Perinatal ischemic stroke is not rare in term and near-term infants and is an important antecedent of long-term neurological disability, including congenital hemiplegia (hemiplegic cerebral palsy) and seizure and cognitive disorders. Changes in maternal hemostasis occur in pregnancy and are amplified in the period immediately surrounding birth; stroke and other thromboembolic events are more frequent in both mother and infant in this period. The vasculature and hemostatic mechanisms of placenta

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... as well as brain are likely to be important in the pathobiology of perinatal stroke. Maternal and infant thrombophilias, genetic and acquired, play a role. Rarely is Ͼ1 child in a sibship affected, and environmental factors-substantially less studied, to date-are likely to be key determinants of risk. (Stroke. 2007; 38[part 2]:742-745.)