“Ava” now eight

Ava’s mum Shereen had a normal pregnancy, and she was looking forward to welcoming a healthy baby daughter. However appalling negligence during Ava’s birth caused her to suffer catastrophic brain damage during her birth. After Ava’s parents turned to JMW’s specialist birth injury team for advice, they received the answers they needed about what went wrong. JMW partner Eddie Jones was also able to secure the financial means for Ava to be provided with the specialist care, equipment, therapy and security for the rest of her life.

What went wrong?

Ava was Shereen’s second child and whilst everything had gone okay with her first, it had led to her having a caesarean section. A caesarean is where a doctor operates on the woman’s womb to deliver the baby through an incision that is made. They are sometimes carried out if there are signs that the baby is in distress during labour so that they can be delivered safely and cared for by the medical team. If a woman has a caesarean the procedure leaves a scar where the incision was made. This makes it important for future births to be properly planned because if the birth takes place vaginally, there is a risk that the scar will split and cause serious complications for mother and baby.

Towards the end of her second pregnancy, Sheeren had an appointment with a consultant obstetrician, a doctor who specialises in childbirth. The aim of the appointment was to decide how Ava should be delivered, either with another caesarean, or with Sheeran trying for a ‘normal’ vaginal birth this time around. After a discussion, Shereen decided that she would have a “sweep” if she went overdue to break her waters and hopefully start labour to see if she could have a vaginal birth. However, her understanding was that if this did not work she would be having a caesarean and no action would be taken by maternity staff to see the vaginal birth through to the end.

When Shereen was a week overdue she attended the maternity hospital to have her waters broken. A short time later she was seen by another doctor who told her that she might need to be attached to a drip that would provide her with a drug called Syntocinon to speed things up by getting her contractions going and making them more frequent than they otherwise would have been. Shereen was surprised by this as she had stated she did not want any further intervention. The doctor did not mention anything about the risk of Shereen’s caesarean section scar rupturing with the use of Syntocinon.

There was no progress with Shereen’s labour overnight and in the morning another doctor visited her and mentioned that she may need the Syntocinon drip. Again, the doctor did not mention the risk of her caesarean scar rupturing with the use of the drug. Throughout the course of the day Shereen’s labour did not get going so at midnight she was told that the plan was to start her on the Syntocinon drip. Yet again she was not warned about the risks this posed to her and her baby.

Later than morning the drip was started and an electronic monitor was attached to Shereen’s abdomen to monitor Ava’s heart rate. Despite the monitor showing some abnormalities, meaning that Ava’s brain was not receiving enough oxygen, the dose of Syntocinon was increased. Over the course of the morning the worrying signs on the heart rate monitor continued but this was not picked up on by midwives and a doctor was not called to review Shereen and the Syntocinon was not stopped.

When Ava’s heart rate dropped significantly, finally it was appreciated that she was in danger. Shereen’s womb had ruptured and Ava’s oxygen supply had been completely cut off. A doctor was called who recognised that Ava needed to be delivered now by caesarean. However, this was not done as quickly as it ought to have been and Ava had to wait too long to receive specialist medical care.

When Ava was delivered, she was not breathing and had to be resuscitated because her brain had been starved of oxygen. She was then placed in a special cot where she could receive cooling therapy to try to limit the extent of the damage to her brain. However tragically Ava remained in a very poor condition and had suffered catastrophic damage.

JMW’s investigation

Shereen felt very strongly that the doctors at the maternity hospital had not listened to her and had instead rushed Ava’s delivery along with scent regard for her safety. Shereen knew that Ava should not have been injured in this way and wanted specialist advice about her daughter’s future and how she would get the care she needed. After contacting JMW, Ava’s case was taken on by Eddie Jones, a partner in our specialist medical negligence team.

Eddie is very experienced in such cases and was able to use his skills to pull together all the records, documents and witness evidence, both from Shereen and independent medical experts, to prove that the maternity staff had been negligent. Eddie’s case centered around the failure of doctors to warn Shereen of the risks of Syntocinon and also its inappropriate use.

Cerebral palsy compensation awarded

Ava’s needs are very complex and she requires round the clock care. She is sadly unable to mobilise independently, communicate or eat in the normal way and has to be fed via a tube. This means Ava needs specialist carers with her 24-hours a day. Tragically, due to the impact on her health Ava’s life expectancy has been significantly reduced.

Whilst no amount of money could ever make up for this, Eddie was able to take some of Ava’s parents concerns about how they would provide for her care needs away by negotiating compensation on their behalf.

Eddie was able to go through all the necessary steps that are set out in law to ensure that the correct amount of compensation was secured for Ava. This amounted to £8.85 million across her lifetime and has enabled her to move into a house that has been specially adapted to her needs with space for her carers, hoists to move Ava safely and specialist bathing facilities. Her parents will never need to worry again about how they will cover the cost of their daughter’s needs, which has been priceless for them.

Eddie Jones, a partner in JMW’s specialist birth injury team who handled Ava’s case, said: