Woman receives £3.55 million form MoD after bungled birth
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded a woman a record £3.55million in compensation for the poor birth of her twins.
After a 13 year fight against Army lawyers, the woman, 41, a former wife of a soldier, received compensation for her two sons, now 18, who suffered from brain damage as a result of medical negligence.
In 1991, the woman was 30 weeks pregnant whilst on the Army base at Fallingbostel, Germany when she began to feel severe pains in her stomach.
However, a doctor failed to see her although she stated she believed she was in premature labour, and instead attempted to diagnose her over the phone.
After five hours, the woman was rushed to hospital and had given birth to her sons who were born suffering from brain damage.
Following an investigation, the MoD, which initially denied liability, stated that the bungled birth could have been prevented had its medical officer delayed the delivery with injections.
German medical records also revealed that the Army was unable to deal with multiple premature births as it had not had the correct equipment.
The amount is believed to be one of the highest payouts in the London’s High Court, with one of the twins receiving £1.65 million and the other with £1.9 million.
The mother, from Blackpool, said: “We have faced downright denial and prevarication over these long 13 years. In my terms it really has been a mother of all battles. But I wanted justice for my boys and now we have got it.”
Updated on 01/07/2009