A C-Section delayed and an HIE injury is an issue that many families might overlook when doing their research into the cause of their baby’s HIE diagnosis. How we normally hear this issue is when families assume that something else must have been the cause of their baby’s HIE diagnosis because the doctors “did a C-Section” and this is how things turned out.
For this educational article, I will discuss from a medical legal perspective how C-Section issues can arise when investigating the cause of a baby’s HIE diagnosis. The fact that a C-Section was performed may not always be the end all be all.
What Is A C-Section And When Can It Be Performed?
A C-Section, or a cesarean section is a type of surgery in which the baby is delivered through an incision in the mother’s abdomen. For all purposes, a C-Section is a surgery and should be viewed as such. In some cases, doctors might plan for a mother to deliver via C-Section. In some instances, a vaginal birth might be attempted following a previous C-Section (VBAC). With that said, there are certain issues that must be discussed with your medical professional when thinking about moving to a (VBAC), namely the way the initial incision was performed.
For first time mothers, moving to a C-Section might not be known fully until the time of labor and delivery. There can be numerous reasons for why a C-Section is needed and below I will list a few of the major ones:
- The Baby Is In Fetal Distress: This occurs when there are concerns about the health of your baby. Readings on the electronic fetal heart monitor might reveal that the baby is no longer handling a vaginal delivery.
- Labor Is Not Progressing: What this means is exactly what is says, mother’s labor is not progressing and is stalled. A cervix that is not dilating, despite strong contraction activity is one way labor will not progress.
- Multiple Babies: Carrying twins, or more, can be the basis of having a C-Section.
C-Section Delayed And An HIE Injury
A C-Section delayed and an HIE injury is investigated by reviewing the medical records and interviewing mom (and other family members if they were present with relevant information). As mentioned above, if a baby is in fetal distress, then an emergency C-Section may be the way to go, especially if the distress is ongoing and for a considerable amount of time. Add to this, if conservative interventions are not clearing up the cause of the fetal distress, then an emergency C-Section may be warranted.
From a medical legal perspective, if a C-Section was performed one of the issues to be investigated was whether there was a delay in moving to the C-Section. In other words, did the doctor move too slow for the C-Section? One way to review this is to see if there was a delay is to see if there were patterns of fetal distress and how long had these patterns continued? A thorough birth injury investigation can help clear up these issues.
If you have more questions about your baby’s HIE diagnosis, and whether there was a C-Section delayed which caused the injury, I invite you to reach out to me at my contact information below. It costs nothing to have an information session with us to understand your baby’s story.
Marcus B. Boston, Esq.
2 Wisconsin Circle, Suite 700
Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815
1-833-4 BABY HELP
