Sri Lankan refugee couple are set for multi-million-pound NHS payout after their baby suffered irreversible brain damage at birth because midwives couldn't understand them

• Sinthiya Rajatheepan was not properly instructed on how to feed her new baby
• Her son Nilujan, eight, suffered  devastating brain damage from malnutrition 
• The High Court  ruled midwives at King George's hospital failed the baby
• Judges will determine the level of compensation due during a later hearing 

Catastrophic injuries suffered by a baby boy were the direct result of his refugee mother's poor grasp of English, a top judge has ruled.

And now the eight-year-old is in line for multi-million-pound NHS compensation because midwives were negligent in failing to tackle the language barrier.

Judge Martin McKenna said medics at King George's Hospital, London, ended up 'effectively ignoring' Sinthiya Rajatheepan's concerns about her crying baby.

Because she only knew a few basic words of English, she was never given proper instructions about how to feed her son, Nilujan. 

Sinthyia Rajatheepan gave birth at King George's Hospital eight years ago 

Mother and baby were discharged home too early and, due to poor feeding, Nilujan suffered irreversible brain damage, the judge added.

Mrs Rajatheepan, 29, and her husband Sivarajah, came to Britain from their native Sri Lanka as refugees in 2008.

Aged just 21 when she gave birth to her baby on July 16, 2009, she spoke onlyTamil fluently and had 'a minimal command of English'.

Naturally timid and inexperienced, she tended to 'simply smile' when she caught the eye of midwives on the busy maternity ward.

The judge said she was 'certainly unable to understand anything but the simplest of instructions' and only when accompanied by hand gestures.

When Nilujan was delivered by Caesarean, his condition at first appeared good and 'no concerns' were raised.Mother and baby were discharged home on July 18 but, when a community midwife visited the following day, Nilujan was 'pale and lethargic'.

He had not been fed for 12 to 15 hours and all his reserves of energy had been used up, said the judge.

He was rushed back to the hospital where he was 'floppy' and suffered seizures.

And the judge said it was agreed that the brain damage he suffered was 'caused as a result of poor feeding'.

Nilujan suffers from cerebral palsy and is severely physically and mentally disabled as result, London's High Court heard.

Midwives were adamant that they were well used to patients with language difficulties and had properly instructed Mrs Rajatheepan how to feed her baby.

But the judge said: 'The overwhelming weight of the evidence is that Mrs Rajatheepan had very little ability with the English language.

'She was certainly unable to understand anything but the simplest of instructions and only then when accompanied with appropriate hand gestures.'

He added: 'The sad reality is that Mrs Rajatheepan did not, in fact, ever get any instruction on how to feed properly.

Judges at the High Court, pictured, ruled midwives at the hospital had failed Ms Rajatheepan in r elation to the information they gave her about feeding her newborn baby

'Still less did she receive any instruction on what to look out for and what to do if feeding was unsuccessful'.

Because of the language barrier, she 'did not and could not reasonably have been expected to have understood' the advice she was given.

She was anxious that Nilujan was 'crying continuously', but the judge said:

'Her attempts to draw attention to her concern in this regard were effectively ignored.'

The ward was busy and Mrs Rajatheepan from Ilford, had 'a propensity simply to smile at people when she caught their eye.'

She had, 'albeit timidly', approached the midwive's station in a bid to draw attention to her concerns, but the judge said she was 'ignored'.

Midwives had given her 'false reassurance' by 'repeating the mantra that it is perfectly normal for new born babies to cry.'

The hospital's midwifery team should have contacted the NHS 'language line' for help, or called for an interpreter, he ruled.

The judge added: 'The reality is that no one ever in fact gave Mrs Rajatheepan a clear and understandable explanation of the importance of feeding.

'Because of the language barrier, she had been unable to communicate her concerns to hospital staff.'

The end result was that Mrs Rajatheepan was discharged home too early and, had she been kept in hospital overnight, Nilujan would have escaped injury.

'In the circumstances, I would enter judgment in favour of the claimant with damages to be assessed,' the judge concluded.

Nilujan's NHS compensation award has yet to be assessed, but is likely to be a multi-million-pound sum, given the extent of his disabilities. 

Wendy Matthews OBE, Director of Midwifery, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust said: 'We would like to say sorry again to Nilujan and the Rajatheepan family and express our sincere sympathies to them.

'We are considering the judgment and the implications of the judge’s ruling in this case.

'Although we have made huge improvements since this incident occurred in 2009, we will take the opportunity to review it closely and see if there are any more lessons about our post-natal care that we can learn.'