Pre-Eclampsia Compensation Claims Solicitors

All medical professionals are trained to follow official procedures in order to prevent any errors from happening. Unfortunately, mistakes can, and do, still happen.

Misdiagnosis or mistreatment by medical professionals can result in severe conditions being left untreated and therefore susceptible to worsening. An example of one of these serious conditions is pre-eclampsia.

Pre-eclampsia is a type of medical complication that occurs during pregnancy.

Women who suffer with pre-eclampsia may experience high blood pressure, high levels of protein in your urine, which indicates kidney damage (proteinuria), or other signs of organ damage if you have pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia usually develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy in women whose blood pressure was previously normal.

Sadly, if left untreated, pre-eclampsia can cause serious – even fatal – complications for both the mother and the baby.

The severity of the condition, as well as the devastating and life-changing consequences that can happen after improper or insufficient treatment means that pre-eclampsia is a condition that medical staff should:

• Routinely check mothers for symptoms
• After noticing symptoms, correctly diagnose them and react accordingly

Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen, which can cause serious complications to occur.

Nothing can undo or “make up for” the trauma that pre-eclampsia negligence causes to the baby, the mother and all those involved, but a successful claim can go a long way towards alleviating some of the financial burden, enabling you to focus on healing and offering you some peace of mind, financially.

Getting the right legal advisor who will advocate for you and your family is the most important part of making your claim.

Why choose us?

Our medical negligence, accident, and personal injury law firm has worked hard since 1997 to help our clients achieve the best possible results.

SDS Solicitors has a wealth of first-hand experience consulting with, advising, defending, and advocating for our clients, many of whom have unfortunately had to experience medical negligence and have filed pre-eclampsia claims.

Despite our headquarters in Manchester, England, we work with clients from all over England and Wales to determine whether they have a claim and to guide them through the claims process.

To find out how we can help you, whether you could have a claim and how much you may be entitled to, get in touch with one of our experts today by calling us via the number at the top of this page or simply filling out our contact form.

How is pre-eclampsia caused?

It is thought that this condition is caused by the placenta not receiving enough blood. This could be because the placenta did not develop properly. Increased blood pressure may also prevent oxygen and food from reaching the baby.

Additionally, your pregnancy can be affected by stress. High blood pressure caused by stress has the potential to cause pre-eclampsia.

There is thought to be a connection between pre-eclampsia compensation and genetics. This health problem appears to run in families. If someone in your immediate family, such as your mother or sister, has experienced pre-eclampsia, then unfortunately you may be at risk.

In general, the mother may experience symptoms such as water retention, severe headaches, and vomiting.

Pre-eclampsia is also dangerous to the baby because it restricts their blood supply and slows their growth. According to statistics, less than 5% of women are at risk of developing pre-eclampsia, implying that, while uncommon, it should be on the radar of every maternity professional.

Above all, in the case of the mother's health, pre-eclampsia should be checked for.

Pre-eclampsia is usually detected early and treated promptly. Pre-eclampsia negligence occurs when a medical practitioner fails to diagnose pre-eclampsia or provides incorrect treatment due to an avoidable error.

What is pre-eclampsia negligence?

Sadly, there are many ways by which pre-eclampsia negligence may occur. Some of which include:

• When the condition is detected quickly but the necessary treatment is delayed, causing more pain, suffering, and/or risk than is strictly necessary in the circumstances.
• When the wrong treatment is given, causing more harm to the mother or baby or failing to address the symptoms of pre-eclampsia.
• When poor care or treatment causes or worsens the complications or any associated conditions of pre-eclampsia. These can be both physical and psychological in nature.
• Inadequate monitoring of a mother's blood pressure during routine antenatal visits, particularly after 20 weeks.
• Where medical staff delays in diagnosing the condition, resulting in increased levels of suffering, pain, and/or health risk to the mother and baby. This can also apply in cases where the condition was detected but misdiagnosed as something else. This could happen during a routine check, or if a mother goes to her doctor or A&E because she is feeling ill.
• Failure to adequately monitor a pregnant woman with a history of pre-eclampsia.
• Failure to refer a mother for further evaluation. Especially if she has protein in her urine or has high blood pressure, which indicates she is at risk of developing pre-eclampsia.

