Odpowiedzialność cywilna za szkody wyrządzone w związku z porodem

Abstract

So called birth-related injuries become nowadays a particular category in the sphere of medical malpractice cases. They may be defined as the bodily (personal) injuries caused to a child (foetus) or/and mother by a doctor or a hospital in connection with the delivery. Birth-related injuries are usually of grave, serious and irreversible nature and, as practice shows, they may result in 100% health disturbance when celebral palsy appears. Consequently, relatively high sums of compensation are awarded to the injured, especially for the non-pecuniary loss. The courts, in order to adjudicate birth-related injuries, require professional knowledge and have to engage medial experts. The lawsuits are thus expensive and usually long. Birth-related injuries may occur, on one hand, as a result of negligence of doctor and other members of medical personnel (including so called medical error committed by a doctor). On the other hand, these injuries may be caused by the organizational fault of a medical health institution (e.g. when the hospital ward does not function properly ant its negligence causes injury to the baby or/and mother). The distinction is important, since the source of damage sustained by a patient determines the basis of civil liability and compensation.