Advice on birth issues
Discussion
Hi there, just looking for opinions and advice really.
My son, Oliver, was born back in 2010.
During labor, my son had a probe placed on his head to monitor his heart rate because he'd been moving too much for the belly pads to work.
After becoming dilated and just before she started to push (30 minutes from start to finish), my son started showing signs of distress.
Every contraction during those 30 minutes, my sons heart rate at his head, stoppped for 20 seconds or however long her contraction was.
During those 30 minutes, we had, at one point, 3 doctors and several midwives in the room. Obviously, I knew all was not well, just from the heart rate stopping.
They were umming and arring about a C - section, however, decided not to bother.
After he was born, he had to go to special care baby unit with non maintained oxygen and temperature. (I hated that part).
Now he's older, 29 months, he can't talk, communicate, makes appreciative and imiative sound but not words. He can't hear properly and is very autistic in behavior, although, Hypoxic brain damage can cause this behavior too.
Me and his mother, without wishing to look like evil money grabbers, are looking into why and how this was caused.
If his learning, specialized learning is expensive, we want to have assistance in the form of payments from the trust he was born in. Not to have money for us, but for him
Does anything I've said sound stupid or unreasonable?.
Cheers,
Chris.
My son, Oliver, was born back in 2010.
During labor, my son had a probe placed on his head to monitor his heart rate because he'd been moving too much for the belly pads to work.
After becoming dilated and just before she started to push (30 minutes from start to finish), my son started showing signs of distress.
Every contraction during those 30 minutes, my sons heart rate at his head, stoppped for 20 seconds or however long her contraction was.
During those 30 minutes, we had, at one point, 3 doctors and several midwives in the room. Obviously, I knew all was not well, just from the heart rate stopping.
They were umming and arring about a C - section, however, decided not to bother.
After he was born, he had to go to special care baby unit with non maintained oxygen and temperature. (I hated that part).
Now he's older, 29 months, he can't talk, communicate, makes appreciative and imiative sound but not words. He can't hear properly and is very autistic in behavior, although, Hypoxic brain damage can cause this behavior too.
Me and his mother, without wishing to look like evil money grabbers, are looking into why and how this was caused.
If his learning, specialized learning is expensive, we want to have assistance in the form of payments from the trust he was born in. Not to have money for us, but for him
Does anything I've said sound stupid or unreasonable?.
Cheers,
Chris.
The trouble with these situations is quite often you will never know what would have happened otherwise. I have had three premature births. The first was nearly a total disaster - the consultant should have been called sooner something he did not hide from us.
One son has had a variety of problems - some could be put down to the prematurity which could /should have been prevented had the hospital taken timely action - some could be as a result of the traumatic birth. Sometimes there are no simple answers.
I have no practical advice other than sometimes the hospital notes don't actually reflect what happened or don't reflect what you think happened and this may not assist your case. I wish you and your family all the best for the future.
One son has had a variety of problems - some could be put down to the prematurity which could /should have been prevented had the hospital taken timely action - some could be as a result of the traumatic birth. Sometimes there are no simple answers.
I have no practical advice other than sometimes the hospital notes don't actually reflect what happened or don't reflect what you think happened and this may not assist your case. I wish you and your family all the best for the future.
I believe AvMA might be worth speaking to on the legal front - they can be difficult to get hold of though. Might be worth getting a copy of your partners notes if this is something you are thinking of pursuing.
As an aside to any legal action, the people who are involved with your sons development should be looking to put together a Statement of SEN for him in the near future. I had to push and chase a bit on this as my son seems to fall through any cracks in the system - after doing his statement they even managed to lose it and had to start again!
Anyway this will get him a place in a suitable learning environment, which in my opinion is critical. I had all manner of preschools saying they could cope - or would make improvements to cope with my son. I think these places underestimated the requirements of a non-verbal non-mobile child. Any of them would have been a serious compromise - he needs the specialist school he goes to and the only way to get into that is with the SEN statement.
As an aside to any legal action, the people who are involved with your sons development should be looking to put together a Statement of SEN for him in the near future. I had to push and chase a bit on this as my son seems to fall through any cracks in the system - after doing his statement they even managed to lose it and had to start again!
Anyway this will get him a place in a suitable learning environment, which in my opinion is critical. I had all manner of preschools saying they could cope - or would make improvements to cope with my son. I think these places underestimated the requirements of a non-verbal non-mobile child. Any of them would have been a serious compromise - he needs the specialist school he goes to and the only way to get into that is with the SEN statement.
