Infant cerebral ischemia, or brain ischemia, is a condition in which there is not enough blood flow to a baby’s brain. Because blood carries oxygen and nutrients, a brain deprived of blood is also deprived of oxygen.
When this occurs during labor or delivery, reduced blood and oxygen flow can cause cells in the brain to die, which can result in serious and permanent brain damage in a matter of minutes.
Ischemic birth injuries are closely related to hypoxic and anoxic injuries, which are also caused by reduced oxygen or the complete lack of oxygen. They may result from a number of causes, including:
- Preeclampsia
- Maternal infection, gestational diabetes, or low blood pressure
- Placental abruption
- Difficult delivery and trauma
- Umbilical cord problems
When these complications should have been detected and treated in time by healthcare professionals, but were not, the infant and their family may be eligible for compensation for the injury’s impact on their life.
Cerebral ischemia has an overwhelming potential to cause devastating long-term health consequences, and in the most serious cases, can be fatal. Ischemic brain damage can cause:
- Cerebral palsy
- Seizures and epilepsy
- Cognitive impairment or Intellectual Disability
- Hearing or vision problems
- Developmental delays
Risk Factors and Early Warning Signs
How Doctors Can Detect Ischemia During Labor and Delivery
Doctors use a variety of monitoring techniques to detect early signs of cerebral ischemia. Continuous fetal heart rate monitoring is a critical tool, helping medical professionals spot abnormal patterns that indicate distress. Sudden drops in the baby’s heart rate (decelerations) or lack of variability in heartbeats can signal oxygen deprivation. Additionally, ultrasound and Doppler studies can assess blood flow to the fetus, while amniotic fluid levels are monitored to detect complications that might impair oxygen delivery.
Common Signs of Fetal Distress That Should Prompt Medical Intervention
Medical professionals are trained to recognize warning signs of fetal distress, including:
- Abnormal Heart Rate Patterns: Persistent bradycardia (low heart rate) or tachycardia (high heart rate) indicates the baby is struggling and may require immediate treatment.
- Reduced Fetal Movement: A decrease in fetal movement during labor can signal compromised oxygen levels.
- Meconium-Stained Amniotic Fluid: When the baby passes stool (meconium) into the amniotic fluid, it may indicate fetal stress and risk of inhaling the substance.
- Prolonged Labor: Extended labor can strain both mother and baby, increasing the risk of oxygen deprivation and ischemia.
- Umbilical Cord Issues: A cord wrapped around the baby’s neck or a prolapsed cord can cut off oxygen flow, requiring urgent medical intervention, such as an emergency C-section.
By closely monitoring these risk factors and signs of distress, doctors can act swiftly to reduce the likelihood of ischemic injuries and ensure a safer delivery.
Was My Child’s Brain Ischemia Preventable?
Ischemic birth injuries are typically caused by complications during birth – which medical professionals must appropriately monitor and respond to in order to prevent serious damage – as well as exposure to trauma which may be caused by negligent medical professionals.
In the context of birth injury lawsuits, families who believe medical malpractice may have played a role in causing their child’s ischemia and resulting injuries or impairments will need to prove that nurses, medical professionals, or other attending healthcare providers more likely than not failed to provide an acceptable standard of care.
Proving negligence and substandard care in birth injury cases is always an endeavor unique to the particular facts and circumstances at hand.
When investigating these cases, our legal team at Beam Legal Team pays
close attention to a number of factors, including:
- Did attending medical professionals appropriately monitor mother and child
during pregnancy and delivery? - Were any signs of distress or complications not identified by the treating
physicians or nurses when they should have been? - Did nurses or doctors fail to respond appropriately to signs of distress?
- Were there any unreasonable delays in treatment such as an emergency
C-section or head cooling? - Did medical professionals fail to uphold accepted medical standards when
treating mother or baby?
These questions are essential to securing the facts about whether a birth injury was preventable, and to helping victims during their lawsuits and pursuit of a financial recovery of their damages, which can cover not only past medical expenses, but also future medical and financial needs associated with their child’s condition, emotional injuries, and more.
Finding the answers to these questions, as well as the evidence and testimony that can support them, demands the attention of proven lawyers.
Our birth injury lawyers at Beam Legal Team represent birth injury victims and families throughout Chicago and the United States. If you have questions about infant cerebral ischemia, brain damage, and birth injuries resulting from negligence, we encourage you to
contact us for a free consultation.
Originally published October 9, 2017.