensation.
Severe perineal tears
The impact of a severe perineal tear can be utterly devastating and shocking. To leave hospital with your new baby plus an injury to your anal muscles is not a scenario that any woman wants and it can easily undermine her self-confidence to a significant degree. Furthermore, it can hamper her ability to work as well as to support her new-born baby. Loss of the ability to control the passing of wind and faeces can mean that a woman feels as if her entire day has to be structured around her need for access to a toilet and can make her feel reluctant to leave her home at all.
Negligent medical care of a severe birth tear
Severe birth tears, also known as 3rd and 4th degree tears, affect around 5% of women giving birth through the vagina and so are clearly a known risk. The medical professionals attending the birth have a duty of care to the new mother to ensure that a severe tear is diagnosed and comprehensively repaired before she leaves hospital to go home with her baby.
A delay in diagnosis and repair may compromise the integrity of a repair allowing the wound to break down and for the woman to continue to suffer distressing and debilitating bowel symptoms. A complete failure of diagnosis and repair can clearly have appalling consequences.
In the most severe of cases, a woman may even develop a fistula between the rectum and the vagina or may need a stoma to be fitted to provide bowel function.
If medical professionals fail to carry out a post-natal perineal examination including a digital rectal examination, they may be regarded as having provided only substandard care.
If a severe injury is not diagnosed or is misdiagnosed, leaving the new mother with on-going symptoms, it may also be regarded as a case of negligent care.
Claiming compensation
If you are struggling with the symptoms of an unrepaired severe birth tear, contact Glynns to discuss the possibility of making a claim for compensation.
A successful claim would address the consequences of the negligence such as a loss of income if you are struggling to work.
Funding Your Medical Negligence Claim
Glynns specialise in medical negligence claims, undertaking no other legal work.
This specialisation ensures that we have the skills ready and waiting to help you in the most efficient and economical way.
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