Today we focus on getting medical records after your baby’s HIE birth injury. What I have found in the last few discussions with families following their baby’s HIE brain injury is that for some families, it can be a daunting task retrieving their medical records. Not to mention, that for some families when they request their records, they are not even getting completed copies of what they have requested.
At the conclusion of this post, you, the reader, will have a better understanding of the three main areas of medical record retrieval when getting medical records after your baby’s HIE birth injury. Also, remember when requesting these records in writing that you see if an electronic copy can be made. This is because each state can have different pricing points as to the cost per page of paper records. Given these requests can be in the hundreds of pages range, a cost per page for paper can quickly become expensive.
Getting Medical Records After Your Baby’s HIE Birth Injury
The first area of records retrieval will be mother’s records. During labor and delivery mom will have her own set of records. These records will focus on mom’s experience during labor and delivery. Mother’s records may have not only what is currently happening, but some of mother’s history might be included. Post labor, the records will have any further care mom received after giving birth.
The second area of records retrieval is requesting the baby’s records. As with mom, the baby has their own records. Add to it, if there is a need for hypothermia cooling or any type of NICU stay, the baby will have medical records for all of these events. Parents should make sure that these records are requested, especially if they have questions as to the cause of their baby’s HIE brain injury at birth.
Finally, parents should make sure that they request the readings from the electronic fetal heart monitor. Mom, if you gave given birth in a hospital you may remember a device being placed on your stomach. The electronic fetal heart monitor will record multiple types of readings. These readings can range from the baby’s heat rate to certain types of acceleration and deceleration patterns. It will also include the mother’s contractions. When reviewing all of the records received, it is a good idea to make sure that the fetal strips are included. In some instances the strips will be separate, or they may be included in mom’s records.
Other areas of concern, when reviewing the medical records is to make sure certain things are included. For example, if you know there was head imaging and scans performed, say an ultrasound(s) or a MRI(s), be sure to see if these reports are included in your medical records. If they are not, you may have to make a request to the radiology or imaging departments for these records. The same can be said if there were concerns regarding the placenta. The report on the placenta can be obtained from the department that handles placental pathology matters. The same can be said for umbilical cord gas scores. If an umbilical cord gas sample was performed, then you should make sure that this report is also included in your records.
All of these records can be extremely helpful if you need a second medical opinion done regarding your baby’s situation, or if you down the road would like a birth injury investigation done as to the cause of your baby’s HIE brain injury.
Marcus B. Boston, Esq.
9701 Apollo Dr. Suite 100
Largo, Maryland 20774
1-833-4 BABY HELP
