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continued
If the umbilical
cord becomes wrapped around the baby’s neck,
this can be a very dangerous situation. The blood
supply to the baby can get cut off as the umbilical
cord gets kinked. Once again, signs of fetal distress
on the fetal heart monitor can alert the doctor so
that a Cesarean Section can be performed to save the
baby. If a C-Section is not done, the blood supply
gets more and more reduced the further the child passes
down the birth canal, often resulting in brain injury
due to lack of oxygen.
A baby in
distress will often exhibit warning signs. Fetal distress
can cause the heartbeat of a baby to drop, and can
cause the baby to have a bowel movement in the amniotic
fluid, which is called meconium. If meconium is present
when the mother’s water breaks it may have a
greenish appearance.
The presence
of meconium in the amniotic fluid when the mother’s
water breaks can be considered an indicator of fetal
distress. It is a factor that the doctor or midwife
should consider in determining the need for a cesarean
section to avoid risk of brain damage.
A brain
injury can occur during birth as a result of meconium
aspiration. This occurs when the baby inhales the
fetal bowel movement prior to delivery, resulting
in a loss of oxygen to the brain. This is one of the
reasons that meconium in the amniotic fluid should
be a warning sign to a doctor or midwife delivering
a baby.
One way doctors
watch for fetal distress is on fetal monitor strips.
Fetal distress should indicate to the doctor that
the baby is having a problem.
Fetal monitoring
and correct interpretation of the fetal monitor strips
is extremely useful in identifying risk to a baby
and permitting doctors to intervene before a birth
injury, such as cerebral palsy, occurs.
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When there are patterns that indicate that the baby
is in distress, the doctor or midwife should investigate
the need for a C-Section. Often the mother will be
turned on to her left side and possibly given oxygen.
If that does not help, a scalp Ph test should be performed
to determine if the baby is becoming acidotic as a
result of lack of oxygen. If the Ph level indicates
acidosis, a C-section must be performed.
If a C-Section
is not performed in a timely fashion, the brain can
become deprived of oxygen and injured. This can happen
as the result of a number of factors, including aspiration
of meconium, deprivation of oxygen, reduced blood
flow to the brain, failure to do a timely cesarian
section, failure to respond to signs of fetal distress
soon enough, or the failure to deliver the infant
when the membranes had been ruptured for an extensive
period of time.
When medical
errors such as these occur, it can cause devastating
injury to a baby by depriving the brain of oxygen
during labor and delivery. This deprivation of oxygen
can cause cerebral palsy.
Signs
of Injury
Immediately
after birth indicators that the newborn has been injured
include the baby being born blue, or requiring resuscitation
shortly after birth.
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Molding, or a cone like shape to the newborn’s
head, may indicate that the newborn was in the birth
canal for too long or that the head was too big for
the birth canal. The development of seizures shortly
after birth is also an indicator of a brain injury.
The severity
of a brain damage depends on the location of the injury
in the brain and when the injury occurred. The longer
a child goes without oxygen, the greater the injury
to the brain will be.
Signs of
cerebral palsy that may alert parents and doctors
to a problem in the first few months of life include
irritability or fussiness, lack of alertness, trembling
in the arms and legs, poor feeding, low muscle tone,
seizures, abnormal reflexes, or favoring one side
of the body. Although an injured infant’s muscle
tone may be floppy at first, over time they may develop
high tone, or extreme stiffness. This can result in
the infant’s hands being fisted or uneven movement
causing one side to move in a jerky fashion. Infants
with cerebral palsy are slow to reach developmental
milestones such as rolling over, sitting up, and walking,
talking and grabbing.
Long Term Effects
Children
and adults with cerebral palsy can require ongoing
medical care to deal with the physical problems caused
by this brain injury. As cerebral palsy is a permanent
injury, the expenses of physical therapy, occupational
therapy, medications and potential surgeries will
span the injured person’s lifetime.
To learn
more about cerebral palsy please visit the links
section of our website. If you or a family member
has a child who has sustained a cerebral palsy injury
and wish to discuss your legal rights, please feel
free to
call us toll free at
1-888- MEDLAW 1.
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