Stillbirth Compensation Claims

If you believe your baby’s stillbirth might have been avoided, our clinical negligence team can look into what happened, in confidence, at your pace, and with no obligation to take anything further.

Losing a baby is one of the hardest things anyone can go through. When you suspect that the death could have been avoided, and that something in your care went wrong, that is harder still, and the questions can go unanswered for a long time.

Nothing a claim achieves undoes what has happened. What it can do is establish what went wrong, obtain an explanation and, where the care fell below the proper standard, provide compensation for the harm you have suffered and for the practical consequences, including counselling and treatment, and time away from work.

We act for families across the UK. Our clinical negligence team is led by Alex Wormald, a partner ranked by Chambers and Partners, and our medical negligence solicitors are on the panel of Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA). We also handle other birth injury, pregnancy and gynaecology claims.

There is no obligation to make a decision now, and we will not press you to.

When a stillbirth may amount to negligence

Section 41 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 defines a stillbirth as a baby born after the 24th week of pregnancy who did not breathe or show any other sign of life after being completely delivered.

Not every stillbirth involves negligence, and being told that is itself part of what an investigation can provide. Where a claim does arise, it is because care fell below the standard of a responsible body of professional opinion. The allegations commonly fall into a small number of categories:

• failure to act on concerns reported by the mother

• failure to monitor, or to interpret monitoring correctly, during pregnancy or in labour

• failure to arrange appropriate scanning or surveillance

• failure to identify or manage a condition affecting the pregnancy

• failure to escalate, or to involve a senior clinician when the situation required it

• delay in delivery where earlier delivery was indicated

• failure to manage a known risk factor, including in a pregnancy already identified as high risk

Where a condition affecting the pregnancy was identified late, that is a delayed diagnosis claim.

Whether the care fell short, and whether a different course would have changed the outcome, is a matter for independent expert evidence. That is the first substantive step, and it is done on the records rather than by asking you to relive the events.

Reviews and investigations that may already have happened

You may already have been told about a review, and the terms are confusing. It helps to know what each one is, because the material they produce is often central to a claim. If nobody has mentioned a review to you, tell us and we will find out what has been done.

The Perinatal Mortality Review Tool supports a standardised local review of care whenever a baby dies, covering deaths from 22 weeks onwards. It is co-led by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at Oxford Population Health, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care, and provided to trusts and health boards across the UK. Parents’ perspectives form part of the review. Ask the trust how you can contribute to yours.

MNSI, Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations, carries out independent investigations into certain maternity and newborn safety events in NHS maternity care in England. The programme began in 2018 within the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch and is now hosted by the Care Quality Commission. Its criteria include intrapartum stillbirth at term, where the baby was thought to be alive at the start of labour and was born with no signs of life. Trusts are required to report qualifying cases.

A hospital investigation or Serious Incident review may also have been carried out by the trust itself.

None of these is a compensation claim, and none of them can award you anything. But an MNSI report or a PMRT review can be a substantial piece of evidence. If you have been given a report, or told that an investigation is underway, tell us, and send us what you have.

Where an inquest is opened, we advise on fatal claims and inquests as well.

One point of frequent confusion is worth stating clearly: NHS Resolution’s Early Notification Scheme does not cover stillbirth. That scheme applies to potential severe brain injury in babies born at term following labour, which we deal with as cerebral palsy claims. Stillbirth falls to MNSI.

How a stillbirth claim is brought

A claim for injury sustained before birth under the Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Act 1976 requires the child to have been born alive, with “born” meaning the moment the child first has a life separate from its mother. A claim following a stillbirth is therefore not brought on the baby’s behalf in the way a claim for a surviving child would be.

A claim is instead brought by the mother in her own right, for the injury she has suffered, both physical injury and psychiatric injury of a kind the law recognises, together with the financial consequences.

Whether a father or partner can bring a claim of their own is a separate and more difficult question, and the law on it has narrowed in recent years. We will advise you on it specifically rather than in general terms.

Practically, this means the expert evidence about you matters as much as the evidence about the care. We will explain what that involves before anything is arranged, at a pace you set.

What compensation can cover

Compensation is made up of two parts.

General damages for the injury to you, assessed on independent expert evidence.

