Mia, 15

Mia has permanent difficulties walking and mobilising caused by developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) which was missed when she was a newborn.  After her case was taken on by Melissa Gardner, a partner in the JMW specialising in serious injury cases, Mia was awarded £850,000 to help her to cope with the financial consequences of her lifelong disabilities.

Breech birth

DDH is a congenital condition that occurs when a hip does not form properly. This results in a hip socket that doe not fully cover the ball part of the thighbone, allowing the hip joint to become partially or completely dislocated.

Mia was born by elective caesarean section at 37 weeks as she was in the breech position, which is where the baby’s bottom descends into the birth canal rather than the head and can lead to complications. A scan had been performed 11 days earlier and confirmed that she was in the breech position and also confirmed that she had flexed hips and extended knees.

Following her birth, Mia spent a few days in hospital under the care of the paediatric team. She was examined prior to discharge and everything was noted to be normal. However, babies who have been born in the breech position, or have been in the breech position in the last month of pregnancy, should undergo an ultrasound of their hip before they are six weeks old to check them for abnormalities as they have a higher risk of problems. Unfortunately, this did not happen in Mia’s case.

Walking problems

All appeared to be well at Mia’s six-week routine check-up with her GP and no problems were noticed with her development until she was around 16 months old and she began to walk. Her mother noticed that she was stumbling a lot when trying to walk. Following a visit from the health visitor, Mia was seen by her GP and it was noted that she had an obvious developmental dysplasia of the hip. The dysplasia of the hip was confirmed by an x-ray and it was decided that Mia would need to undergo surgery.

Since her diagnosis Mia has undergone several operative procedures under general anaesthetic, two of which were major open surgeries, to try and re-model the hip joint. Mia continues to experience pain and difficulties with mobilising for prolonged periods and she walks with a limp. She remains under the observation of the orthopaedic department and will probably require a number of hip replacement operations throughout her life. This will impact her education, her working life and her ability to raise a family. She will be restricted to sedentary jobs and will probably need to use a wheelchair for longer distances from her 60s. Some adaptations will need to be made to her home.

Successful medical negligence case

Mia’s parents were concerned that the congenital problem with Mia’s hips had not been picked up by the hospital and contacted JMW for advice. Their case was taken on by clinical negligence partner Melissa Gardner who instructed leading independent medical experts to comment on the care provided. The experts confirmed that negligence had occurred, enabling Melissa to proceed with a case on Mia’s behalf.

The hospital admitted that as Mia was in the breech position she should have been sent to the hip ultrasound screening clinic before six weeks of age, which would have allowed a diagnosis of hip dysplasia (DDH) to be made. Mia would have been treated by being placed in a Pavlik Harness to stabilise the hips and allow them to develop normally. On balance, she would have had a 90 per cent chance of developing a satisfactory hip which would have not needed any further intervention.

Melissa was successful in obtaining a compensation settlement of £850,000 for Mia to provide her with the help and assistance she requires now and in the future due to the hospital’s negligence.