Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust & Anor v AX [2025] EWCOP 21 (T3)

Application that AX, who is 38 weeks pregnant, lacks capacity and it is in her best interests to undergo a C-section.

AX has gestational diabetes and had suffered periods of depression such that she was sectioned in May 2025, though she was considered to have capacity earlier in the year when she was making plans for the birth with her medical care team. This hearing took place the day before the planned birth due to AX's risk of pre-eclampsia.  

After reviewing the legal framework around capacity and best interests, Nageena Khalique KC found she lacked capacity, largely because AX's delusions rendered unable to retain or weigh information about her obstetric care. She also found it was in AX's best interests to undergo the C-section, partly because AX had expressed a wish to tackle that route late in the pregnancy when she was considered capacitous. A postscript records the birth went well as planned. 

Read the judgment on Bailii