We are committed to providing quality legal assistance with compassion.
At the Law Office of Conrad Curry, we are lawyers with extensive experience in birth injury, obstetric negligence and understand the traumatic and confronting nature of birth injuries.
Unfortunately, medical negligence often occurs in the context of childbirth. Negligence in this area can arise due to:
- Obstetric negligence;
- Birth injury to mother and/or child;
- Defective medical devices such as pelvic mesh;
- Still births and neonatal deaths; and
- Catastrophic injuries such as shoulder dystocia, hypoxic brain injuries resulting in stroke and cerebral palsy.
When a person is treated in a hospital, or by an obstetrician, gynaecologist, doctor, or midwife, they are generally owed a duty of care. This duty of care requires that treatment is provided with reasonable care and skill. This duty extends to the diagnosis and treatment of obstetric and gynaecological conditions.
Where the treatment provided to you is below an accepted standard of care, this duty is considered to have been breached. If you have experienced an adverse outcome from obstetric care, such as injury, or neonatal death, you may have able to make a claim if it can be shown that the breach of duty materially contributed to the adverse outcome.
It is important to note that you may be able to make a claim in negligence if you suffer from a psychological injury that has arisen from the breach of duty.
Time Limits
Strict time limits apply in cases of obstetric negligence.
Generally, you have three years to commence proceedings starting from the date of your injury. If your baby died shortly after birth or was stillborn, you must also make a claim within three years of the death. Time only ceases to run once documents are filed with the court.
It is important that you instruct us well before the limitation period expires to ensure we have enough time to gain an expert opinion/s and prepare court documents.
What can compensation include?
If you are successful in negotiating an outcome, compensation awarded to you can include compensation for:
- Pain and suffering;
- Past and future medical treatment, including allied health care;
- Past and future domestic assistance;
- Loss of income; and
- Loss of future earning capacity.
