Birth Trauma Expert Witnesses

Birth trauma can arise when a person experiences childbirth as physically or psychologically traumatic. It may follow an assisted delivery, emergency caesarean birth, severe perineal tear or postpartum haemorrhage. A birth can also feel traumatic even when the delivery is medically straightforward.

Cases involving traumatic childbirth can raise complex medico-legal questions. These may relate to maternity care, clinical decision-making, consent, physical injury and psychological outcomes. Some people develop post-traumatic stress disorder following their experience. NICE recommends appropriate advice and support after a traumatic birth.

Our obstetric, psychiatric and psychological expert witnesses can provide independent, evidence-based medico-legal opinions and reports. Experts may review maternity records, medical records, psychological assessments and treatment documentation. They can also consider causation, prognosis and the impact of trauma.