Royal Preston Hospital midwife errors caused 'bungled birth' and baby boy's brain injury, High Court rules

Jayden Astley sustained a brain injury at birth in July 2012 which was caused by prolonged umbilical cord compression that resulted in acute profound hypoxia (lack of oxygen).

Now aged 11, he faces ongoing challenges throughout his life including deafness, motor impairments, cognitive and behavioural difficulties.

Today (Friday, July 28), following a five day liability trial, the High Court ruled that errors by the midwifery team at Royal Preston Hospital were ultimately responsible for his brain injury.

Mr Justice Martin Spencer found that if the correct checks had been made, midwives would have identified the baby’s bradycardic heart rate abnormality during delivery. Such checks would have led to earlier delivery and prevented Jayden’s brain injury.

Moreover, it was found that one midwife had fabricated notes to conceal her failure to undertake the essential fetal heart rate monitoring which led to the abnormality being missed and preventative action not being taken.

Trevor Ward, the lead lawyer for the family, said the behaviour and actions taken by the midwives “are deeply concerning”, and added that the fabricated notes had prolonged legal proceedings and the family’s fight for justice.

“This has been a traumatic and difficult journey for the Astley family,” he said, “and we very much welcome the judgement, which finds that Lancashire Teaching Hospitals were negligent in their care of Jayden during his birth at the Royal Preston Hospital.

"The behaviour of and actions taken by the midwives cited in this case are deeply concerning.

"One reason why Jayden’s case has taken so long to get to this point is that, as the Judge makes clear, the midwives failed to take the appropriate actions to ensure Jayden’s safety, and fabricated their notes after the fact.

“This resulted in prolonging the legal process and distress for the family. We believe this is an urgent matter for the Trust to examine.”

What did Lancashire Teaching Hospitals say about the findings?

A Lancashire Teaching Hospitals spokesperson said: “The Trust apologise unreservedly for the failings found by the Court and offer profound apologies to Jayden and his family.

“The findings are concerning - there has been much work undertaken within maternity services since this occurred over a decade ago and appropriate action will be taken to respond to the findings of the judge.

“The Trust hope that the judgement on liability will help Jayden to now arrange the future care and assistance he requires and will work with his legal team in relation to the assessment of damages and any care regime required.”

Will the family get compensation?

“This is not the final stage in the case,” said the Astley family’s lawyer Trevor Ward.

"Today’s judgement, while welcome, determined breach of duty and causation only, not the value of the claim.

"We now have work to do to agree the damages payable to Jayden for negligence, a process that is likely to take many more months.

“Jayden celebrated his 11th birthday on July 2, so we very much hope to expedite this next stage in the legal process as fast as possible to bring closure for Jayden and his family.”

The Astley family was represented by birth injury specialist Trevor Ward from Fletchers Solicitors and barrister Darryl Allen KC from Byrom Street Chambers.