Case study
Nina’s Story
Giving birth to twins whilst in hospital caused Nina life changing injuries and multiple medical complications. Unable to work, or to provide hands-on care for her babies for a time, she contacted The Solicitors’ Charity to see if it could help with the cost of immediate childcare to enable her to start the long recovery back to health and mobility.
Talking to Nina now, one would have no idea of the extremely difficult period she has been through over the last 18 months, but the trauma is still there all the time. She is articulate and eager to help with the case study interview. And she is clearly bursting with good news as she has just secured a new job!
She goes on to say: “I’m delighted to be going back to work in a manageable role that can be done from home and one that has fixed hours. With two young twins, and being a single parent, I need to have time to look after them. I now have physical limitations which make commuting difficult”.
“I don’t know how I would have got through if I had not contacted the charity. I wasn’t aware of its existence, and it was only because a good friend had found it that I was aware. I was uncomfortable about contacting the charity as I am super-independent, but I was desperate for help”.
Working as a freelancer for most of her career, during the pandemic, she lost her job, as did many in certain sectors of the law. She did not qualify for the furlough scheme, as she was not a permanent employee. Nina had just about got back on her feet after the COVID-19 disruption and back into work when disaster struck again.
She worked long hours to accumulate some surplus to fund her maternity leave but could not have foreseen how the experience of childbirth and its complications would adversely affect her physical, mental, and financial wellbeing. Nina had prudently taken out a critical illness insurance policy but found that when she came to make a claim, she did not qualify for a pay-out because the range of medical conditions specified did not include hers.
“The Solicitors’ Charity was a lifesaver. My levels of stress were high, I was dealing with the aftermath of the birth, making sure I had applied for statutory help I was entitled to and looking after the twins. Finding the charity was a Godsend and knowing it would help lifted a huge weight from me”.
Funding from the charity enabled Nina to engage childcare to help to look after her twin babies while she recovered from her injuries. She’s feeling more optimistic about the future and wants to encourage more people to contact the charity to find out if it can help them.
