Michael was born in March 1995 with cerebral palsy of the spastic tetraplegic type.

The labour was allowed to proceed to full dilation and vaginal delivery despite the CGT tracing showing clear worrying signs by 3.00pm. The worrying signs included an increased heart rate, an increased baseline heart rate, then a decreased heart rate for 23 minutes at 3.46pm. Additionally there was loss of beat to beat variability, despite which a syntocinon drip was started at 4.45pm. Michael was born at 5.50pm with a very low Apgar score. Although he has some preservation of intellect, his complex physical disabilities mean that he will always need others to care for his every need.

Our submission was that Michael should have been born much earlier, once the worrying findings on the CTG tracing had been recorded, by Caesarian Section if necessary. We successfully settled the claim for a global figure of £3 million in damages. General damages were estimated at the higher end of £200,000. Although Michael has a foreshortened life expectancy, the size of the damages reflects the amount of care he is likely to need in the future.