Traumatic birth injury lawyers who care

Hypoxia refers to a deficient level of oxygen reaching the body’s tissues. Anoxia refers to a lack of oxygen reaching the tissues. Both can be very serious and cause your baby to be deprived of oxygen during birth which can lead to hypoxic brain damage, also referred to as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Severe cases of HIE are referred to as anoxic brain injury.

Anoxic brain injuries can be caused by any of the following problems during birth:

• An interruption occurs in the pathway responsible for transporting maternal blood to your fetus.
• Your fetus is receiving proper blood flow but it’s not properly flowing to the child’s brain.
• Blood flow to the child’s brain is fine, but it’s not properly oxygenated.

There are various complications and/or mistakes during pregnancy or delivery that may cause hypoxic/anoxic brain damage. Women who have a high-risk pregnancy should be carefully monitored in order to prevent their child from suffering from an anoxic brain injury.

Infants with hypoxic or anoxic brain injury can end up with permanent disabilities. Some of those potential disabilities include:

• Cerebral palsy
• Developmental issues
• Hearing and/or vision impairments
• Seizure disorders

Other birth injuries that may cause brain injury include:

• Newborn cephalohematoma
• Bleeding in the brain
• Physical injuries resulting from blunt force trauma, pulling on the head, or vacuum extraction
• Undiagnosed brain infection
• Umbilical cord choking
• Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL)
• Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH)
• Hydrocephalus
• Kernicterus

It’s important that you understand the extensive medical care and support your child will require if they’ve suffered from a hypoxic/anoxic brain injury. If this injury is the result of medical malpractice or negligence, it’s important that you speak with a lawyer as soon as you are able. Your child deserves proper care and compensation to help them navigate the rest of their lives.

Want to learn more about brain injury? Click here to download our Brain Injury Information sheet.

Cerebral palsy

Cerebral Palsy is usually caused by brain injury or trauma during birth. It affects a person’s muscle control and can delay their speech and development. Unfortunately, there is no cure for cerebral palsy but many treatments are now available that can help manage symptoms and help both children and adults living with cerebral palsy lead an independent life.

Cerebral palsy during childbirth can be caused by:

• Bleeding in the brain
• Heart attack or stroke
• Lack of oxygen to the brain
• Medical negligence
• Fever and/or infection

Erb’s palsy

Erb’s palsy is caused by damage to the brachial plexus nerves during birth. It causes paralysis of a child’s hand, arm or shoulder. Unlike cerebral palsy, many children diagnosed with Erb’s palsy often make a full recovery. However, in some cases the child may require surgery, physical therapy and occupational therapy to fully recover. Some children never regain use of the affected limb.

A spinal cord injury can occur during child birth due to strain from a doctor pulling and/or twisting, or improper use of tools on the child’s neck when removing them from the birth canal. There may also be undiagnosed damage to your child’s spine before birth which could cause a spinal cord injury during child birth.

When a spinal cord injury occurs, the connection between the nerves in your brain and the nerves in the rest of your body is disrupted. Trauma to your spinal cord causes this damage and can raise in severity from complete tears to mild bruising.

If your baby has endured a spinal cord injury, they will show symptoms of paralysis or weakness. In order to treat their injury, they may require medication, surgery, or both. Unfortunately, spinal cord injuries often require long-term rehabilitation and other medical services.

Spinal cord injuries can result in temporary or permanent changes to muscle sensation and/or function. Spinal cord injuries that affect the neck are referred to as cervical injuries and can cause quadriplegia (loss of control over all four limbs and torso). The extent of the injury depends on where on the spinal cord the damage occurred. For instance, lower damage may only affect your child’s legs, however damage near the top of the spinal cord could be fatal.

You can learn more about spinal cord injuries here.

• Wrongful birth
• C-section injuries
• Birth trauma
• Epidural injuries