Delay of Delivery Causing Baby To Be Born With Brain Damage
Recently we were involved in a Chicago medical malpractice case involving a birth injury. Without going into too much detail, the case involved a baby having severe brain damage as a result of being born with no heart rate and no perfusion – oxygen being delivered – to his brain. There were four steps connecting the delay in delivery to the baby’s brain damage.
One, because babies in utero do not breathe, when they need more oxygen the only way to achieve that is for the baby’s heart rate to speed up (tachycardia). In our case, on the morning of delivery, while at the hospital, the baby’s heart rate became tachycardic.
Two, after some time, if the tachycardia does not ease the oxygen deficit, decelerations will appear on the fetal monitor strip and then the baby’s heart rate will become abnormally low (bradycardia). In our case, the fetal heart monitor did show decelerations and then the baby became bradycardic in the last 20-30 minutes before delivery.
Three, at some point, after bradycardia develops and oxygen levels remain low, the baby’s heart rate will continue to drop resulting in the complete loss of heart rate. That’s what happened in our case.
Four, a severe shortage of oxygen just before birth can be seen from taking blood from the umbilical cord. In our case the pH was low, showing that the blood going to the child had very low oxygen levels.
The failure of various doctors and nurses resulted in the baby being born with cerebral palsy – a serious and life-long condition. If the child had been delivered just minutes before he was, he would have been born with a heartbeat and oxygen being delivered to his brain. His serious brain injury would have been avoided.
Medical malpractice cases involving birth injuries are almost always defended by the healthcare providers and the insurance companies who try and protect them. If you suspect negligence in the delivery of your child, you deserve a lawyer, not only with skill, not only with nearly three decades of experience, not only with an abundance of resources but a lawyer who will listen and treat you with the utmost respect. We are those lawyers. We can help. Please call our Chicago Birth Injury Attorneys at 312-957-4166.
