What Is the Most Common Birth Injury and How To Avoid It
There is nothing more exciting for a new mother than imagining the birth of their baby. A healthy, smiling infant that is sleeping peacefully in her arms. What never enters that idyllic picture is the image of a baby who has suffered an injury at birth, much less an injury that results in permanent damage and lifelong disability. If this has happened to you, consider reaching out to an experienced team of birth injury lawyers to help you recover the compensation you deserve.
What Injuries Do Babies Experience the Most?
Broken Bones and Bruising
The most common type of injury in babies is broken bones. The risk of sustaining a fracture increases when the baby is born feet first and also for large babies. Although a broken bone may sound like something insignificant, it is far from that in the case of a newborn.
Fractures in the collarbone are the most frequent, and they may be detected because the area has swollen up or the baby may cry whenever the area of the fractured bone is touched.
Babies also experience bruising due to the fragility of their skin. Bruises may appear because of the baby’s passing through the birth canal. In some cases, they are caused by improper use of medical equipment such as forceps. Bruises tend to be found in areas of a baby’s head, limbs, or face.
Erb’s Palsy or Bell’s Palsy
Erb’s and Bell’s palsy are common injuries at birth. Erb’s palsy is the result of an injury to the brachial plexus. This is a network of nerves around the neck area that continue to the arm. If affected by this condition, the infant may be unable to move their arm. Even though the condition may resolve on its own, it can become permanent if the affected nerve is torn.
Bell’s palsy results from an injury to a facial nerve at the time of birth. It is easy to detect since a side of the baby’s face will not move when the baby cries. This condition may resolve on its own or may require surgery to correct it.
Birth Asphyxia
Birth asphyxia or hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy presents itself when there is a lack of oxygen to the brain or there is impaired blood flow during the birth process. It can range from mild to severe, depending on how long the brain is deprived of oxygen. Severe cases result in lifelong mental and physical impairments. This happens much more frequently in premature babies than in full-term births.
Intracranial Hemorrhage
Bleeding in the skull or intracranial haemorrhage may happen when the baby’s fragile skull suffers trauma during the delivery process. This generally happens when forceps or a vacuum extractor are improperly used.
Cerebral haemorrhage refers to blood in the brain, similar to cases of a stroke. Other types of cranial bleeding include cephalohematoma, which is bleeding between the skull and the skin that covers it. Subconjunctival haemorrhage refers to a broken blood vessel inside the baby’s eye.
Many birth conditions resolve on their own, and not all of them are due to medical error. Others may be the result of medical malpractice and leave serious consequences on the child.
*This is a collaborative post
