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 is serious and permanent brain damage – even in a matter of minutes.
Ischemic birth injuries are closely related to hypoxic and anoxic injuries, which refers to reduced oxygen or the complete lack of oxygen. They may result from a number of causes and factors, including:
- Preeclampsia
- Maternal infection, gestational diabetes, or low blood pressure
- Placental abruption
- Difficult delivery and trauma
- Umbilical cord problems
Cerebral ischemia has an overwhelming potential to cause devastating long-term health consequences, and in the most serious cases, can be fatal. When it comes to conditions and birth injuries, ischemic brain damage can cause:
- Cerebral palsy
- Seizures and epilepsy
- Cognitive impairment or mental retardation
- Hearing or vision problems
- Developmental delays
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 health care 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 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.