A woman gave birth to a Downs Syndrome baby after a doctor failed to warn her the condition might not be detected, writes Victoria Owen.

Gillian Carver, 45, was promised substantial compensation by a High Court judge after Dr Stephen Kennedy, now working in Oxford, told her she was too young for an amniocentesis test.

Miss Carver worked with children with learning difficulties at a school in Ealing, west London, and was determined not to have a handicapped child herself.

But she gave birth to a son, Naoise, now ten, who has Downs Syndrome.

When she discovered she was pregnant in 1989, Miss Carver asked for an amniocentesis at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, but Dr Kennedy, who was a senior house officer there at the time, refused under hospital policy. Instead, Miss Carver agreed to undergo a Bart's test.

Mr Justice Nelson ruled that Dr Kennedy, now an honorary consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, did not make it clear to Miss Carver that the Bart's Test did not detect one in three Downs Syndrome babies.

He concluded that the failure "constituted a breach of duty".

Miss Carver will now be able to pursue a damages claim against Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Special Health Authority.

Story date: Monday 28 February

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