The baby did not cry after birth, explained a concerned parent. In addition to not crying, the parent reported to me that their baby had to be moved to the NICU and needed ventilation to help with breathing. To make things even more confusing, the parents thought that the baby looked blue in color.
With all of these things going on, the doctors assured the parents that the delivery was “normal” and that essentially a vaginal delivery was the way to go. The baby stayed in the NICU for many days and the parents trusted the advice of their doctors and nurses.
I was contacted because the family was eventually informed that an MRI of the baby’s brain came back abnormal and because the baby was not meeting certain neonatal milestones. By this time questions are running rampant in the minds of the parents and according to the recount, the doctors were providing little help as to why their baby was suffering from a brain injury.
DID A HYPOXIC EVENT HAPPEN TO YOUR BABY AT BIRTH?
Oxygen is critical when we are talking about a baby’s birth. Not only is oxygen important for babies, it is important for living things on this planet. When there is a decrease of oxygen, or no oxygen at all getting to your baby, serious problems will occur.
Because oxygen is so important during birth, doctors and nurses will pay close attention to how a baby is handling a vaginal delivery. When signs are present that the baby may not be tolerating the delivery well doctors and nurses have to take other measures to help the baby and mom. If basic things such as providing oxygen to mom are not working, or changing mom’s position, then more drastic measures have to be taken. This may include an emergency C-section in some cases.
DID THE FETAL HEART MONITOR SHOW YOUR BABY NEEDED HELP?
One way that doctors can get a good idea about the well-being of a baby is with the help of the fetal heart monitor. Fetal heart monitors are used in hospitals all over the United States now and what they do is alert the doctors one, how the baby’s heart is doing. Doctors have to monitor for continued things like tachycardia (heart rate too high) and bradycardia (heart rate too low), as these things along with little to no variability can spell trouble for the baby. For some parents, when a brain injury has occurred at birth doctors may inform the parents of a condition called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy or HIE.
THE BABY DID NOT CRY AFTER BIRTH? LET’S TALK
The baby did not cry after birth and now you have questions about your child’s injury, like he parent above? This is what I invite you to do and that is to pick up the phone and talk with me.
I can be reached at 301-850-4832.
I answer Maryland childbirth injury questions like yours all the time and I would be happy to listen to your story.
Boston Law Group, LLC
2 Wisconsin Circle
Suite 700
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815