Helping Parents Identify the Causes of Their Children's Injuries
Cerebral palsy is a nonspecific term often used to describe babies who have a variety of neurologic deficiencies. Typically, as children with cerebral palsy grow older, their brains do not grow in proportion with their bodies, and they develop abnormally small heads (microcephaly). Common symptoms associated with the term cerebral palsy include the following:
- Mental retardation
- Weaknesses, spasticity and paralysis of upper and lower extremities
- Speech, vision and hearing difficulties
- Inability to chew solid foods and difficulties swallowing
- Delays in or failure to achieve developmental milestones
Cerebral palsy can have a variety of causes, such as inherited (genetic, or chromosomal) disorders, metabolic disorders, drugs taken and infections during pregnancy, and various abnormalities of the placenta. In some cases, cerebral palsy can be caused by birth injuries — sometimes referred to as birth asphyxia, perinatal asphyxia or hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) — that may occur as a result of obstetric or neonatal malpractice.
Understanding the Role of Heart Rate Monitoring in Preventing Asphyxia
A common cause of cerebral palsy is failure to recognize and act upon abnormalities on the fetal heart rate tracing. Fetal heart rate monitoring is an extremely important part of obstetric care, and every obstetrician, family practitioner, midwife and obstetric nurse providing care to patients in labor and delivery is required to know how to read a fetal heart rate tracing.
Patients in labor are typically connected to a fetal heart monitor that records the baby's heart rate and corresponding uterine contractions. The baby's heart rate changes in frequency and uniformity from minute to minute, referred to as "variability," which results in a normally jagged appearance of the line recording the baby's heart rate. A constellation of findings on the fetal heart tracing is used to help make sure the baby is receiving enough blood and oxygen, that he or she is tolerating labor, and that it is safe to allow labor to continue.
Sometimes, during labor, as a result of any of a number of conditions or for reasons that are not readily identifiable, the baby will receive inadequate blood flow and oxygen through the placenta. The baby is usually able to tolerate this for varying periods of time, but eventually, and usually in association with contractions, the baby's reserves become depleted, and it starts to accumulate acid in its blood. Unless this is corrected, acid accumulates in tissues, causing damage to the brain, kidneys, liver, heart and other organs. This is called "asphyxia."
Babies who are born asphyxiated may have low Apgar scores (0-5) and show symptoms associated with neonatal neurological syndrome. Very severe asphyxia can cause death of the baby while still in the womb or in the first few days or weeks of life. If a baby who had birth asphyxia survives, the child usually develops cerebral palsy.
The purpose of fetal heart rate monitoring is to prevent birth asphyxia. As asphyxia develops, the fetal heart rate tracing will typically show progressive abnormalities such as decreased variability, absence of "accelerations" (short increases in the fetal heart rate, often in association with fetal movement), the fetal heart rate being too fast or too slow, or decelerations (drops in the fetal heart rate in association with contractions). These developments are referred to as "fetal distress," and they require interventions such as giving oxygen and fluid to the mother and turning her on her side to improve blood flow to the uterus and placenta. If these do not work within a short period of time, a prompt cesarean section may be necessary. Delay may result in the baby sustaining devastating brain damage.
Standing Up to Aggressive Medical Malpractice Defense Tactics
Obstetric malpractice cases in which brain damage has been inflicted on a baby are probably the most aggressively defended of all malpractice cases. Parents of children with cerebral palsy are often told by doctors that the cause of their child's condition is either unknown, genetic, or from an infection or some other cause, when the true cause is obstetric malpractice.
A common defense tactic in obstetric malpractice cases is to have a host of physicians in a variety of specialties including perinatology, pediatric neurology, neonatology, neuroradiology, dysmorphology (a subspecialty in pediatrics dealing with genetic, inherited problems) and other specialties testify that cerebral palsy resulted from an infection during the pregnancy, an inherited disorder, drugs taken during the pregnancy, some unidentifiable syndrome ("God's will"), asphyxia occurring earlier in the pregnancy and prior to labor and delivery, or a placental abnormality — anything but lack of oxygen during labor and delivery leading to birth asphyxia.
Working With Skilled Experts to Fight for the Results Your Child Deserves
In consultation with obstetricians, perinatologists, pediatric neurologists, midwives, obstetric nurses, pathologists, pediatric neurologists, life care planners, economists and other professionals, our experienced New Mexico cerebral palsy attorneys will analyze prenatal records, labor and delivery records, newborn and pediatric records, imaging studies and other sources of information to determine whether medical malpractice occurred.
If so, we may be able to recover damages to pay for your baby's injuries and to provide the money necessary to compensate your baby for his or her emotional and physical pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, and lost income, as well as the tremendous cost of rehabilitation, physical and occupational therapy, and medical and nursing care which may be required to give your child the best chance to maximize his or her abilities.
Call Our Albuquerque Birth Injury Lawyers at 505-814-1823
If your baby has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the experienced trial attorneys at our law firm can help you get answers to your questions and understand your legal options. For a free consultation and case evaluation, please contact us at 505-814-1823 or by e-mail.
