Leigh Day, a law firm specialising in clinical negligence and human rights are partnering with The Motherhood Group, to support our work in creating a safe space and better outcome for Black women in maternity care. The partnership includes a package of corporate financial support and pro bono support with our campaigns. Leigh Day was the headline sponsor of the first Black Maternal Health Conference in March 2023.
Leigh Day
Leigh Day are recognised as specialists in medical negligence and ranked tier 1 by the two foremost legal directories, Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500. Leigh Day has also been awarded UK Law Firm of the Year at the Chambers Europe Award 2023.
They are praised for having extensive experience and expertise in dealing with complex and catastrophic injuries on behalf of patients and their families. Many of their lawyers have medical backgrounds and have been instrumental in the development of the law in medical negligence cases.
Leigh Day’s medical negligence team helps those who have been injured as a result of substandard care by a medical professional. This can include claims arising from birth injuries, cerebral palsy, stillbirth and wrongful birth.
Suzanne White
Suzanne White is head of the clinical negligence team and has specialised in this area of law since qualifying in 1999 after training with the firm.
She is a patients’ campaigner, with a particular interest in birth injury, and injuries to mothers during childbirth. She also specialises in brain injury, misdiagnosis and fatal cases and cases involving radiological errors, but also advising on a full range of clinical negligence cases.
Suzanne is a member of the APIL executive, a trustee of the Patients Association, a member of the INQUEST Lawyers Group, and is a council member of MASIC.
Firdous Ibrahim
Firdous is an associate solicitor in the clinical negligence team. Firdous has experience on a variety of catastrophic claims including birth injuries, such as cerebral palsy, maternal death and perineal tears. She also works on cases representing families at inquests where close relatives have died because of negligent medical care.
Firdous is passionate about the rights of women in maternity services and pleased to have worked with human rights charity Birth rights on their Inquiry into racial injustice in maternity care. The report titled Systemic Racism not Broken bodies revealed substantial evidence of persistent racial inequities in birth outcomes and experiences in the UK.
“We are very proud to support The Motherhood Group, a key charity that has already achieved so much and created a great platform for black women. Many of the women Leigh Day supports have had their rights in pregnancy and childbirth violated due to negligence and substandard care, resulting in physical injury, psychological trauma or tragedy. Working together we can raise awareness of these issues and push for positive improvements in maternity care”.
Firdous Ibrahim, Leigh Day
Black women in the UK experience horrifying poor maternal health outcomes, which still strikes a personal chord with me, as my birthing experience and postnatal period remains one of the hardest moments of my life.
The inquiry into Racial Injustice in Maternity Care which Leigh Day supported, and I co-chaired highlights that Black women do not feel safe when accessing maternity care. The statistics surrounding Black mothers not receiving care cannot be adequately addressed without first understanding, then dismantling, racism and bias in the healthcare system.
Structural racism and issues surrounding Black women accessing care had a massive impact on my journey. The UK system is structured such that public policies, institutional practices and cultural representations work to reinforce and perpetuate racial inequity.
We're so pleased to have partnered with Leigh Day to ensure that Black women's voices are heard and actionable change is the next step for better outcomes for us.
Sandra Igwe, The Motherhood Group
