Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Awareness Month – Calls for Maternity Care Improvements

It is SANDS‘ Stillbirth and Neonatal Awareness Month, a yearly event to raise awareness of the challenges faced by families who have experienced neonatal death or stillbirth and to improve care and support for anyone affected by the death of a baby.

This year, SANDS has launched its #AlwaysThere campaign to ensure that pregnant parents have the appropriate care and support in place after the loss of a baby.

Throughout June, SANDS is calling for improvements to maternity care for all women who are pregnant after loss. The charity says that accessing the best model of care and having healthcare staff to support bereaved parents’ journeys can really make a difference.

SANDS has campaigned over 40 years for more support for those who have experienced the heartbreak of stillbirth and neonatal death. This includes providing a safe space for mothers and fathers to grieve and commemorate their babies, working with the NHS to provide empathetic bereavement care and campaigning to save babies’ lives.

Very sadly, the devastating impact of losing a baby is an ordeal that many parents must face. Every single day in the UK, 15 babies die before, during or shortly after their birth.

There are many reasons why stillbirths or neonatal deaths occur. Unfortunately, many of these are unavoidable and can happen in healthy babies, despite advances in medicine.

However, negligent healthcare mistakes can happen that result in a stillborn baby or neonatal death, which could have been prevented. In these situations, you may be able to pursue a medical negligence compensation claim if a specialist solicitor can prove that the treatment provided by the healthcare staff involved in your pregnancy, birth or aftercare was below the appropriate standard.

At Novum Law, we have a team of specialist medical negligence solicitors with experience in stillbirth and neonatal death claims, which can provide expert legal advice on whether you have grounds for a successful claim.

Some examples of stillbirth and neonatal death claims we can help with include:

• Failure to identify or monitor potential risks to the baby
• Failure to monitor the baby’s heartbeat, mother’s blood pressure and other vital signs during labour
• Failure to provide appropriate emergency treatment, such as a Caesarean section (C-section), to protect the health of the baby
• Misdiagnosis or late diagnosis of such problems as early separation of the placenta from the womb lining
• Failure to diagnose or properly treat infections (such as Strep B)
• Failure to provide appropriate resuscitation or oxygen to a baby who has been deprived of oxygen during birth (sometimes called birth asphyxia or neonatal asphyxia)
• Failure to diagnose and treat conditions such as pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, or high blood pressure

If you want to make a medical negligence claim, it is crucial to speak to a specialist medical negligence solicitor as soon as possible.

We offer a free, initial no-obligation chat and provide No Win No Fee claims, which means there are no hidden costs or extra charges.

To find out more about making a stillbirth or neonatal claim with Novum Law, call us on Freephone 0800 884 0777 or email info@novumlaw.com.

To learn more about SANDS Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Awareness Month visit click here.