Here are some important things you should know about birth asphyxia.
There is always the risk of birth injury when a doctor delivers a baby. But even when the doctor’s errors do not inflict direct physical harm to your baby, there is a possibility of other injuries through birth asphyxia. Here are some important things you should know about birth asphyxia.
Birth Asphyxia Defined
When oxygen is cut off or severely limited to a baby during delivery, then this can be defined as birth asphyxia. As you can imagine, any lack of oxygen is dangerous at this most fragile stage of life. Aside from signs of a baby struggling to breathe, the symptoms of birth asphyxia include skin discoloration, low heart rate and even seizures. Birth asphyxia can lead to brain damage and conditions such as cerebral palsy. In many cases, birth asphyxia is fatal.
Causes
The main reason that a newborn baby could be at risk for birth asphyxia is because of a slow delivery. If a doctor does not deliver the baby quickly enough, then the baby will not be exposed to oxygen at the right time. And in the case of a C-section instead of a natural delivery, a doctor could fail to schedule a C-section at the right time, or miss the warning signs soon enough for an emergency C-section. Either way, once it is time for the baby to be born, the doctors need to work in a timely and efficient manner.
Prevention
Fortunately, there are several ways to spot and prevent birth asphyxia. Your doctor might want to run tests on the baby’s brain, like an MRI, EEG or CT scan. There is also a SPECT scan which looks specifically at the blood flow in the brain. These tests are key in spotting birth asphyxia early enough to treat it and hopefully limit the damage.
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