Paediatric medico-legal reports

HIE and Hypoxic Brain Injury Claims

A hypoxic brain injury claim turns on when and why the baby’s brain was starved of oxygen. We provide paediatric expert reports on hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), the brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow around the time of birth. Our reports address causation, timing and the child’s prognosis. You see the expert’s CV before you instruct. The report is written to the expert’s CPR Part 35 duty to the court. We act for instructing solicitors on either side.

Find an expert now 0800 161 3395
  • Swift quotation
  • CVs before you instruct
  • The appropriate expert allocated immediately
Claim contextClinical negligence and birth injury
Central questionsCause, timing and whether the injury was avoidable
ReportsCausation, condition and prognosis, quantum
ExpertsNeonatology, paediatric neurology, neuroradiology

Overview

What HIE means in a claim

Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) is brain injury from a shortage of oxygen and blood flow around the time of birth. Its severity is often described in grades, and it is a common route to a diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

Paediatric MRI of the kind reviewed when assessing the cause and timing of a hypoxic brain injury
The timing of an HIE injury is often assessed from the MRI alongside the neonatal records.

Why it matters legally

Claims in which timing is central

These are clinical negligence claims in which timing is central: whether earlier delivery or better management would have avoided or reduced the injury.

Reports we produce

The reports a hypoxic brain injury claim relies on

Causation reports Whether a failure in care caused the injury, and its timing. Condition and prognosis The child’s current condition and likely future. Care and lifelong needs Care, therapy and equipment over a lifetime.

Experts who assess it

The paediatric specialists on a hypoxic brain injury claim

Neonatologists and paediatric neurologists address the clinical course; a paediatric neuroradiologist can interpret the MRI to help date the injury.

Neonatologists Care around birth and the neonatal course. View experts Paediatric neurologists The clinical course and neurological prognosis. View experts Paediatric neuroradiologists Interpreting the MRI to help date the injury. View experts Perinatal experts Care and events around the time of birth. View experts

Case-type context

Where these claims sit

These claims sit in clinical negligence and birth injury proceedings. Where the child has a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, see cerebral palsy claims.

Consultant reviewing neonatal records and imaging for an independent report
Every report is written to the expert’s CPR Part 35 duty to the court, for instructing solicitors on either side.

FAQ

Hypoxic brain injury claims: common questions

Brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow around the time of birth, often described in grades of severity.

Grade 3 describes the most severe form. Our experts address severity, cause and prognosis on the specific facts.

A paediatric neuroradiologist can give an independent opinion on what the MRI shows about timing and mechanism.

A hypoxic brain injury claim is usually founded on HIE around birth; the report addresses whether it was avoidable.

Related pages

Neonatologist expert witnesses Paediatric neuroradiology expert witnesses Paediatric neurology expert witnesses Perinatal expert witnesses Cerebral palsy claims Causation reports Clinical negligence and birth injury
HIE and hypoxic brain injury claims

Instructing on a hypoxic brain injury claim?

Send your case details and we will allocate an HIE expert swiftly, with a same-working-day quotation and the CV before you instruct.

Find an expert now 0800 161 3395