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Woman born brain-damaged wins £2.85m compensation

Published 03/08/2007

A young woman has been awarded £2.85 milllion in compensation after a delay in her birth exacerbated her disabilities.

Jessica Smith, 18, was being delivered at the Rosie Maternity Hospital in Cambridge at the time of the incident.

As a result of a delay in treatment, which meant she could not breathe for five minutes, she was left suffering from quadriplegic athetoid cerebral palsy.

Ms Smith's legal team claimed that there was evidence of the condition on a previous brain scan and that had the hospital delivered her by caesarean section the extent of the brain damage would have been reduced.

Meanwhile, while the health authority conceded that Ms Smith should have been born earlier, it contested the claim that her condition had been worsened as a result.

The award was made on the basis of 63 per cent liability.
Ms Smith's conditions means that she requires round-the-clock care for the rest of her life.

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