Causes

Deprivation of Oxygen

There are a few reasons why deprivation of oxygen takes place. First, there are two different categories of this type of birth injury: hypoxia and anoxia. Cerebral hypoxia occurs as a result of not enough oxygen to the brain and can lead to various degrees of brain damage. Anoxia refers to a total lack of oxygen and can cause severe brain damage. It can happen for a variety of reasons, including:

  • Prolapsed umbilical cord
  • Low birth weight
  • Underdeveloped lungs
  • Maternal smoking

The consequences from a lack of oxygen range from mild to severe. In some cases, it could become a lifetime disability.

Medical Malpractice

Another common cause of birth injuries is malpractice. Unfortunately, there are a variety of situations for why this might occur. Everything from a lack of attention to detail, to neglect, to fatigue, to not having a neonatologist available at the time of delivery are all examples of possible malpractice situations. You know medical malpractice has occurred if there are situations that could have prevented the injury. Of course, no good medical professional causes these injuries on purpose, but these simple mistakes can lead to a lifetime of serious problems. In some cases, blatant neglect becomes a cause of birth injury. Healthcare professionals have such an immense responsibility to their patients.

Birth Injuries: What to Know

There are countless examples of birth injuries in which a multitude of problems can arise. In most cases where a birth injury comes as a direct result of neglect, you can seek financial help. One of the more serious situations that can arise is known as cerebral palsy. This condition means a lifetime of serious medical conditions for a child, and these can often cost more than what parents can afford.

Some of the other injuries that can occur include:

Typically, the medical community views these as mild injuries. But, there are other, more serious ones.

Another potential problem is that your baby suffers from speech problems. As a result, parents, medical staff, and doctors may not notice that the baby is experiencing pain in his or her limbs. Time becomes crucial when it comes to responding to these injuries. Newborns remain highly vulnerable to injuries, and special precautions are required to protect your baby from injury.

Placental Insufficiency

One health condition in pregnancy known as placenta insufficiency happens as a rare form of complication. While only one out of every 300 pregnant women will suffer this condition, you have to treat it as soon as possible because of how life-threatening conditions can happen to both the child and the mother. Without treatment on time, you have a variety of birth disorder conditions that can arise.

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Birth Asphyxia

Injuries at birth can have serious consequences. Even when your child experiences one of the milder injuries, the medical costs can pile up, and the pain inflicted on your infant can deeply sadden your heart. Some of the most serious birth injuries include cerebral palsy, paralysis and brain injuries. One injury that can happen has become known as birth asphyxia.

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Anoxia Hypoxia

Birth injuries have a lot of seriousness to their nature. Unfortunately, you have cases where a birth injury has such severity that the child will suffer for the rest of his life because of it. Some of the more serious ones include paralysis or cerebral palsy. In particular, cerebral palsy can require financial help because of how this injury costs upwards of $1 million over the course of a child’s lifetime. Birth injuries also have the potential to shorten the child’s lifespan, and in some cases, they don’t live past a few days.

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Negligent Doctor

When doctors go to deliver a child, they don’t want the child to have a birth injury. The birth of a child should come as a time of celebration for the family and the mother and father. Unfortunately, you have cases where the child gets injured by the doctor during the birth process. Negligence happens, but doctors have a great responsibility to the mother and the child because degligent doctors can cause a lifetime of disability. For example, one of the injuries that can happen is known as cerebral palsy. This expensive birth injury can lead to a lifetime of disability for the child.

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Wrongful Pregnancy

The medical industry continues to move forward at a rapid and ever-evolving pace. These advancements have come over the course of the last couple of decades, and would-be parents now have the option to choose to sterilize themselves. They may choose this for a couple of reasons. For example, they may not want to have children, or they may choose not to because of how they feel that they have a complete family already.

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Why

If you’ve ever had your child suffer a birth injury, you may be finding yourself asking, “Why?” How do birth injuries happen? You have a variety of potential causes, and it’s unfortunate, but you still have a prevalence of them. Many times, it comes down to medical negligence where a little more attention to detail could have prevented it. You should seek financial help as soon as you can if this happens. This should come as a time of celebration, rather than a time of sadness because your child suffered an injury during the process.

