Perhaps one of the most exciting things about being a new parent is becoming a new parent. Many women have described giving birth as an experience filled with joy, happiness, and a reasonable amount of pain. However, giving birth can be hazardous to the health of both mother and baby. That happens when the medical professionals attending the birth do not provide adequate care. Infants are extremely vulnerable during delivery. In some tragic cases, the negligence of healthcare professionals can result in birth injuries that can have a lasting impact on the baby's life and the lives of their family members.
Ten Most Commonly Reported Birth Injuries
According to a report from the Birth Injury Guide (BIG), 28 thousand babies are born with a birth injury per year. That equates to roughly three babies per hour. The ten most common types of birth injuries include:- Brachial Plexus Palsy (Erb’s Palsy) - paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the arm’s main upper group of nerves
- Bone fractures - the clavicle is the most commonly fractured bone, followed by the humerus, femur, and skull
- Cephalohematoma - damaged vessels between the skull and the inner layers of skin, resulting in the pooling of blood
- Caput succedaneum - similar to a cephalohematoma. This injury is a collection of subdermal fluid caused by too much pressure on the baby’s head during delivery.
- Perinatal asphyxia - when a child doesn’t breathe normally just before, during, or after birth, often resulting in limpness, silence, and a blue skin-tone
- Intracranial hemorrhage - a type of bleeding that happens inside the skull, caused by a blood vessel in the brain that has leaked or ruptured
- Subconjunctival hemorrhage - when one or more blood vessels in the baby’s eye break, resulting in the appearance of blood spots over the whites of the eye
- Facial paralysis - loss of facial movement due to nerve damage during delivery
- Spinal cord injuries - these kinds of injuries can happen if a doctor strains the child’s neck by twisting, pulling, or using tools to remove the baby from the birth canal
- Cerebral palsy - the result of brain injuries that affect the child’s ability to control motor functions