Medway Maritime Hospital has agreed an out-of-court settlement, thought to be £500,000, after a baby was injured during birth.

The High Court in London approved the settlement last week.

Judge Jeremy Freedman said a compromise was appropriate as there was a risk the family would not be able to prove the child, who has not been identified, could have been delivered earlier, or early enough to have made a difference to avoid the child’s condition.

Judge Freedman did not criticise the actions of midwives or doctors involved in the birth in 2005.

Karen Mcintyre, co-director of clinical operations for families and clinical support directorate at Medway Foundation Trust, said: “We are in the process of settling a claim relating to injuries sustained by a child during birth at Medway Maritime Hospital in 2005.

“The safety and wellbeing of the families under our care is our highest priority and we believe that there is nothing more that we could have done that would have changed the outcome of the child’s birth.”

She added: “We do not wish for the family to suffer further undue distress, and hope that this settlement will provide some comfort and support to them into the future.”