"I’m heartbroken that my beautiful daughter has been plagued for her entire life due to negligence"

A mother’s experience of Oxford University Hospitals Maternity Services in 2025:

My daughter has Erb’s Palsy due to negligence and this would have been avoided if the right thing was done.

The last scan I had for my baby was at 36weeks and she weighed 3.2kg and she was born at 3.9kg. No pelvic examination was done to be sure I was able to push a 3.9kg baby via vagina birth.

I was induced for labour at 40weeks after I have been presented with 3+ of protein in my urine since 34 weeks. Preeclampsia was not detected as my BP was normal. I got sepsis and I had to experience the trauma of birthing my baby using Forceps. Her right eye was injured and we experienced shoulder dystocia which led to my daughter having a brachial plexus injury (Erb’s palsy) in her right hand.

I’m heartbroken that my beautiful daughter has been plagued for her entire life due to negligence. It is difficult as a parent to see our daughter unable to use her right hand as she ought to because of this. This would have been avoided if I was set up for a caesarean section and there was a scan at 40 weeks to check the current weight of my baby.