Pre-eclampsia

Pre-eclampsia is a condition affecting certain women in the second half of their pregnancies and sometimes after delivery of the baby. The cause is unknown, although it is believed to arise when there is a defect in the placenta, which links the mother’s blood supply, oxygen and nutrients to the fetus. 

Pre-eclampsia causes the mother many problems including  hypertension (high blood pressure), protein in the urine and retention of fluid. Failure to diagnose and treat it can have severe consequences. In severe cases and rarely, the mother may develop eclampsia, which involves seizures and can put the lives of mother and baby at risk.

In the worst cases Pre-eclampsia may cause the mother liver problems, kidney failure or even a stroke or death. It also causes major risks to the unborn baby of problems such as growth problems, stillbirth and premature birth. 

Pre-eclampsia is most common amongst women over 40, women carrying twins, women who have diabetes, those with kidney disease or high blood pressure outside of pregnancy and also overweight women.

Diagnosis is usually made at antenatal appointments and medical staff should recognise the symptoms.

When the condition is mild, the woman can be monitored by blood pressure readings and urinalysis tests at more frequent antenatal appointments. If the condition is severe the woman may require admission to hospital for monitoring and treatment to try to lower the blood pressure. However, pre-eclampsia will only be resolved by delivery of the infant. When necessary, labour will have to be artificially induced to relieve the symptoms. Early induction may cause problems to the baby but may also stop the mother developing later problems if she goes on to have eclampsia. Approximately 6 mothers die each year due to pre-eclampsia and hundreds of babies fail to survive the premature births involved. It is therefore vital that medical staff diagnose and manage the condition as early as possible.

Mother or child or both may have a claim for compensation if they have been injured as a result of failure or delay by doctors or midwives in diagnosing and treating Pre-eclampsia. 

Our team of dedicated expert specialist medical negligence and birth injury solicitors have many years of experience in handling birth injury compensation claims. It is important that your claim is dealt with by specialist medical negligence lawyers, as these claims are usually complex and can be of high value. We specialise solely in complex clinical and medical negligence claims and have an excellent record. We represent birth injury mothers and children  in high value medical negligence claims, many resulting in substantial settlements. We have the expertise to obtain the maximum amount of damages to compensate and provide for you and/or your child’s future and to support you and your family through the process.  

Our team is led by Tony May, a specialist birth injury solicitor with an excellent record and with over 20 years experience and expertise in dealing with Cerebral Palsy claims, Erb’s Palsy claims and other birth  injury compensation cases, including many involving multi-million pound settlements. 

Tony can be contacted by email on  anthonymay@chadlaw.co.uk or by telephone on 01484 519999. Alternatively, you could call our team on the freephone number below.
We are members of the Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel and Action Against Medical Accidents (AVMA). We are also one of only a select number of solicitors’ practices accredited by the Legal Aid Agency and the Law Society to handle medical negligence claims. We are therefore authorised to deal with medical negligence investigations funded by Legal Aid. If you are not eligible for Legal Aid, Conditional Fee Agreement funding (also known as “No Win No Fee”) may be available. 

We deal with claims countrywide. We are based at our Huddersfield office but can visit you in your home or in hospital if you are unable to attend at one of our West Yorkshire offices. If you or a member of your family may have sustained a birth injury as a result of medical negligence and/or negligence by a midwife, please contact our specialist medical negligence Legal Aid and no-win-no-fee lawyers. Initial advice is always free, whether in person, on the telephone or by e-mail. 

Contact Chadwick Lawrence for free legal advice on FREE PHONE  0800 028 2969 or email: anthonymay@chadlaw.co.uk