Josh Tippett suffered a cord compression immediately prior to his birth on 8 November 2005. He suffered acute hypoxia, leading to brain damage.  At the time of his birth, his mother was on the antenatal ward at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital for monitoring.

Philippa Whipple QC successfully defended the Hospital against claims for negligence. The Judge rejected allegations that the treating midwife had removed a CTG trace at 11.55 on the morning of Josh’s birth.  The Judge also rejected the Claimant’s expert evidence that, even if CTG monitoring had continued after 11.55, the outcome would have been any different: it was held that there were no decelerations shown on the earlier CTG trace, and there was no basis for earlier intervention by way of urgent delivery by caesarean section.

Joshua Tippett (a child and protected party suing by his mother and next friend Karyn Tippett v Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, [2014] EWHC 917 (QB), 1 April 2014.