Understanding Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
Each year, 30,000 newborn babies face health complications during the birthing process. One of the most severe conditions that can occur during childbirth is Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE). This is a condition that affects a baby’s brain due to lack of oxygen. This condition requires immediate medical attention and treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit...
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Understanding Birth Injuries. What New Parents Need to Know
The birth of a child is a life-changing event. As a new parent, you want nothing but the best care for your baby during labor and delivery. However, sometimes things can go wrong, and the baby can sustain injuries during birth. According to recent studies, birth injuries occur in about 7 out of every 1,000 births...
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The Five Most Common Birth Injuries
Serious birth injuries, like the ones outlined below, are much more common in the United States than in other developed countries. In fact, many pediatricians now recommend that mothers under 35 with no pregnancy complications and no history of pregnancy complications, give birth at home. Newborns are so fragile that even a slight irregularity during...
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Spastic Quadriplegia: What Is It and Why Does It Happen?
Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a neurological condition caused by an injury to or abnormal development of the parts of the brain that control movement, resulting in lifelong motor and muscular disabilities. The injury is most common in utero but can occur during childbirth or shortly thereafter. Babies suffering from cerebral palsy show physical developmental setbacks...
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Delayed C-Sections Can Lead to Birth Injuries
Cesarean deliveries (C-sections) are a common procedure for women in labor. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 33% of all deliveries in the United States are performed via C-section. There are many good reasons why a doctor might feel a C-section is the best method for delivery. Generally speaking, the...
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Assistive Technology Improves Quality of Life for Children with CP
The team at The Yost Legal Group has created an infographic to demonstrate how assistive technology can help in the development – specifically the communication abilities – of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP), and how this technology can set them up for the utmost success. Cerebral Palsy is a birth defect that occurs when the...
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Seizures in Newborns
What Is the Most Common Cause of Neonatal Seizures? Did Malpractice Lead to Your Newborn’s Seizures? Last week, I was researching birth injuries and came across a fascinating paper from the American Academy of Neurology about the causes of seizures in newborns. In studying neonatal seizures, a multicenter cohort of researchers found that 58% of...
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Shoulder Dystocia and Lack of Oxygen to the Brain
Shoulder dystocia occurs when the baby’s head emerges during delivery, but one or both shoulders remains trapped behind the mother’s pubic bone, preventing completion of delivery of the baby. This may cause the baby to suffer from oxygen deprivation if the umbilical cord is compressed between the baby’s body and the mother’s pelvis, or if...
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Preeclampsia, Placental Abruption and Birth Injuries
It is estimated that every 1 in 100 births is affected by preeclampsia and placental abruption. These conditions can not only cause harm to the baby, but to the mother as well. Often times these birth injuries can have an impact on the child for the rest of their life. Preeclampsia occurs when an expectant...
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Complications from Fetal Macrosomia
A baby born weighing more than 8 pounds 13 ounces (or 4,000 grams) weighs significantly more than the average baby, and so meets the definition for macrosomia, or “big baby syndrome”, which carries with it the risk of injury during delivery. If the baby’s birthweight is even greater – 9 pounds 15 ounces (or 4,500...
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