Stacy Dow of Perth is claiming £250,000 in compensation money after her twin daughter survived an attempted abortion in 2001.
The mother says that she discovered that she was pregnant when she was 16 and decided to get an abortion done. She returned to the Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust 33 weeks after and was told that one baby has survived. The baby, called Jayde is now four and the mother is claiming that her upbringing is a financial burden and hence is hoping to get the above amount as compensation. The landmark case is all set to be heard in the Perth Sheriff Court in March 2006. Ms Dow claims that doctors at the Perth Royal Infirmary said after the abortion in January 2001 that no live material was left behind in her uterus. She adds that doctors had given her contraceptives and advised her that she could gain weight and suffer from irregular menstrual cycles as a result of the injection. She claims that when she subsequently gained weight, she attributed it to the injection. However after 33 weeks when she returned to the hospitals, she was told that one of the foetuses was alive and well and was seven weeks away from delivery."She required to undergo an elective C-section. She suffered pain and discomfort in consequence of surgery. She has the financial burden of care, upbringing and aliment of Jayde. She suffers an impediment in her ability to obtain employment in consequence of her care for the child," the lawsuit states. Ms Dow herself says that the hospital should have checked more thoroughly if they were aware that she was having twins. "They ought to have known the contraceptive jag could have masked the symptoms of continuing pregnancy," she adds.
The trust is now saying that at that time there was no clinical evidence to suggest that there were twins, "There is a recognized incidence of failed suction termination, particularly at early gestation. It's probable the procedure on 19 January 2001 reduced the twins’ pregnancy to a singleton pregnancy, “Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust said.
