What can I Do When a Miscarriage is Misdiagnosed in a Hospital?

A positive result on a pregnancy test is always an exciting moment for a woman and her family. It is life changing and is the start of the journey to motherhood/parenthood. However, it is quite sad when it doesn’t end happily for the woman and her family. Even more devastating is when there is a misdiagnosis of miscarriage.

Pregnancies can be lost or some other complications may occur which may need the fetus being removed to save the woman’s life. The most common kind of pregnancy loss is miscarriage which according to the Miscarriage Association affects one in four pregnancies.

About 80% of miscarriages fall in the first 12 weeks and although majority of them happen suddenly without warning and are unavoidable, some good number of them can be attributed to negligent medical care.

Estimates are that a quarter of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, with the majority of them (80%) failing in the first 12 weeks. Many of these happen spontaneously and are impossible to avoid. However, a small percentage is due to or at least faces strong influences from negligent medical care.

How is Miscarriage Explained Medically?

Miscarriage can be described as when a fetus or embryo dies in the uterus during a pregnancy which according to the UK law is not more than 23 weeks and 6days. From 24 weeks, any pregnancy loss will be described as a stillbirth. Miscarriage can also be described as the fatal expulsion of a fetus from the womb before it is viable.
Miscarriage negligence claims refers to when an individual takes legal action against medical professionals for failing in their duty resulting in the avoidable loss of a pregnancy.

Miscarriage in itself is a heartbreaking experience and although negligence is not the only reason from miscarriage, it is even more difficult to accept when medical negligence is the reason for the miscarriage. Therefore, if you believe that yours was as a result of negligent care, then you can reach out to our medical negligence solicitors here at Medical Negligence Direct to help you with your claims.

We are experts in medical negligence claims and particularly in claims that have to do with any form of hospital negligence including forceps delivery negligence claims. Our solicitors have been able to represent many clients and have won them the right amount of settlement payout for their claims.

What is considered Medical Malpractice Miscarriage?

Medical negligence as it applies to miscarriage means that an expectant mother suffered a miscarriage solely because of the negligent or substandard care she received from her healthcare providers.

Usually, miscarriage can be suspected when there is pain, bleeding or spotting which may or may not be accompanied by cramps or abdominal pain.

Procedures such as carrying out a transvaginal or ultrasound scan can be undertaken while diagnosing miscarriage or to confirm the baby’s condition. Blood tests with a gap of at least 7 days can also be taken to ascertain the HCG levels in the blood.

However, the following are negligent actions which can cause a woman to suffer miscarriage or increase her chances of losing her baby through miscarriage;

• Failing to detect an ectopic pregnancy
• Failing to diagnose and treat bacterial infections mycoplasma hominis and ureaplasma urealyticum
• Failing to confirm if a woman is pregnant before carrying out a risky procedure
• Failing to diagnose and treat conditions like PCOS to minimize the chances of having a miscarriage
• Fitting birth control devices such as a contraceptive coil without first checking for pregnancy.

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Possible Causes of Misdiagnosis Of Miscarriage

There are conditions that may lead to a miscarriage being misdiagnosed. Missed miscarriage can be caused by conditions like blighted ovum and anembryonic pregnancy.

What happens here is that the cells that will eventually form the baby stop developing and then the tiny embryo is reabsorbed. However, the pregnancy sac which is meant to house the baby continues to grow giving a false impression that the baby is growing.

It is possible to misdiagnose a blighted ovum condition especially when the date of conception is not certain. An abdominal ultrasound will not reveal a blighted ovum until after a couple of weeks but can be visible much earlier on a transvaginal ultrasound scan.

Another reason why blighted ovum can lead to miscarriage misdiagnosis is that the expectant mother can still feel pregnant and even her HCG levels may remain high for some time even after the embryo has stopped developing and has been reabsorbed.

How Do We Help Our Clients Who are victims of Miscarriage?

Whatever the dynamics of your case: misdiagnosis of miscarriage? False miscarriage, still pregnant? We encourage everyone who believe they are victims of miscarriage medical negligence to reach out to us to discuss their claims. This can be done by dialing our emergency lines to speak with one of us and set up a meeting or filling out our free online claims’ assessment form.

We have medical negligence experts at our firm who are specialists in these sorts of claims and are among UK leading medical negligence solicitors. We try as much as possible not to make the claims process an additional burden for you as we understand your situation.

During our free consultation session, we will listen to your case and thoroughly evaluate the case to be sure you have a claim. We will thereafter explain to you how the claims process works and even help you gather the documents you need to make your claims.

These will of course include your medical records, witness statements while we will also ask our independent medical expert to access your records and even carry out a physical examination on you if necessary.

How Much Compensation Can I expect from such Miscarriage Claim?

Compensation amounts vary from case to case as medical negligence cases are different from each other. However, your final compensation amount will be determined by factors such as; severity of injury, loss of earnings including expected future earnings, cost of any needed medical treatment, and more.

How Long Will My Claim Take?

Misdiagnosis claims cases do not tend to be completed early as they can be very complex and tricky. The uniqueness of each case determines how long the case will last for.

However, you can be rest assured that your case will be handled by experts and you will certainly have the best legal representation.

We would also like to remind you that it is important to begin your claims early enough. Except for special cases, intending claimants have only three years to make their claims according to section 11 of the Limitation Act 1980.

How Can We Help you?

We undertake our miscarriage negligence claims on a No Win No Fee agreement basis which means that you make claims with financial risks. Only at the end of a successful claim shall we require from you an already agreed percentage as success fee. If the case is not successful, you will not incur any debt. We look forward to hearing from you.