The High Court awarded Tracey Nelson €591,297 after finding that doctors at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda negligently failed to diagnose symphysis-pubis dysfunction (SPD) and take precautions during labour and delivery. The judgment was delivered by Mr Justice O’Neill on 8 March 2013.
Ms Nelson’s claim concerned treatment during the final weeks of her pregnancy and the delivery of her son in February 2000. She alleged that a symphysiotomy—a separation of the pubic joint—occurred during labour or delivery because doctors had not identified SPD and managed the associated risk. The court found that her severe pain on 2 February 2000 should have prompted further investigation, including examination of the joint. It concluded that this failure fell substantially below the expected standard of care.
The judge found that SPD should also have been recorded when Ms Nelson was admitted for induction on 23 February. During delivery the following day, she was placed in the lithotomy position, with her feet supported in stirrups. The court found that staff did not control her leg movements to prevent her hips from moving outward. It concluded that the joint was probably ruptured at the end of labour or during delivery, and that proper control of her legs would probably have prevented the injury.
The judgment distinguished those findings from parts of Ms Nelson’s account that it did not accept. The judge found that her records did not support her evidence of persistent severe pelvic pain throughout the later months of pregnancy or during labour, apart from the recorded attendance on 2 February. He also found that the acute pain from that attendance subsided and did not remain a significant feature for the rest of the pregnancy. The court nevertheless accepted that the injury caused serious pain and mobility problems after delivery, and found that the resulting unresolved pain caused fibromyalgia and probable depression.
The judgment records that the action had been struck out against two defendants and withdrawn against the general practitioner on the eighth day of trial. It does not specify the procedural status of the claims against the other defendants individually. The award comprised €250,000 in general damages, €60,000 for future pain-relieving aids, €66,297 for past earnings loss including interest, €200,000 for future earnings loss and €15,000 for future cleaning costs. The court disallowed claims for a care assistant for Ms Nelson’s son and for laundry costs.
The court entered judgment for Ms Nelson for €591,297.