Cerebral Palsy and Birth Injury Claims

Cerebral palsy is the term usually used to describe someone who has suffered with a disorder of voluntary movement and coordination due to injury to the immature developing brain. 

There are primarily four different types of cerebral palsy:

• Spastic cerebral palsy, when there is increased muscle tone (hypertonia) in the body and the muscles are tight, stiff and weak
• Athetoid (dyskinetic) cerebral palsy, when there are involuntary writhing movements that affect the individual's control of movement, with increased or decreased muscle tone (hypotonia)
• Ataxic cerebral palsy, when there are abnormal unwanted jerking and shaking movements, which disrupts movement control
• Mixed cerebral palsy, which is a combination of two or more of the above

Cerebral palsy is also often described as hemiplegic (affecting one half of the body, either left or right), diplegic (affecting primarily the legs), or quadriplegic (affecting all four limbs).

The brain injury that caused the cerebral palsy may have occurred before, during or after birth.  In the context of clinical negligence, the description is often used to refer to individuals who have suffered hypoxia (a lack of oxygen) during the delivery process (intrapartum asphyxia).  However, other causes are also very important, including infections during pregnancy, congenital abnormalities of the brain, genetic conditions, trauma and cerebral bleeding, low birth weight or premature birth.

When investigating the possibility of medical negligence in an individual with cerebral palsy, it is usually very important to try to identify what has caused the underlying brain injury, which will probably involve the analysis of brain scans (MRI scans usually) by an expert in neuroradiology.  In addition, other experts that will probably be required are an obstetrician to review the obstetric care, a neonatologist or paediatric neurologist to analyse the cause of the cerebral palsy and whether different treatment would have led to a different outcome, and possibly a midwife to look at the midwifery management. 

While it is impossible to cover every possible scenario as every case is different, some factors that may suggest that you would want to consider investigating the possibility of a potential clinical negligence claim include:

• Problems on the cardiotocograph (CTG), your baby's heart monitor
• A long, poorly progressing labour and/or a lengthy delivery
• The possibility of fetal distress having been mentioned by the obstetric doctors or midwives
• The delayed attendance of the obstetric doctors
• A delayed emergency caesarean section
• Your baby requiring resuscitation immediately after delivery
• Your baby convulsing or fitting shortly after delivery

If you believe you may have a clinical negligence claim, please contact the team by email at clinnegenquiries@kingsleynapley.co.uk or by calling +44 (0)20 7814 1200.