Stillbirth and neonatal death compensation claims

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Stillbirth and neonatal death compensation claims

What is the difference between stillbirth and neonatal death?

A stillbirth is where the baby dies before or during birth, at or after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Neonatal death is when the baby has died during the first 28 days after their birth.

Stillbirth and neonatal death negligence claims

We have many years of experience in supporting parents through the trauma of stillbirth or the neonatal death of their baby. We support families to find out what happened to their babies and the circumstances which resulted in their death. Compensation is not the only outcome of making a medical negligence claim –In many of our cases, we have worked with the hospitals concerned to ensure that policy and procedural changes are made to help prevent the same tragedy from happening to other families as well as providing help and guidance to families during hospital’s internal investigations and external investigations that may be undertaken by a Coroner (Inquest), HSIB (Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch), the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) or the GMC (General Medical Council).

No win, no fee

We work on a no-win, no-fee basis, so there’s no need to worry about costs. Plus, our specialist solicitors provide an initial free assessment of your claim.

We could not fault the service provided by the whole team at Tees. Responsive, supportive and extremely professional throughout. The success in the case and the justice achieved was what we wanted.

Legal 500 UK, 2025

Causes of stillbirths and neonatal deaths

Most causes are not the result of medical mistakes. Stillbirths and neonatal deaths can and do happen to babies who have been healthy throughout the pregnancy. Possible causes can sometimes be due to medical failures, but every case is different and not every condition can be treated. Where there is a medical error, this is often related to failure to diagnose or treat a condition effectively. Causes, which may or may not be due to error, include:

issues relating to the placenta which impacts on the baby
failures in monitoring; CTG and sonography
failures to manage small for gestational age (SGA) babies and fetal growth restricted (FGR) babies
bleeding (haemorrhage) during or before labour
pre-eclampsia – high blood pressure in the mother
issues with the umbilical cord
physical or genetic problem with the baby
pre-existing diabetes or gestational diabetes
an infection in the mother can cause the death of the baby as they do not have a developed immune system.
liver disorder – obstetric cholestasis or intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) which can affect pregnant women.
Failures to escalate care and failures in management of care during labour following episodes of: bleeding; fetal bradycardia (low heartrate in the baby); fetal tachycardia (high heartrate of the baby); shoulder dystocia; breech delivery.
Failures in resuscitation at birth.

How common is stillbirth?

In 2021 the stillbirth rate increased to 4.1 stillbirths per 1,000 total births compared with 3.8 in 2020 (source: Office for National Statistics)

How common are neonatal deaths?

In 2020 there were to 1.3 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births (source: Office for National Statistics)

Getting support after a stillbirth or neonatal death

There is a range of organisations that offer practical support to parents including:

Petals Charity – supports parents by providing specialist counselling as a result of bereavement, trauma or loss related to pregnancy including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination for medical reasons (TFMR) and neonatal loss.

SANDS – supports and promotes research to better understand the causes of baby deaths and provides bereavement support to parents.

Tommy’s – funds research to prevent complications and loss, provides specialist care and midwife-led advice for parents before, during and after pregnancy and supports those who have lost babies.

Key people

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Partner

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Frequently asked questions

The answers to many of your questions can be found here, please get in touch for further information.

I have been told my property has development potential. What do I do?

If you’ve been contacted by a developer or a land promoter regarding a potential development to your property, you may wish to consider granting an option agreement or a promotion agreement. An option agreement is made between the landowner and the developer, where it is intended that the developer will apply for planning permission and requires an option to buy the property. A land promotion agreement is used where a developer agrees to apply for planning permission and will market the property for sale on the open market once planning permission has been obtained. This is usually in return for a proportion of the net sale proceeds. The law on this is very complex and you will need specialist advice.

Contact us today

If you’d like to meet one of our experts for a confidential, no obligation chat, please get in touch.

Telephone

0800 013 1165

Office locations
Bishop’s Stortford
Brentwood
Cambridge
Chelmsford
North Herts
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All legal services provided by Tees are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Tees is a trading name of Stanley Tee LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA Number 464615) and is registered in England and Wales number OC327874.

All financial services provided by Tees are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Tees and Tees Wealth are trading names of Tees Financial Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales number 4342506. Registered office address Tees House, 95 London Road, Bishop’s Stortford CM23 3GW.

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