When a newborn’s brain suffers an injury, the effects can happen immediately, but the consequences may last a lifetime. While some babies recover without suffering a serious injury, many are left dealing with the permanent issues that impact their daily lives and their families.
Several factors can contribute to a baby’s neurological injuries, and while some aren’t preventable, medical mistakes can easily make the situation worse.
Some of the more common neurological injuries suffered by babies include:
Acute Bilirubin Encephalopathy (ABE) — Symptoms present early and are caused by very high levels of bilirubin, which causes severe jaundice. This can quickly cause major issues with the baby’s brain, leading to a range of problems. ABE must be recognized and treated quickly to prevent the injury from becoming more severe.
Bilirubin-Induced Neurologic Dysfunction (BIND) / Bilirubin Encephalopathy — BIND describes a range of injuries from ABE to a more severe brain injury known as kernicterus. BIND is used to describe problems that are caused by bilirubin exposure and the severity of the injury.
Cerebral palsy — Cerebral palsy is something of a blanket term for a variety of injuries that are caused by a wide range of issues. The group of disorders is caused by damage to the developing brain or by abnormal brain development. How the damage impacts the person determines if they are diagnosed with cerebral palsy or another form of brain injury.
Babies born premature or with low birth weight are at risk of developing a condition that can cause cerebral palsy. Other factors in play are genetics, stroke, and infection.
Neonatal Encephalopathy — Because several factors contribute to neonatal encephalopathy, it’s critical that medical staff properly evaluate the baby to determine the cause of the symptoms. Symptoms are typically observed in the first days after birth and can include problems with consciousness, tone/reflex issues, breathing difficulties, and seizures. It has been linked to Hypoxic-ischemic injury (HIE) and metabolic problems.
Neonatal Seizures (Seizure Disorder) — One of the most common signs of neurological issues in newborns, seizures are caused by underlying problems. Seizures can be caused by HIE, stroke, metabolic issues, and infections.
While each condition has its own list of symptoms, causes, and possible injuries, they also share many common traits. Warning signs of possible neurological injury in your newborn include:
- Being very hard to wake up or extreme sleepiness
- Pauses in breathing, turning blue, or apnea episodes
- High-pitched cry
- Jerking, rhythmic movements, lip smacking, eye deviation, or “staring spells”
- Poor feeding or weak suck
- Fever or extreme irritability
Neurological injuries can come with a range of long-term health issues, such as emotional, mental, and physical developmental delays, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, learning disabilities, or serious brain damage.
Mistakes made by medical staff that impact neurological brain injuries in newborns can be made before, during, and after birth. Failing to order proper tests, failing to notice signs of danger, delays in treatment, medication errors, failing to treat underlying causes, and more can all contribute to neurological problems in newborns.
While the attorneys at Weisser Law have decades of courtroom experience, our dedicated nursing experts have decades of experience in delivery rooms. They know exactly how to review your medical records to determine if a medical mistake caused your baby’s injuries or made them worse.
Once we know what went wrong and why, our attorneys will fight hard to go after those accountable and get you the payment you deserve.
When your health and future are at risk, experience matters. Weisser Law fights relentlessly to restore our clients’ dignity while securing their future. Contact our expert legal team today so you can focus on recovery, and we’ll focus on accountability.