Neonatal Negligence: Case-Based Insights for Solicitors

Based on INNEG’s webinar: Neonatal Failures & Medico-Legal Risks in Birth Injury Claims

This guide was produced by INNEG and is based on key clinical and medico-legal insights shared during our webinar Neonatal Failures & Medico-Legal Risks in Birth Injury Claims, delivered by Dr Ujwal Kariholu, Consultant Neonatologist and Expert Witness.

It is intended to support solicitors in identifying, evidencing and strategically analysing neonatal negligence claims, with a particular focus on breach, causation and evidential strength.

Access the full eBook here >

Solicitors frequently encounter cases involving severe neonatal injury where the outcome is clear, but the pathway to liability is not. A child may present with cerebral palsy or developmental impairment following birth, and the assumption - often driven by the seriousness of the outcome -is that negligence must have occurred.

In practice, these cases are rarely straightforward.

Clinical records may be incomplete. Key data - such as cord blood gases or placental histology - may be missing. CTG traces may be open to interpretation. Delays may be evident, but their significance unclear. The central issue is not simply whether something went wrong, but whether it can be shown, on the balance of probabilities, that earlier or different management would have altered the outcome.

This is where many claims fail.

This eBook explains why neonatal negligence cannot be approached through outcome alone. Drawing on real case scenarios and expert analysis, it explores how claims are assessed in practice, including the importance of timing, escalation, and contemporaneous documentation. It highlights the limitations of retrospective interpretation, the challenges of proving causation in hypoxic injury, and the evidential impact of missing or incomplete records.

It also examines common medico-legal pitfalls, including misunderstandings around consent, over-reliance on neonatal outcome, and the misuse of expert evidence without a clear evidential framework.

Written specifically for solicitors, the guide provides a structured approach to analysing neonatal claims. It sets out how to map clinical timelines, identify critical decision points, instruct experts effectively, and distinguish between cases with evidential merit and those driven primarily by perception or outcome.

This practical, case-led eBook supports stronger case strategy, more defensible causation arguments, and more effective use of expert evidence - helping practitioners navigate complex birth injury claims where the presence of injury does not, in itself, establish negligence.

Watch the Full Webinar Here >