Injuries to a newborn’s brain are among the most serious and concerning for parents. The injuries can happen before birth, during labor and delivery, or in the first days of life, but can have a lifetime of consequences.
Depending on the injury, the newborn’s development can be permanently damaged, and they may experience vision or hearing issues, cognitive delays, epilepsy/seizures, cerebral palsy, and more. Many of those issues may also require lifetime care or specialized schooling.
Symptoms of brain injuries vary by the type of injury, but there are several common symptoms that can alert healthcare teams that a brain injury is possible or has already happened.
Those symptoms include: seizures, difficulty breathing or failure to establish breathing at birth, worsening jaundice, a soft spot on the top of the head, poor feeding or weak suck, and blue/gray coloring.
Some of the more common and serious types of brain injuries in newborns include:
Anoxic Brain Injury — Caused by a complete or near-complete lack of oxygen, an anoxic brain injury often overlaps with asphyxia and HIE. Symptoms include seizures, feeding issues, and severe breathing issues.
Birth Asphyxia / Perinatal Asphyxia — A form of oxygen deprivation, birth asphyxia is a failure to establish breathing at birth. Typically caused by complications during delivery, severe birth asphyxia cases can cause major damage to the brain and organs.
Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) — A very specific type of brain damage, HIE is caused by low oxygen and low blood flow to the brain. HIE is linked to multiple serious brain injuries and can be fatal in severe cases. It is a common cause of seizures and cerebral palsy.
HIE can be triggered in multiple ways, such as infections in the mother, umbilical cord issues, trauma to the baby before or during birth, problems with the placenta, and low blood pressure issues with the mother during birth.
Intracranial Hemorrhage — This injury involves bleeding around the brain and may require care in the NICU after birth, along with other ongoing treatments. Cases of intracranial hemorrhage and the injuries caused can range from mild to severe. In newborns carried to term, it’s usually caused by a traumatic delivery or mechanical forces used during the birth.
Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH) — A form of bleeding around the brain’s ventricles, these hemorrhages are often connected to premature births. The severity of the injury depends on several factors, and the injuries can range from mild to permanent disability.
Kernicterus — Caused by very high levels of bilirubin (which causes jaundice), kernicterus is a form of brain damage that can cause serious long-term injuries. It has been connected to cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and other neurological problems.
Neonatal Stroke — A stroke that happens within the first days after birth, signs of neonatal stroke include the baby favoring one side over the other, seizures, and difficulty feeding. Neonatal stroke is known to cause severe long-term issues in newborns, which can impact their development, vision, and behavior. Stroke may also cause cerebral palsy or epilepsy.
Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) — Mostly seen in premature and very low-weight newborns, PVL involves the white matter around blood cells dying. White matter helps the brain communicate, and problems with it can lead to several developmental issues in a newborn.
Skull Fracture — An uncommon injury during birth, skull fractures in newborns typically heal with time. Depressed fractures are a bit more severe, but with correct care from medical staff, they too heal with time. Skull fractures usually occur during difficult deliveries or instrument-assisted delivery.
Because brain injuries in newborns are so serious, when they are identified by healthcare staff and how they are treated is crucial to limiting how serious the injuries become. Every second matters when dealing with brain injuries, meaning medical staff must be ready to act quickly and be accurate with their assessments to protect the baby and their mother.
If your baby suffered brain injuries and you suspect medical malpractice may have been committed, don’t wait to call the professionals at Weisser Law.
With over 50 years of combined experience in Florida courtrooms, Weisser Law is uniquely positioned to put pressure on insurance companies to offer fair, realistic settlements. We have the strength and knowledge necessary to take down the big companies when they’ve wronged you or your family. Contact Weisser Law today, where compassion guides our work, but results define us.