Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Compensation Claims

We’ll listen to every word you weren’t able to say.

Legal support after stillbirth or neonatal death – we’ll help you seek answers

Finding answers after the loss of your baby

Losing a baby through stillbirth or shortly after birth is devastating. We understand that families want answers—what happened, why, and whether anything could have been done differently.

Our legal team has supported many families through this traumatic time. If we believe there is a strong legal case, we’ll guide you through the process of making a claim with sensitivity and honesty.

In 2015, the UK government set an ambition to half the rates of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, and maternal deaths in England by 2030. Despite these pledges, improvements in maternity services have been slow. Read our Freedom of information report which analyses the responses from NHS Trusts on patient safety and maternity care.

Experience you can rely on

Not every stillbirth or neonatal death is caused by negligence. But when mistakes are made such as missed warning signs or delays in care, we work with independent medical experts to assess whether there is a legal claim. Throughout, we’ll explain what’s happening and support you every step of the way.

Working for lasting change

Beyond compensation, many of our clients want to help ensure this doesn’t happen to other families. Where possible, we engage with hospital trusts to encourage policy reviews and better care for the future.

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.

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.