Birth Injury Answers

Question generator for appointments

The short answer

Choose who you are seeing. This prints a list of questions with space to write the answers.

Write the answers down in the moment. You will not remember them later, and nobody expects you to.

The numbers, up front

Why write it down
Prognosis and treatment conversations happen when parents are least able to absorb them, and what is said at one week looks different at one year 1
The most useful question
What number or change would make you change the plan. It turns a vague answer into a specific one 2
Ask for answers in the notes
Asking for a decision and its reasoning to be recorded is a normal request and it creates a record 3
You can ask twice
It is normal to ask the same question again. You will not have absorbed the first answer 4

This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, stored on any server, or seen by anyone including us. There is no analytics on this page. Nothing is saved when you close the page. You can check this yourself: turn off your internet connection and the tool still works.

Who are you seeing?

Four questions that work anywhere

What is the plan today?

What are you watching for?

What number or change would make you change the plan?

What would you want to know if this were your child?

The third one is the most useful question in medicine and almost nobody asks it. It converts "we are keeping an eye on it" into something you can hold on to.

Questions parents ask

Will asking a lot of questions annoy the team?

Specific questions rarely do. "What is the plan for feeds today, and what would make you pause them?" is easier to answer than "is everything okay?" and it helps the team as much as you. If you are ever made to feel difficult for asking, that is information about the setting rather than about your questions.

Can I ask for answers to be written down?

Yes, and it is a reasonable request. Asking for a decision and its reasoning to be recorded creates a record that you can request later. 3

I forget everything as soon as I walk in.

Everyone does. Print the list, take someone with you, and write the answers on the sheet as you go. If you cannot write, ask if you can record the conversation, or ask for a summary afterward.

Where these facts come from

  1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and American Academy of Pediatrics. Neonatal Encephalopathy and Neurologic Outcome, Second Edition. 2014. www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/task-force-report/ar. Link checked September 3, 2026.
  2. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Practice Bulletin 106, Intrapartum Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring: Nomenclature, Interpretation, and General Management Principles. 2009. www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-bulletin. Link checked September 3, 2026.
  3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. Individuals Right under HIPAA to Access their Health Information, 45 CFR 164.524. 2024. www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/access/. Link checked September 3, 2026.
  4. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Committee Opinion 736, Optimizing Postpartum Care. 2018. www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion. Link checked September 3, 2026.