A mother came with her 1 year old infant to the clinic today. The child could not move her left hand and feet, she had suffered a stroke a few days after her birth. The child had a difficulty in seeing objects, and hearing was impaired on one side too. The brain scans were scary looking, what with one side showing massive damage. Life can be unjust and unkind. Perinatal problems are not uncommon. But this was different. The mother says the child was normal at birth, and after 5 day of life when they took th e child to the paediatrician, they realised one side of the child wasnot moving. The mother then went on to describe the previous night... a night when she had been too tired and sleepy, a night she fed the child and went to sleep, a night when the child did not cry for feeds, a night after which the child woke up with one side of her brain damaged. It had been a year since that fateful night. The what ifs had not stopped.The sentences with if only I had... continued to haun...