£2.5m for mother of four suffering debilitating, severe vaginal tear at Ipswich Hospital
During the birth, the midwifery team failed to diagnose and repair Beth's 3c vaginal tear and instead repaired it as if it were a less serious second-degree tear. Beth had in fact sustained a complete tear of her internal anal sphincter and now suffers severe incontinence and urgency.
Prior to her injury, Beth was a senior accountant. She has since been unable to return to work because of her debilitating incontinence. She rarely leaves the house because she is worried she may have an accident and feels that her bowels rule her life. She has found the whole ordeal while also raising four children incredibly difficult to cope with.
Beth instructed Fieldfisher to investigate her claim for negligence. We instructed a colorectal expert who found that there had been a negligent failure to identify and repair the 3c tear and this failure had left Beth with her devastating incontinence symptoms.
The defendant Trust accepted that Beth's ability to work and to raise her children has been affected by her injury. Jonathan was then able to work with the Trust to agree a settlement of £2.5m. This figure covered the general damages for Beth's injury, as well as her loss of earnings.
Beth and her husband were very grateful to the Fieldfisher team and especially Jonathan for their hard work in obtaining such a large sum of money to help her and her family. While this money will never repair Beth's injury, it does mean that she does not have to worry about her finances while she raises her children.
Beth said: 'Jonathan has provided a first class level of support and advice. He has made what could have been an extremely complicated and difficult process largely stress free. Jonathan made every effort to manage my case with the utmost sensitivity, as it clearly involved the most sensitive and personal matters.
'His advice was very clear on everything including all the risks around the case. In the end, he brought the case to a successfully negotiated conclusion with an excellent settlement. This will allow my young family to be supported in the way they would have been prior to my injury and it will also allow me to access private medical treatment without delay and in due course, hopefully return to the career that I loved.'
Contact us
For further information about vaginal tear claims, please call Jonathan Zimmern on 0330 460 6779 or email jonathan.zimmern@fieldfisher.com.
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