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Umbilical Cord Problems

If you start to have umbilical cord problems, you need to respond in as timely of a fashion as possible. This can prevent further issues from arising. Umbilical cord issues can be serious because of how it cuts off the oxygen and the nutrients to the child, and it can lead to brain damage or even fetal death. In some cases, the brain damage can lead to cerebral palsy, a costly medical condition where you may have to seek financial help.

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Umbilical Cord Compression

The medical community looks at umbilical cord compression as what happens when the umbilical cord gets flattened from the pressure. This increases the risk to the child because of how you have a variety of health complications that can arise. Doctors have to act quickly to prevent any problems from further complicating the matter. Fast treatment can mean the difference between life and death.

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Preterm Labor Birth

Preferably, when you go to have a child, you don’t want it to suffer a birth disorder. While you will love your child either way, you want it for the sake of your child. A birth injury like cerebral palsy can last for the entirety of his life. That can mean a lengthy disability, and it can also mean medical costs where you would have to seek financial help. Preterm birth labor has been defined as a birth that happens anywhere from before the 39th week.

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Premature Cord Clamping

It has become a standard practice ever since the start of the 1960s where the doctors cut the umbilical cord as soon as a child was born. However, a growing body of research suggests that this could endanger the life of the child being born because of how it deprives them of some of the benefits that come from the placenta. It could put them at a risk for birth injury.

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Preeclampsia

You have to address the dangers of preeclampsia as soon as possible because this condition can cause danger to both the mother and the child. In addition, preeclampsia has become one of the most common conditions of pregnant mothers within the United States. You have many risks associated with this health condition if you don’t stay ahead of it, and do your best to treat it.

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Post-Term Pregnancy

Medical experts define a post term pregnancy as one that lasts for over 42 weeks. It stretches two weeks over the gestation period. While a premature birth comes with its own set of dangers like the child won’t have fully developed lungs, a post term pregnancy has dangers as well. Doctors try to ensure that the child will be delivered as close to its pregnancy date as possible because it lowers the risk of complications. Sometimes, they will induce labor to lower the risk. For example, the doctor may break your water, or they may strip the membranes to induce labor sooner and lower the risks.

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Placental Abruption

Luckily, less than one percent of women will suffer from placental abruption. This rare form of complication during a pregnancy can threaten the life of the mother, and not only does it endanger the mother-to-be, but it also endangers the child as well. He could be born with a birth disorder that will last for the entirety of his life.

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Placenta Previa

When you go to have a child, the last thing that you want to worry about comes from the risks associated with having a child. You don’t want to worry that your child will have a birth injury. Placenta previa, a medical condition that happens during a woman’s pregnancy, happens when the placenta covers the cervix. A rare condition but you still have to stay alert to the potential for dangers associated with it. One out of 200 women will have this condition, and the biggest danger comes from a failure to treat it. If you don’t have the doctor diagnose and treat it, your child could be born with health problems. In fact, you have a real danger that exists to the mother as well.

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Delayed Birth

When it comes to delayed birth, this condition happens most often when a mother has other issues that can cause the baby to come late as a result. You have some serious health conditions that can arise, especially as a result of this health condition. Under most circumstances, however, if you attack the problem as soon as possible, you will lower the risk of it developing into serious health conditions that the child will have for the rest of its life.

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Perinatal Neonatal Asphyxia

Birth injuries differ from birth defects in that with a birth injury, it happened as a result of your doctor making a mistake during the delivery process. With birth defects, this happens more as a result of your child have a genetic predisposition to a certain kind of injury. These injuries will have many different facets to them, and in some cases, the injury could seem isolated. Perinatal neonatal asphyxia happens as a result of an isolated injury. This could have an impact on your child in a variety of ways.

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Perinatal Hypoxia

Hypoxia is the less serious form of a lack of oxygen that can happen, and you have another form known as anoxia, which means a total lack of oxygen to the body. Hypoxia happens to an infant whenever the oxygen can’t reach the tissues of the muscle. Perinatal hypoxia means that it happened before or after birth. When this condition arises, it happens because of a lack of oxygen. For whatever reason, the child stops breathing, and the brain gets deprived of oxygen. This kills brain cells, but worst of all, it can cause a serious condition known as cerebral palsy. This can turn into a lifetime of disability.

