One full-term and three premature newborns with a unilateral thalamic haemorrhage are reported. The lesion was diagnosed using cranial ultrasonography and confirmed in three using magnetic resonance imaging. Severe perinatal asphyxia occurred in all infants. The neonatal clinical history, subsequent neuro-developmental outcome and neuroimaging findings are discussed. As the prognosis appears to be much better than for infants with bilateral thalamic densities, it is important that this type of lesion is recognised as a separate entity.