Company security staff walk past storage lockers in Winnipeg on Oct. 21, 2014.JOHN WOODS/The Canadian Press
At least some of the six infants whose remains were found inside a storage locker would have been born alive, two medical experts testified Thursday.
Dr. Michael Narvey, a director of neonatal research at a children's hospital, told the trial of Andrea Giesbrecht that the babies were all at or near full term — between 34 and 42 weeks — and having six stillbirths would be virtually unheard of.
"I believe that at least some, if not all, of these children, would have been born alive," Narvey testified.
"To have six (stillbirths) is extremely improbable."
Giesbrecht, 42, is being tried by judge alone on six charges of concealing the bodies. She was arrested in October 2014 after employees at a U-Haul storage facility in Winnipeg discovered the remains.
Court heard earlier this week that DNA tests link Giesbrecht and her husband to all six infants. Medical records show she also had 10 legal abortions between 1994 and 2011.
No one has yet been able to say how long the remains were in the storage locker that Giesbrecht had rented.
Under cross-examination, Narvey said medical examiners had been unable to determine the causes of death because of decomposition.
"You cannot say with certainty what the state of the (infants) was at the time of birth," defence lawyer Greg Brodsky said.
"If you only look at the autopsy results, all say: 'Too great a state of decay,"' Narvey replied. "But if you look at ... the probabilities, it is highly, highly improbable (they were stillborn)."
About six in 1,000 babies in Canada are stillborn, Narvey testified. A mother with one stillborn child has an increased risk of having a second, but it is still very rare — less than three in 100, he said.
Another Crown witness, obstetrician Dr. Sharon Naugler, said the odds of one woman having six stillborn infants at or near full term are 1 in 100 trillion.
"It's astronomically small. I would say medically impossible."
Naugler said there was nothing in Giesbrecht's health records or the infant autopsies that showed any abnormalities.
"Heartbeats don't just stop."
Brodsky has said the trial, which started this week, will probably be lengthy because it will depend a great deal on the testimony of forensic pathologists and forensic anthropologists.
Court has already heard how police officers were called to the U-Haul facility after staff entered a locker to take inventory because the bill hadn't been paid. A police report read out in court said employees smelled a strong odour and saw "squishy bags."
Officers found bodies wrapped in garbage bags and placed in a duffel bag, a tote bag and plastic containers. One body was wrapped in a towel, as well as a garbage bag, and stored in a pail. One officer managed to pry open one container and saw "limbs that belonged to an infant."
The trial has to yet to hear any testimony about why the infants' remains were kept in storage.