While there are many ways for pre-eclampsia negligence to occur, no family should have to experience the pain that this can cause.

Medical negligence is a serious offense, and those affected deserve at the very least to be accurately compensated. While pre-eclampsia negligence can leave a huge mark on family life, some of the financial concerns can be eased with the help of a successful claim.

If you, or someone close to you, have experience harm that could have been avoided had your medical health professional/s acted appropriately, then you could have a claim.

To learn what your next steps could be, get in touch with us.

What can pre-eclampsia medical negligence lead to?

Regrettably, pre-eclampsia medical negligence can lead to a whole host of unwanted symptoms, such as:

Limitation of foetal growth

Pre-eclampsia causes problems with the arteries that supply blood to the placenta. If the placenta does not receive sufficient blood, the baby may receive insufficient blood, oxygen, and nutrients. This can result in fatal growth restriction, which is characterized by slow growth.

HELLP syndrome

Haemolysis (the destruction of red blood cells), elevated liver enzymes, and a low platelet count are all abbreviated as HELLP. This severe form of pre-eclampsia has a wide-ranging impact on several organ systems and can be fatal to both the mother and the baby, potentially leading to long-term health problems for the mother.

Nausea and vomiting, headache, upper right belly pain, and a general feeling of illness or being unwell are signs and symptoms. It can appear unexpectedly, even before high blood pressure is detected. It can also occur without any symptoms.

Damage to other organs

Pre-eclampsia can cause kidney, liver, lung, heart, or eye damage, as well as a stroke or other brain injury. The extent of damage to other organs is determined by the severity of pre-eclampsia.

Heart disease

Pre-eclampsia may increase your chances of developing heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) disease in the future. If you've had pre-eclampsia more than once or had a premature birth, your risk is even higher.

Eclampsia

Eclampsia is defined as the onset of seizures or coma in conjunction with pre-eclampsia signs or symptoms. It is extremely difficult to predict whether a pre-eclampsia patient will develop eclampsia. Eclampsia can occur in the absence of any previous signs or symptoms of pre-eclampsia.

Severe headaches, vision problems, mental confusion, or altered behaviour are some of the signs and symptoms that may appear before seizures. However, there aren't always any symptoms or warning signs. Eclampsia can happen before, during, or after childbirth.

Abruption of the placenta

Pre-eclampsia raises the chances of a placental abruption. The placenta separates from the inner uterine wall before delivery in this condition. Severe abruption can result in severe bleeding, which can be fatal to both the mother and the baby.

Premature labour

Pre-eclampsia can result in an unplanned preterm birth (birth before 37 weeks). Pre-eclampsia is also treated primarily with planned preterm birth. Premature babies are more likely to have breathing and feeding problems, vision or hearing problems, developmental delays, and cerebral palsy. Treatments administered prior to preterm delivery may reduce some risks.

The longer that pre-eclampsia goes undiagnosed (and therefore untreated), the more opportunities there are for unwanted complications to arise and/or worsen.

If you or your child experienced harm that could have been avoided because healthcare professionals failed to spot and correctly diagnose obvious symptoms of pre-eclampsia, allowing the condition to worsen and cause further, avoidable damage, then you could have a claim.

Remember: you have the right to hold those responsible accountable.

Contact one of our experts today to learn about your next steps, including whether you have a claim and what you might be entitled to.

How do you determine whether you have a claim?

Healthcare professionals owe a duty of care to their patients. Nobody should have to witness their child suffer harm that could have been avoided if their medical team had acted properly.

Seeking legal advice from personal injury law firm who has handled cases similar to yours puts you in the best position to understand what your next steps could be and help you through the process.

The right solicitor will help you to determine whether you have a claim, how much you may be entitled to, and what comes next.

We specialise in no win no fee personal injury compensation claims, which means if you don't win, you won't have to pay.

SDS Solicitors' expert team has a wealth of experience assisting victims of medical negligence in obtaining the compensation they deserve.

Contact us right away to find out if you or someone close to you could be eligible for compensation.