New York Hypoxia Birth Injury Attorneys

All humans need to breathe, especially newborn infants. Lack of sufficient oxygen can result in significant medical conditions. A baby who doesn’t get sufficient oxygen during the birthing process can face serious physical and developmental difficulties. This in turn can significantly impact both the child’s life and the lives of his or her loved ones.

If you believe that your child suffers from hypoxia as a result of the negligence of a medical or healthcare professional, you may be entitled to compensation. These cases are complex and require the expertise of a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney. At Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C., our legal team has more than three decades of experience in handling all types of medical malpractice claims, especially injuries to infants caused by oxygen deprivation during the birthing process.

What Is Hypoxia or a Deprivation of Oxygen?

There is a small window during which a fetus is dependent on the umbilical cord for life and when the infant needs to breath oxygen on his or her own. When this critical transition is delayed, the baby can suffer serious medical conditions from lack of sufficient oxygen. This deprivation of oxygen in the womb or during the birthing process is medically referred to as hypoxia.

There are four major categories associated with hypoxia:

• Cerebral hypoxia
• Focal cerebral ischemia
• Cerebral infarction
• Global cerebral ischemia

Symptoms of Hypoxia Birth Injuries

Hypoxia happens in two stages. The first stage of hypoxia occurs immediately after the baby is deprived of oxygen. At this stage, the baby may immediately start to show signs. The second stage is known as “reperfusion injury.” This stage happens when the baby’s blood flow starts to return to the brain. At this point, injury is caused because the oxygen deprived, damaged cells start to release toxins.

Common symptoms of fetal birth hypoxia include:

• Low or lack of heart rate
• Slow, shallow, or irregular breathing
• Lack of breathing
• Seizures
• “Floppy” muscles that have little or no tone
• Blue or very pale skin tone
• Slow or lack of reflexes
• Apgar score of less than three, especially if it lasts more than five minutes

If your newborn shows any of these symptoms immediately after or shortly after birth, it is imperative that you speak to a New York medical malpractice attorney to help you through the difficult process.

Potential Oxygen Deprivation Birth Injuries

The lack of sufficient oxygen flow to the brain can result in the death of cells. This in turn can causes serious, lifelong brain damage. The resulting loss of brain function is in most cases irreversible.

The extent of your child’s injuries and the impact on your child’s life depends on how long your child was deprived of sufficient oxygen. The longer your child went without oxygen, the more brain damage he or she may have suffered. Brain damage can significantly impact your child’s speech and language, cognitive abilities, gross motor skills and seizures.

The Impact of Brain Damage On Your Child’s Life

Babies receive oxygen, nutrients, and get rid of waste through the umbilical cord while in the womb. Oxygen is delivered through the mother’s bloodstream. In some labor and delivery processes, this oxygen supply can be diminished or completely cut off. The reduction or lack of oxygen can put the baby at significant risk for damage to brain cells. If too many brain cells are damaged or die during labor, life-long brain damage occurs.

Brain damage can impact your child’s life, well into their adulthood. The extent of brain damage can vary depending on the length of time the infant’s oxygen supply was deprived and the areas of the brain that are damaged. In general, brain damage can impact:

• Cognitive abilities
• Sensory function
• Motor function
• Other areas of development

Children who suffer from brain damage will most like require extensive care for their health problems. If you suspect that your child suffered brain damage because of cerebral hypoxia during the birthing process, you may be able to file a claim for medical malpractice damages.

Common Causes of Fetal Hypoxia Birth Injuries

A baby’s oxygen circulation can be disrupted during birth in many different ways.
A list of common labor room causes of hypoxia birth injuries include:

• Delay in performing a cesarean section
• Physical trauma during labor and delivery including the use of forceps or a vacuum extractor
• Getting stuck in the birth canal
• Excessive extraction
• Dropped glucose levels
• Untreated jaundice

Many of these problems can be prevented if the physician, nurses, and hospital staff carefully and quickly monitor and treat the baby. As a parent, it is important for you to know that many hypoxia birth injuries could have been avoided with proper medical care.

Possible Treatments of Severe Hypoxia Birth Injury

One relatively recent treatment of perinatal hypoxia is hypothermia. Hypothermia is essentially the medical term for freezing to death. But neonatal therapeutic hypothermia is a type of treatment has been effectively used in perinatal hypoxia cases to drastically reduce the long-term neurological disorders associated with hypoxia.

Neonatal therapeutic hypothermia works because during the birth process, the body switches into emergency mode. This sometimes sparks a chain of events that leads to seizures and brain damage. When the baby’s body temperature is significantly cooled down with ice blankets or special ice caps, the cellular responses slow down. This in turn gives the doctors more time to concentrate oxygen on the infant and allow the oxygen to restore a natural level.

Doctors generally use hypothermia treatment after they have stabilized the infant shortly after birth.

You Need an Experienced New York Hypoxia Birth Injury Attorney

In pursuing a medical malpractice claim, especially one that involves the serious issue of hypoxia, it is important to hire an attorney who has the necessary experience to help you get the best settlement possible so that you will have the money and resources to give the highest quality of care possible to your child.

If your child has suffered hypoxia as a result of medical negligence, you need a good attorney on your side. The legal team at Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C. understands the ramifications of birth injuries on the lives of the victim and their family members. Our firm has been protecting the rights of victims for more than 39 years. We aggressively litigate these cases to hold the right parties accountable for their actions and help our clients obtain the full compensation that they deserve.

Call an Experienced NYC Cesarean Delivery Injury Attorney Today!

At Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C., we understand how devastating it is for parents when a newborn has suffered serious brain injuries at birth. While we understand that no amount of money can undo the harm caused, it can bring a sense of justice and financial stability to help pay for your child’s medical care and treatment.

If you suspect your infant’s brain injuries were caused by medical negligence, please call us at 1-800-529-9997 for a free consultation to discuss the details of your case.

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