THE family of an eight-and-a-half year-old girl, who suffered a stroke after her birth, have lost a High Court claim against East Lancashire health chiefs.

Lawyers for the youngster, named only as AB, insisted antenatal care offered to her mother resulted in her being left suffering from a form of cerebral palsy.

Her pregnant mother, referred to as DE, went to the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit at Burnley General Hospital in November 2010 after feeling faint, at 16 weeks.

She was seen by a locum specialist registrar and nurse and informed, after a scan, there was some placental bleeding, before being discharged.

But then she returned to hospital in February, complaining of abdominal pain and pins and needles in her arms. Another scan was performed and an on-call obstetrician found no evidence of deep-vein thrombosis.

The pregnancy continued without further incident, the court was told, until the baby was born the following May. Mild metabolic acidosis was diagnosed and an emergency caesarean section was performed just after 1pm.

The court heard the baby was found to be breathing rapidly by 2pm but was thought to have then stabilised. But by 7am the next morning, though the girl was suffering fits, an ultrasound scan again showed no abnormalities. It was only when a 10-month scan was conducted that the cerebral problems were diagnosed.

William Featherby QC, for the claimant, insisted the difficulties should have been identified in November and February and more senior counsel should have been sought.

But John Whitting QC, for East Lancs Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT), said the specialists had acted reasonably in the circumstances.

Ruling in favour of ELHT, Mrs Justice Lambert said the claimant's expert submissions "fell far short" of demonstrating a causal link between the placental bleeding and stroke.

The judge added: "I recognise that this conclusion will be a source of great disappointment to DE who, I appreciate, will have pinned her hope of an easier life upon the outcome of this litigation. However, I find that the claimant's disabilities have not been caused by any fault in her antenatal care and I dismiss the claim."