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It’s not uncommon for women to experience minor tears when they give birth. These minor tears don’t usually cause any major or long-term problems and usually heal fairly quickly. However, some vaginal or perineal tears can be more severe, and these can take longer to heal, or cause other issues. The most severe tears can result in incontinence, significant pain and bowel or sphincter issues, with both physical and psychological consequences.
Not all perineal tears happen due to mistakes made with your care during your child’s delivery. However, it might be that your injury could have been avoided by the medical professionals who assisted during childbirth if they had acted differently or the level of care that you received may have fallen below acceptable standards.
If you have experienced a serious perineal tear during childbirth due to a mistake by the medical professionals who were responsible for your care, this may be considered medical negligence and you might be able to claim compensation for the injury you have sustained, as well as the negative impact that it has had on your wider health or quality of life.
The amount of compensation that you may be in line to receive, if your claim is successful, will depend on the severity of your injury and the impact that it has had on your life. Perineal tears sustained during childbirth are categorised into ‘degrees’, from one to four, with one being the most minor type of tear, and four being the most severe. If you have experienced a 3rd or 4th degree tear, you are more likely to have a longer recovery period or may have long-term problems as a result. These are the types of perineal tears that would usually result in a larger amount of compensation if your claim is successful.
For the more severe degrees of tears, your injury may take some time to heal, require significant further treatment and have long-lasting implications on your health, sometimes causing permanent damage. If your 3rd degree tear during childbirth occurred because of medical negligence and your claim is successful, you are likely to receive a higher sum of compensation than someone with a less serious injury. We can’t tell you exactly how much compensation for a third-degree tear is likely, as every claim is different and has its own set of unique circumstances and factors, which are all factored in before a compensation amount is decided on.
4th degree tear compensation claims are for the most severe tears. If your claim for a 4th degree tear or any other birth injury is successful, some of the things that will affect the amount of compensation awarded include the severity of the injury and the ongoing impact on your life, your physical and mental health.
If you want to make a claim for a perineal tear caused by medical negligence, you generally need to do so within three years of the injury, or within three years of when you found out that your injury was caused by a negligent medical professional. The same applies if you want to claim for traumatic birth compensation or to make a claim for negligent stitching after birth.
As these types of compensation claims can sometimes take some time to gather the necessary evidence for, we always recommend that you contact Stephensons as soon as possible after you are injured to maximise the chances of the best possible outcome.
Call us on 0161 696 6165 to find out if you have a perineal tear compensation claim and to discuss your options.
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