THE mother of a baby who suffered severe injuries when she was born at Southend Hospital has launched a High Court claim for more than £10million.

Four-year-old Benfleet girl Sienna Braithwaite will need round the clock care for the rest of her life, with her mother launching the claim against the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust.

The claim is revealed in a writ issued at the court and just made publicly available.

It says that Sienna will never be able to walk, work, or have children, and will need round the clock care for the rest of her life.

She has to be fed by a special tube, is doubly incontinent, and is likely to have a shortened life expectancy.

She was born at the Southend hospital on 29 June 2017.

Her mother, Sarah Willgress, of Westwood Gardens, Benfleet, was admitted to for delivery of her baby, but says her unborn baby’s heart rate dropped before a junior doctor decided to carry out a forceps delivery.

A spokesman for the hospital trust said: “We know this is a difficult time for Sienna’s family. We met with the family following Sienna’s birth in 2017 to share the learnings and changes we had put in place.

“As this is an ongoing claim, it would not be appropriate to give further comment.”

Sienna was born in a poor condition, with the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around her neck, and medical staff delayed for ten minutes before resuscitating her properly, according to a the writ.

It says that Sienna suffered severe brain damage, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and her hearing and sight have been badly affected after she was deprived of blood and oxygen to her brain, and needs extensive care.

Ms Willgress accuses the hospital of negligence in failing to correctly carry out risk assessment on her, giving her midwifery-led care in labour, failing to send her to an obstetric labour ward or central delivery suite when admitted in labour, and failing to continue CTG traces despite decelerations.

She says staff failed to realise her baby was compromised, failed to act on delays in labour, failed to carry out an instrumental delivery promptly, and delayed for ten minutes before adequate resuscitation took place.

The mum claims that staff were negligent in providing ineffective resuscitation and providing inadequate co-ordination and leadership during resuscitation.