Supporting families when brain injuries shape an uncertain future
When a newborn suffers a serious brain injury, not knowing how it will affect their future can be heartbreaking for parents. Each infant milestone is thrown into doubt as they question whether their baby is developing as they should be.
As is true for the parents of my client Marcus*, who due to errors during birth suffered extensive brain haemorrhages and seizures. He is now four years old, and it is too early to know the extent and impact of the injuries he sustained on the labour ward at Watford General Hospital.
This anxiety of what his future holds is shared by many families in similar circumstances. The parents of a little girl, Anna, who had a stroke within days of birth recently told their story to the BBC.
“Once the stroke was detected, everything was so fast paced we went from knowing nothing to knowing too much in the space of a few minutes," Anna's mother said.
"We were given an endless list of likelihoods for Anna’s development and that they weren't going to be straightforward. One of the first things we were told was that she may not smile, she may not talk, she may not walk, she might not have any understanding.
"As a parent that was horrendous and the first few weeks waiting for her to smile were really dark and really hard to process. We eventually did get that smile, and it was the best day ever."
Anna's mother said she believed that early intervention had been "life-changing" for her development. The family have worked closely with the Stroke Association’s Childhood team, who have provided vital support. They now hope to establish a childhood stroke register to help with data gathering and preventative research.
The tragedy of Marcus's case is that his brain injury could have been avoided if medics at West Hertfordshire NHS Trust fulfilled his mother's repeated requests for an elective c-section. She is petite and as she has Type 1 diabetes, her baby was likely to be bigger than average. Despite this she and her husband were told that a c-section was not appropriate.
Marcus's mother went into labour, and it was a long and traumatic birth that resulted in him being delivered using a "kiwi cup". Marcus was born limp, floppy and pale and was transferred as an emergency to the intensive care unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital. He had suffered subarachnoid and intraventricular haemorrhages.
His parents instructed me in a medical negligence claim against West Hertfordshire NHS Trust and they admitted liability. They accept that Marcus's haemorrhages and seizures were caused by the vacuum assisted delivery and if he had been delivered by a c-section he would not have sustained a brain injury and subsequent disability.
Damages for Marcus are still being assessed but we have secured interim payments that have are being used for therapy and treatment costs including neurology and neurosurgical follow up care.
My colleague Jenny Urwin partners with the Natalie Kate Moss Trust, which funds groundbreaking research into brain haemorrhage treatment, supports the families of those affected and empowers and educates people on how to prevent it occurring. The charity was set in 2012 by the Moss family following the sudden death of Natalie at the age of 26 after an unexpected brain haemorrhage.
Read more about our Subarachnoid Haemorrhage Claims.
*name changed