A recently filed birth injury lawsuit alleges that an Illinois hospital and attending doctor are to blame for the brain injury to a child during the delivery process.
In the medical malpractice lawsuit, the child’s parents allege that their daughter was born with hypoxic brain injury due to the negligence of physician and hospital staff during the delivery process.
Specifically, the medical malpractice lawsuit accuses the hospital and doctor of rupturing membranes in the child’s head during the delivery process and further inadequate care by failing to timely perform a C-section when the vital signs indicated that the infant was in distress.
As a result of the birth injury, the girl faces a lifetime of pain, deminished earning capacity, medical expenses and educational needs. The lawsuit is pending in St. Clair County Circuit Court.
Hypoxic Brain Injuries In Babies
Oxygen deprivation or hypoxia, typically occurs as a complication of birth. For example, if the umbilical cord becomes trapped between a baby’s head and the wall of the uterus, pressure on the cord may cut off the baby’s oxygen supply. Hypoxia may also result from blood loss, perhaps when the placenta tears free of the uterine wall or the uterus ruptures. Blood loss or hypoxia at birth may lead to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a condition experienced by 1 in every 1,000 newborns.
When an infant has received inadequate supply of oxygen during labor or delivery, it may cause brain injury, confirmed by less electrical activity in the brain or brain wave analysis. A lack of oxygen at birth can result from a ruptured uterus, placenta which receives oxygen, nutrients, antibodies and hormones from the mother’s blood and passes out the waste.
Another cause of HIE is when the umbilical cord wraps around the infant’s neck and cut of the supply of oxygen or suffer hypoxic damage. Infants that survive can have long lasting disabling complications, such as cerebral palsy where a child has trouble controlling the muscles of the body, and may not be able to walk, talk, eat, or play. Hearing and speech problems may require the child to receive treatment by a speech therapist.
As scientists look for continually look for new treatment or therapy options, currently there is little medical treatment available to reverse this damage or prevent this damage from occurring, except only to place the infant on a respirator and give medicine to support blood pressure and other functions.
Related:
The Needs Of Children With Cerebral Palsy Need Special Consideration For Their Optimal Functioning
What are the signs of brain injury in newborns?
Parents sue doctor over child’s brain injury suffered at birth, The St. Clair Record January 18, 2011
Birth Asphyxia: A Doctor’s Delay, A Lifetime Of Medical Complications
Delay In Performing C-Section Results In Baby’s Brain Damage & Costs Doctor $3 Million