Events
Event Information
Remote Event
Tue 28-Apr-2026, Microsoft Teams
Birth injury claims involving suspected hypoxic injury frequently turn on questions of timing, interpretation, and causation. For clinical negligence solicitors, the central issue is often not simply whether fetal compromise occurred, but when it developed, whether it should have been recognised, and whether earlier intervention would have altered the outcome.
This session will examine how fetal hypoxia develops during labour and how obstetric evidence is used to reconstruct the clinical timeline. It will address early warning signs of fetal compromise, CTG interpretation (and misinterpretation), and the decision-making surrounding escalation, intervention, and delivery. The evidential importance of timing will be explored in the context of both breach and causation.
A key focus will be the distinction between antenatal and intrapartum hypoxia - one of the most contested issues in birth injury litigation. The session will consider how obstetric records, CTG traces, and neonatal findings are analysed together when experts are asked to determine avoidability and likely outcome.
The webinar will also explore where expert opinion commonly diverges, including disputes between obstetric, neonatal, and neurological experts. It will highlight where cases succeed or fail, what evidence carries the greatest weight, and how solicitors can critically assess expert reasoning when advancing or defending a claim.
This session will help you to:
- Understand how fetal hypoxia develops during labour and why timing is central to causation analysis
- Identify early warning signs of fetal compromise and their significance within the clinical records
- Improve your approach to CTG interpretation by recognising common errors and areas of dispute
- Assess the timing and adequacy of intervention and delivery decisions in relation to breach and outcome
- Distinguish between antenatal and intrapartum hypoxia when evaluating competing expert opinions
- Strengthen your analysis of obstetric evidence in the context of multidisciplinary expert disputes
About The Speaker
Dr Benjamin Viaris de Lesegno
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
Dr Benjamin Viaris de Lesegno is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist with subspecialist expertise in maternal and fetal medicine at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. His clinical practice focuses on high-risk obstetrics, complex intrapartum care, and fetal medicine, providing him with direct experience of the clinical scenarios that frequently give rise to hypoxia-related birth injury claims. He trained and worked across major London teaching hospitals, including St George’s, Queen Charlotte’s, and Chelsea and Westminster, where he has managed complex pregnancies and operative deliveries. His practice includes advanced antenatal diagnostics, fetal growth restriction, multiple pregnancy complications, and intrapartum decision-making - areas often central to disputes on timing, breach, and causation in litigation. Dr Viaris de Lesegno holds an MD with high honours and a Master’s degree in genetics, and is on the GMC specialist register. He is also a certified expert witness through the Bond Solon programme (Cardiff University), with an understanding of how obstetric evidence is scrutinised and challenged in legal proceedings. Alongside his clinical work, he is actively involved in research and has authored peer-reviewed publications, guidelines, and book chapters in obstetrics and fetal medicine. His work focuses on improving maternal and perinatal outcomes through better diagnostics, risk stratification, and clinical decision-making - insights that directly inform the interpretation of evidence in birth injury claims.
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