Neonatal Injuries - Claims Arising from Substandard Care & Treatment During the Neonatal Period

Introduction

Between 2014/15 and 2024/25 the NHS paid out over £4 billion in damages for claims involving brain damage, cerebral palsy and stillbirth caused by negligence during the obstetric and neonatal period.

Despite the huge cost and various initiatives which have been introduced over the years to reduce claims, NHSR’s annual report for 2025/26 showed 1,418 new claims had been lodged with NHSR - a record high!

While obstetric claims account for only 10.8% of all clinical negligence claims, they represent 55% of the damages and costs paid for clinical negligence claims.

But the NHS are not always to blame when things go wrong during childbirth. Between 2014/15 and 2024/25, 3776 obstetric and neonatal claims were brought against the NHS but only 58% of these claims concluded with a payment of damages.

This virtual classroom seminar will consider why obstetric and neonatal claims fail: the role of the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) programme; increasing risk factors for childbirth in 2026; the importance of the timing of injury, and the difficulties with establishing causation particularly in respect of neurodivergent conditions.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive course will cover the following:

• The role of the MNSI
• Understanding why obstetric and neonatal claims fail:
• Elevated baseline risks
• Expectations about childbirth
• Unavoidable complications (i.e. Vasa Previa and fetal haemorrhage)
• Extreme prematurity
• Breach but no causation
• The Supreme Court decision in Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and the importance of the timing of injury
• The challenges in establishing a causal link between neonatal brain injury and ASD, ADHD and other neurodivergent conditions
• Why some claims succeed when at first glance the treatment was reasonable - a case study

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.