To the OP
You didn't mention whether your wife went to term or if your son was born prematurely?
Definitely request a copy of the notes from the trust and have a look through yourself, if there is anything in there cause for concern then it would be worth making contact with some form of legal advice.
I say this without knowing what the hospital notes say but...
It would be fairly hard to actually pin the blame as it where on the actual trust with symptoms like this, as children with learning difficulties and/or autism are born everyday with no complications on the actual labour part. It's just how nature makes some of us.
I'm not defending the trust, it's just possible they may use this as defence for any mistakes that may have been made and not recorded.
You didn't mention whether your wife went to term or if your son was born prematurely?
Definitely request a copy of the notes from the trust and have a look through yourself, if there is anything in there cause for concern then it would be worth making contact with some form of legal advice.
I say this without knowing what the hospital notes say but...
It would be fairly hard to actually pin the blame as it where on the actual trust with symptoms like this, as children with learning difficulties and/or autism are born everyday with no complications on the actual labour part. It's just how nature makes some of us.
I'm not defending the trust, it's just possible they may use this as defence for any mistakes that may have been made and not recorded.
OP
We are currently going through the same thing with our son.
Basically he was 8 week premature and had an IVH (bleed in one of his ventricles in his brain) on day 3. The consultants approach was far too relaxed and the delay transferring him to a specialist Neurological hospital resulted in him being blue lighted there and the team gobsmacked he was allowed to stew for so long. He has global developmental delay. Making progress but very slowly and has SEN
We found a specialist law firm that majors in clinical negligence. The format is basically to apply for legal aid on behalf of your child then perform a feasibility study by having various specialist consultants and medical professionals assess the notes from the hospital. They prepare a report stating wether they feel the actions at the time were appropriate and make comments on any incorrect approach and the likelihood of how this approach has/will impact long term prognosis.
Once it has been determined that there is a case then thats when it will be formally raised as a case.
Bringing up a child is expensive — raising a child with additional needs more so. My advice is to start digging and choose a law firm who have a great rep. We are doing this for two reasons — to prevent this approach being used on anyone else's child and raise awareness of what can happen, and also to sue for compensation for our sons future. Also we want piece of mind that we as parents are doing everything we can to ensure our child has every single form of support he needs — he deserves it.
Remember, you are doing this for your child and their future. Any decent parent wants the very best for their child. Stuff what anyone thinks about 'claiming'
Oh - don't expect things to happen overnight either!
We are currently going through the same thing with our son.
Basically he was 8 week premature and had an IVH (bleed in one of his ventricles in his brain) on day 3. The consultants approach was far too relaxed and the delay transferring him to a specialist Neurological hospital resulted in him being blue lighted there and the team gobsmacked he was allowed to stew for so long. He has global developmental delay. Making progress but very slowly and has SEN
We found a specialist law firm that majors in clinical negligence. The format is basically to apply for legal aid on behalf of your child then perform a feasibility study by having various specialist consultants and medical professionals assess the notes from the hospital. They prepare a report stating wether they feel the actions at the time were appropriate and make comments on any incorrect approach and the likelihood of how this approach has/will impact long term prognosis.
Once it has been determined that there is a case then thats when it will be formally raised as a case.
Bringing up a child is expensive — raising a child with additional needs more so. My advice is to start digging and choose a law firm who have a great rep. We are doing this for two reasons — to prevent this approach being used on anyone else's child and raise awareness of what can happen, and also to sue for compensation for our sons future. Also we want piece of mind that we as parents are doing everything we can to ensure our child has every single form of support he needs — he deserves it.
Remember, you are doing this for your child and their future. Any decent parent wants the very best for their child. Stuff what anyone thinks about 'claiming'
Oh - don't expect things to happen overnight either!
Lois is a friend of mine and I can help on disibilty issues. Ie Statmenting and specialist education. I have 21 years experience of autism and 9 years SEN experience. I am a director for a special needs charity.
Autism sometimes is just one of those things. I have two sons on the spectrum and neither to my knowledge was damaged during childbirth. They just grew that way.
However i wish you strength for this road is not going to be easy.
If i can help at all just message.
Autism sometimes is just one of those things. I have two sons on the spectrum and neither to my knowledge was damaged during childbirth. They just grew that way.
However i wish you strength for this road is not going to be easy.
If i can help at all just message.
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