Frimley NHS Trust has dispensed an eye-watering £41m in negligence claims to women after childbirth and maternity shortcomings in the past four years.

According to an investigation conducted by Legal Expert, the Trust, which operates Frimley Park, Heatherwood, and Wrexham Park, saw 73 such allegations made against it since 2019.

Babies' brain injuries and mother-infant deaths match to 484 and 342 claims across the NHS in the same period.

The probe by Legal Expert emerged in the aftermath of the UK's inaugural parliamentary examination into birth trauma earlier this year that gathered distressing evidence from 1,300 women.

Some participants reported being left in blood-soaked sheets while others claimed their children had been inflicted with life-altering injuries due to medical negligence.

Data garnered through Freedom of Information Requests disclosed that a sum of 73 childbirth and maternity clinical negligence claims and incidents were lodged against the Trust to NHS Resolution, the body handling negligence cases for the health service.

Obstetric figures given by Legal Expert show that a total of 50 such claims were resolved or settled by the trusts from 2019-20 to 2022-23.

During that time, the NHS Trust paid £41,437,675 solely as compensation.

Wider records on clinical negligence claims and incidents across all NHS Trusts in the preceding five years show 484 cases linked to babies with brain damage, 471 stillbirths and 342 mother or baby deaths.

Among the settled claims, £980 million was paid as compensation for cerebral palsy-related claims.

Another £600 million went towards settling claims associated with brain damage arising from obstetric negligence.

In response to these findings, a spokesperson from Frimley NHS Foundation Trust said: "Frimley Health is among the country’s biggest providers of maternity services, offering a full spectrum of hospital, midwife-led and home births from Wexham Park Hospital, Frimley Park Hospital, and community sites.

"Our teams strive to ensure the highest quality standards for maternity and neonatal care for babies and their families.

"They recently achieved all 10 of NHS Resolution’s safety standard for maternity (the CNST safety standards), with services rated 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission during last year’s inspection of maternity services across England.

"While most babies are born safely, we acknowledge that the impact on families when issues occur is immeasurable, and no amount of money can truly compensate.

"We, thus, remain dedicated to enhancing safety and quality across all services."