Understanding the Different Types of Birth Injuries

What Is a Birth Injury?

A birth injury is physical harm that occurs before, during, or shortly after delivery. These injuries can range from temporary bruising or swelling to serious brain and nerve damage.

Birth injuries are different from birth defects. A birth defect usually develops during pregnancy and may involve genetic, environmental, or unknown causes. A birth injury is generally connected to an event or complication surrounding labor and delivery.

Not every difficult delivery or newborn diagnosis means a healthcare provider did something wrong. Some complications occur even when appropriate care is provided. A potential medical malpractice claim may arise, however, when a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other provider fails to meet the accepted standard of care and that failure causes harm.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a group of neurological conditions affecting movement, balance, posture, and muscle coordination. Symptoms can range from mild difficulty controlling one limb to substantial mobility, communication, and developmental challenges.

Cerebral palsy may be associated with abnormal brain development, genetic factors, infections, premature birth, stroke, or an injury affecting the developing brain. In some cases, hypoxic-ischemic brain damage surrounding birth may contribute to the condition, but cerebral palsy is not always caused by a delivery-room injury.

Because signs may emerge gradually, some children are not diagnosed until months or years after birth.

Brachial Plexus Injuries and Erb’s Palsy

The brachial plexus is a group of nerves that carries signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm, and hand. These nerves can be stretched, compressed, or torn during delivery, sometimes when a baby’s shoulder becomes stuck behind the mother’s pelvic bone.

A brachial plexus injury may cause weakness, reduced sensation, limited movement, or paralysis in the affected arm. Erb’s palsy generally affects the upper portion of the brachial plexus and may limit movement of the shoulder and elbow.

Many babies improve within the first several months, although severe nerve damage may require therapy or surgery and can cause permanent limitations.

Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, commonly called HIE, is a brain injury associated with an inadequate supply of oxygen and blood flow to the brain. It may occur before, during, or shortly after birth.

HIE can vary considerably in severity. Some babies recover with limited effects, while others experience seizures, developmental delays, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, or other long-term complications.

Possible events associated with reduced oxygen or blood flow include umbilical cord complications, placental problems, prolonged labor, uterine rupture, or delayed treatment of fetal distress. Whether an HIE diagnosis resulted from medical negligence requires a detailed review of the pregnancy, fetal monitoring, delivery, and newborn care.

Head and Scalp Injuries

Pressure during childbirth can cause several types of swelling, bruising, or bleeding around a newborn’s head.

A cephalohematoma is a collection of blood beneath the scalp and above a skull bone. It often resolves without intervention, but a baby may need monitoring for complications such as jaundice, anemia, or infection.

More serious injuries may involve bleeding inside or around the brain. Intraventricular hemorrhage, for example, occurs when bleeding develops inside the brain’s fluid-filled spaces and is most common in premature infants.

 

Bone Fractures

The pressure involved in a difficult delivery can sometimes cause a newborn’s bone to fracture. The clavicle, or collarbone, is among the bones most commonly injured during birth.

A baby with a fractured clavicle may avoid moving the affected arm, appear uncomfortable when lifted, or develop a lump as the bone heals. Many newborn clavicle fractures heal without significant treatment, although the baby should still be evaluated and monitored by a medical professional.

Less commonly, birth trauma may result in fractures involving the arm, leg, or skull.

Facial Nerve Injuries

Pressure on a baby’s facial nerve before or during delivery may cause weakness or paralysis on one side of the face. The condition may be most noticeable when the baby cries because one side of the mouth does not move normally.

The exact cause is not always known, but difficult labor and pressure from forceps may contribute in some cases. Many facial nerve injuries improve over time, while more severe damage may have lasting effects.

When a Birth Injury May Lead to a Legal Claim

A poor outcome alone does not establish medical malpractice. A legal claim generally requires evidence that a healthcare provider failed to deliver appropriate care and that the failure caused or worsened the child’s injury.

Potential concerns may include failing to respond to fetal distress, delaying a necessary cesarean delivery, misusing forceps or vacuum extractors, applying excessive force, failing to treat maternal complications, or not providing timely newborn care.

Medical records, fetal monitoring strips, imaging results, delivery notes, expert opinions, and information about the child’s ongoing needs may help explain what happened.

Morgan & Morgan May Be Here to Help

A birth injury can leave families facing hospital stays, specialist appointments, therapy, assistive equipment, and uncertainty about their child’s future.

Morgan & Morgan’s birth injury attorneys can review the medical records, consult qualified experts, determine whether preventable errors contributed to the injury, and fight for the compensation your family may deserve.

Contact Morgan & Morgan for a free, no-obligation case evaluation. With The Fee Is Free™ promise, you pay nothing unless we win your case.