Special damages for the financial consequences:

• counselling and therapy

• medical treatment arising from the injury

• loss of earnings for time you have been unable to work

• travel to appointments

• the cost of care and support you have needed

We will tell you which of these apply to you once we understand your circumstances. We will not put a figure on it before then.

How the process works, and what we will ask of you

A first conversation, whenever you are ready, in confidence and with no obligation. You do not have to have decided anything. If it is easier for a partner or a family member to make the first call, that is entirely usual.

Records. We obtain your maternity records, the hospital notes, the monitoring traces, scan reports and any review or investigation report. This is done by us, not by you.

Independent expert evidence. Obstetric and midwifery experts on the standard of care and on whether a different course would have changed the outcome, and a further expert on the injury to you.

Letter of claim and response. The claim is set out formally, and the defendant has a defined period to investigate and reply.

Negotiation. Most claims are resolved without formal legal proceedings: NHS Resolution reported that 84% of clinical negligence claims were resolved without them in 2025/26.

Proceedings, only if necessary. Where a fair resolution cannot be reached. We would talk that through with you fully before it happened.

Time limits for stillbirth claims

Under the Limitation Act 1980, the general limit is three years, running from the date of the negligence or, if later, from the date you first knew you had a significant injury and that it was attributable to the care you received.

That second date matters here. Many families only learn the outcome might have been avoidable when a review report is completed, or when a clinician explains something months or years afterwards. If you have only recently been given that information, the three years may run from then. Where capacity to conduct proceedings is affected, time does not run while that continues.

If a review is still ongoing and you are concerned about time running, contact us. We can advise on protecting the position while the review concludes.

No win, no fee: funding a stillbirth claim

Stillbirth claims are usually funded by a conditional fee agreement, known as no win, no fee. Nothing is payable upfront and, if the claim does not succeed, you do not pay our fees.

If it succeeds, most of our costs are recovered from the defendant, and a success fee comes out of your compensation. By law that success fee cannot exceed 25% of your damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity and your past financial losses, after any benefits repayable to the Compensation Recovery Unit have been taken off. That cap applies however the claim ends, and the fee is never taken from compensation for future losses. You would also be responsible for disbursements such as expert and court fees, and for any costs order made against you, which is what after the event insurance is for. We will explain all of it in cash terms before you sign anything.

Also worth checking: legal expenses insurance, often included with home or motor insurance, which can mean no deduction at all; and after the event insurance, whose premium relating to expert reports can be recoverable in clinical negligence.

Frequently asked questions about stillbirth claims

Am I eligible to make a stillbirth claim?

If your baby’s stillbirth may have been avoidable and the care fell below the proper standard, you may be. The time limit is usually three years, but it does not always run from the birth. It requires the records to be reviewed and independent expert evidence. The first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Will making a claim mean reliving what happened?

The case is built from the medical records and expert evidence rather than from your account of the events. You will need to be seen by an expert about the effect on you. We will prepare you for that and arrange it when you are ready.

I have already had a review or an investigation. Does that affect a claim?

It usually helps. A PMRT review or an MNSI report is evidence, and where an investigation has identified a failing, there is less to establish from scratch. It does not replace a claim: those processes cannot award compensation.

How long will a stillbirth claim take?

It depends on how the defendant responds and how long the expert evidence takes, and an investigation still running can affect the timetable. We will give you a realistic timetable for your own case once we have the records.

Do I have to decide now?

No. Many families come to us months or years after their loss, and some make an initial enquiry and then take a long time before doing anything further. The only reason to act sooner is the time limit, and we can advise you on that in a single conversation.

Can my partner claim as well?

It is a separate question from the mother’s claim, and the law on it has narrowed in recent years. Tell us about both of you at the first conversation and we will advise on your particular circumstances.

Will a claim affect our care if we have another pregnancy?

Bringing a claim does not remove your entitlement to NHS care. Many families continue under the same trust; if you would prefer care elsewhere, that can be discussed with your GP separately from the claim.

Speak to us in confidence about a stillbirth claim

If you believe your baby’s death might have been avoided, we can look into what happened, carefully and at whatever pace suits you.

Call 01689 887801 or send us your details, and we will come back to you. The first conversation is free and confidential, and there is no obligation to take anything further.

Our case studies show the kinds of claims we take on.