Was your baby’s brain injury preventable? The context associate with this article is a focus on the actions of the doctors and nurses in the delivery room. I am not going to get into genetic abnormalities, or other developmental issues, as there is a lot of information available on how these things can cause a baby to suffer a brain injury. What is not always known to parents, is the role doctors and nurses can play in causing a brain injury at birth.
For families who are dealing with this situation, please understand that there are professionals who can look to help your baby and your family. Talking to parents who contact my office, I know that initially, some parents think that there is nothing that can be done as to an investigation into the issues. This is simply not true.
WAS THIS SUBSTANCE IN YOUR WATER WHEN IT BROKE?
Some mothers, when they look back at their pregnancy, they remember that it was uneventful. In other words, there were no real issues, as mom made all her doctor appointments, and followed all orders. However, when presenting to the hospital, some concerns arose. One glaring concern can be a substance present in the water when it breaks. That substance can be meconium. Meconium is the baby’s stool. Meconium coupled with other disturbing readings on the electronic fetal heart monitor can mean that the baby is no longer tolerating a vaginal delivery.
The fetal heart monitor is used in many hospitals all over the united states. As I have written in other articles, the electronic fetal heart monitor can assess things like the baby’s heart rate (normal range 120-160 beats per minute), whether there are late deceleration patterns, variability, among other things.
When meconium is present, with say, late decelerations, doctors and nurses must pay close attention to the labor progression. This is because the baby fetal distress might be present, and doctors must properly diagnose the fetal distress and provide the proper treatment.
The question was your baby’s brain injury preventable gets to the point of whether the doctors and nurses failed to recognize and diagnose your baby’s fetal distress. In addition, this failure to diagnose can then lead to no treatment of the distress. The failure to diagnose fetal distress can lead to the condition hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE. HIE in this context means a reduced level of blood and oxygen, which can lead to a brain injury. When HIE is present because of a failure of the doctors and nurses to properly identify labor and delivery fetal distress patterns, and a baby suffers a brain injury, a strong argument can be made that the doctors and nurses are responsible for the injury.
WAS YOUR BABY’S BRAIN INJURY PREVENTABLE?
If your baby has suffered a brain injury at birth, and now has a subsequent brain injury, and you have questions, give me a call. Families talk with me all the time about these issues. From getting help with an expert opinion regarding the review of medical records, to explaining how a birth injury attorney can help with your baby’s future challenges, this is what we do.
I can be reached for further discussion at 301-850-4832. I talk with families all the time about birth trauma related injuries and I would be happy to listen to your story.
Marcus B. Boston, Esq.
2 Wisconsin Circle, Suite 700
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815
1-833-4 BABY HELP
