The question, did your baby’s traumatic brain injury (HIE) happen during pregnancy or at birth? This question stems from an issue we discussed in a previous educational article and supporting video regarding medical malpractice and a baby’s traumatic brain injury. When doing a birth injury investigation for families as to the cause of their baby’s brain injury, understanding when the injury occurred helps the family make better decisions as to whether to move forward legally on a birth injury claim.
Baby’s Traumatic Brain Injury (HIE) Happen During Pregnancy Or At Birth (Labor & Delivery)?
Timing a baby’s brain injury is important because it goes to the element of causation, which is a hotly contested in baby brain injury cases. When investigating these cases, the use of a medical expert like a pediatric neuroradiologist can help with the timing of the injury. These medical experts are skilled in reading scans and imaging.
One of the simplest ways to understand this complex issue is to think about a hammer injury. If you hit your hand with a hammer, you may feel the pain, but the injury may not physically manifest itself immediately. With that said, after time has passed, the injury may physically manifest. For example, the hand may swell, or it might become discolored, all occurring after time has passed.
The same can be said of a baby’s traumatic brain injury. When it is suspected at birth that a brain injury has occurred, ultrasound imaging may be done. If the initial scan is revealing serious brain damage, then a strong argument can be made that the injury occurred more than likely before labor and delivery. On the other hand, if during the initial imaging there is little to no injury present to the brain, but the subsequent imaging reveals a brain injury, then a strong argument can be made that the injury happened during labor and delivery, especially when the fetal heart strips also reveal fetal distress.
If you have more questions on did your baby’s traumatic brain injury (HIE) happen during pregnancy or at birth, you can reach out to us at the contact information below. It costs nothing to speak with me initially about your baby’s story.
Marcus B. Boston, Esq.
9701 Apollo Dr. Suite 100
Largo, Maryland 20774
1-833-4 BABY HELP