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Negligent Nurse

Nurse mistakes can harm a child for the rest of his life. Nurses have a responsibility to make sure that the children they work with receive the best treatment possible. You don’t want your child to begin his life with a birth injury, but unfortunately, you have cases where it happens. This should mark a time of celebration for the mother and father, but in some cases, a nurse makes a mistake, which could be caused by negligence or medical malpractice, can cause cerebral palsy or other dangerous health conditions.

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Newborn Jaundice

You always hope for the best with pregnancy and want the best to come out of it. However, you have cases where the child gets a birth injury because the hospital care providers messed up or the child was born with a birth disorder. In some cases, you may have the right to seek financial help because of this. One common injury that can happen is that your baby turns yellow, known as jaundice. While the doctor will say that jaundice is common in newborns, he will also tell you to keep a close eye on it.

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Negligent Hospital Staff Midwife

Pregnant mothers have a certain level of expectation. They want the nurses, doctors and medical staff to be there for them as needed, and they want it to run smoothly. You also have some expectations of yourself. For example, you have to follow a diet, keep to the physical guidelines outlined and you have to prepare yourself for the child to come. Going through this experience, the last thing that you want is nine months of pregnancy and experiencing the mistakes of someone else. It can flip your plans on their head. Negligent hospital staff can cause a lot of harm, and they have a responsibility to do well by their patients.

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The Facts and Dangers of Maternal Infections

When maternal infections happen, you have to take them seriously because of how they can lead to a serious birth disorder. Normally, this happens when the mother will transmit the infection over to the fetus, and when the fetus catches it, you have many health complications that could occur. This could happen before the birth or during the delivery because the child gets exposed to the mother’s blood.

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Medication

Many people understand how alcohol and drugs can cause birth defects and birth injuries. Less paid attention to, however, not everyone understands how prescription medications can cause a birth injury. Some of the medications have links with serious consequences for the baby. Before you set out to take any type of medication, you should first speak with your doctor to ensure that you don’t take something that will hurt the baby.

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Intrauterine Growth Restriction

Another word for retardation, intrauterine growth restriction means infants that don’t grow as they were expected to during the pregnancy. In the prenatal stages, also known as before birth, the doctor has a responsibility to the mother-to-be to monitor the growth of the child. If the doctor believes the baby may have intrauterine growth restriction, a birth disorder, the doctor will most likely follow this up with an ultrasound to examine the blood flow and the overall growth of the child.

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Infant Resuscitation

Under the best of circumstances, an infant will enter the world and everyone celebrates its new existance. The doctors and medical staff do their best to keep everything as safe as possible. Even still, you have cases where the doctor will have to do an intervention to help the baby breathe. Doctors have to stay alert to a variety of things like attentiveness to fetal distress, and they have to know when infant rescuscitation has become necessary because delayed resuscitation can cause damage as well.

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Failure to Diagnose Gestational Diabetes

Thousands of pregnant women each year suffer from gestational diabetes. What exactly is gestational diabetes and how does it work? This condition happens when a woman without diabetes develops high blood sugar as a result of her pregnancy. This happens because the body doesn’t get enough insulin. You have to treat this as soon as you spot it because the dangers can lead to a birth disorder in your child.

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Fetal Macrosomia

As the pregnancy continues, the doctor must take care to monitor the mother and the infant for changes. The doctor must keep a close eye on the health of the mother and the child to make sure that they catch problems at the door. In addition, they want to treat and diagnose any illnesses that may occur before they have the chance to materialize as a birth injury.

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Failure to Diagnose

During your pregnancy, your health and your baby’s health will have a high dependance on the care and knowledge of the medical community. They have to stay on top of the risks to keep you from encountering some of the worst things that can happen. In most cases, the doctors and medical staff have the experience to keep you from trouble. Unfortunately, doctors make occasional mistakes that they don’t mean to make, but the consequences can be life threatening.

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Drug Related Negligence

You have varying degrees when it comes to injuries from birth. In addition, you have some birth injury conditions that don’t become evident until much later in the child’s development. On the most serious end, you have dangerous injuries that include paralysis, cerebral palsy and permanent brain damage. You also have cases where children will die as a result of a birth injury.

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