The pattern and distribution of brain injury provide important information which, in combination with the labour and delivery records, allows us to work backward to figure out how and when a baby was injured. Importantly, it also helps to predict what parents can expect for their child’s recovery and quality of life. These injuries are […]
Archives for 2017
Fetal Non-Stress Tests
Fetal non-stress tests are used in pregnancy to passively monitor the baby’s heart rate, which tells health care practitioners about the health of the baby. What A Non-Stress Test Tells You About Your Baby’s Health The number of beats per minute and the pattern of the baby’s heart rate can actually tell a health care […]
Life Expectancy in Birth Trauma Claims: How Experts Predict the Future
Our life span is how long each of us actually lives — our life expectancy, on the other hand, is how many more years we can we can expect to live. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a crystal ball that will allow us to determine exactly how long we are going to live. However, […]
Identifying The Fetus At Risk for Neurologic Injury
Neurologic injury, and cerebral palsy, in particular, can be a devastating result of poor care during labour and delivery. However, some babies are vulnerable to injury before labour begins. This may be a result of a problem with the mother’s health, the baby’s health or the environment in which the fetus develops. Where these conditions […]
What Are the Stages of Labour?
What are the Stages of Labour? The experience of childbirth is one that is both unique and commonplace. Emotionally and physically, women can have very different experiences. For example, the amount of time involved in each step is different for each woman and for each pregnancy. However, for women who undergo a normal vaginal delivery, […]
What are the adaptive equipment, transportation, and housing needs that can be sought in a birth injury claim?
A birth injury lawsuit can provide the opportunity to seek financial compensation to address the future needs of caring for a child who has suffered life-altering injuries. Children with cerebral palsy, for example, will have significant lifelong needs that in most instances are inadequately compensated for through public sources. As the child grows and matures […]
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOUR BABY WAS INJURED? FETAL HEART RATE PATTERNS
This is the third in a series of three articles about how medical experts determine when a newborn brain injury occurred. The first article in this series dealt with neuroimaging. The second discussed cord blood gas analysis. A newborn with signs of neurologic injury can suffer that injury any time during pregnancy, during labour and […]
A Letter to Moms of Children with Cerebral Palsy
If you are a mom, you have likely experienced “mom guilt” at one point or another. As a working mother, I have had my fair share. The more I speak with other mothers, the more I realize that it is an almost universal feeling. It is rarely rational and logical, but that feeling remains, all […]
WHAT’S A LOW APGAR SCORE (and why is it important to my baby)?
When a baby is born, one of the first things that medical professionals will do is perform an assessment known as the APGAR test. This test, which is performed at one, five and ten minutes of life, is a quick way to determine the baby’s health and if they are in need of resuscitation. A […]
Recognizing When A Child Brain Injury Is Caused
This is the second in a series of three articles about how medical experts determine when a newborn brain injury occurred. The first article explains how birth injury lawyers use medical imaging to determine the timing of a brain injury. The third will discuss fetal heart rate changes. A newborn with signs of neurologic injury […]
Proving causation on the basis of an adverse inference: Benhaim v. St-Germain
In the realm of birth injury lawsuits, one of the most important, and at times, most difficult issues for a plaintiff to establish is the legal element known as causation. In order to succeed with a birth injury claim, not only must the plaintiff prove that the doctors or nurses fell below the standard of […]
NEUROIMAGING: What is it and how can it help my baby’s birth injury lawsuit?
One of the most important tools for assessing how and when a brain injury occurred is through brain imaging. Imaging can be used to determine timing (when the brain injury happened) and causation (how the injury happened). There are three types of brain imaging: 1) Ultrasound An ultrasound is quick, readily available and risk free. […]
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOUR BABY WAS INJURED? BRAIN IMAGING
This is the first in a series of three articles about how medical experts determine when a newborn brain injury occurred. This article will explain how birth injury lawyers use medical imaging to determine the timing of a brain injury. The second article in this series will deal with umbilical cord blood gas analysis. The […]
Chris Wullum appointed to Board of Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation
We are proud of the work our BILA members do in the community. That’s why we are happy to announce that Chris Wullum, BILA Founding Member for Manitoba and Nunavut, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation of Manitoba – https://m.facebook.com/childrensrehabfoundation/. The Foundation raises funds to improve the lives […]
“What Caused My Baby’s Brain Injury?” 8 things you need to know
“What caused my baby’s brain injury?” This is probably one of the most common questions that parents ask us. This article reviews the process that the experienced birth injury lawyers at BILA follow in order to answer this important question. Most common cause of birth injury One of the most common causes of birth injury […]
