How to Spot Birth Injury Symptoms

Many parents are often excited about the birth of their young ones that they rarely look for signs that anything went wrong. A parent is most likely to rethink the events leading to the birth of their child after noticing an issue in their kid’s development progress.

If your child is showing signs of cognitive or physical distress or has missed any of the crucial developmental milestones, this might indicate the occurrence of birth injuries like nerve or brain damage during labor.

What Are Birth Injuries?

A birth injury occurs when there is damage to the nerve or brain that happens before, during, or immediately after the delivery process. Numerous birth injuries often occur before the birthing process due to many things, including infections or alcohol use during pregnancy.

However, some injuries take place during birth due to medical negligence, and most of them are considered preventable.

Causes of Preventable Birth Injuries

Some of the causes of preventable birth injuries include:

Not detecting infections during pregnancy.
Failure to perform a medically necessary C-section
Ignoring alarms and heart rate monitors during delivery

Four types of brain damage are essentially associated with birth injuries. They include periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), intracranial hemorrhage, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and cerebral dysgenesis. The causes of these conditions may differ; however, all of them demonstrate similar symptoms, which parents need to understand as their child develops.

Birth Injury Symptoms

While you might recognize some birth injuries immediately, some can take months or years to become recognizable.

If you are a parent or a caregiver, you must monitor your child's development progress to establish whether an injury occurred during birth. You should also lookout for any developmental delays or abnormalities.

Birth Injury Symptoms Immediately After Birth

Few symptoms might be visible immediately after the birth of your child. While not all of them will indicate that a birth injury occurred, they will help you understand that damage might have occurred during the birthing process.

Birth injury symptoms to look out for immediately after birth include:

Skull fractures
Seizures
Excessive drooling
Low oxygen levels
Absent or weak reflexes
Difficulty eating, suckling, or swallowing

These symptoms can be a sign of an underlying condition related to nerve or brain damage. You must contact a physician immediately if you suspect any abnormalities. Taking prompt action will give your child an opportunity to receive immediate medical care and attention.

Birth Injury Symptoms That Might Develop Between 12-24 Months

It is worth noting that some birth injury symptoms might not develop immediately after birth. Some might take up to two years to manifest. Symptoms of a birth injury often become visible when your child shows physical signs of nerve and brain damage or misses crucial developmental milestones.

Common signs during this period include stiff muscles, difficulties with fine motor skills, inability to draw circles or straight lines, and the inability to understand full sentences.

If you establish that your kid has any of the symptoms, nerve damage or brain injury probably occurred during birth. It is therefore essential that a physician takes note of the symptoms for further diagnosis.

What Are the Next Steps?

If you think that your child might have a birth injury, it is best to seek the advice of certified doctors. They will run numerous tests and get a diagnosis. In some cases, a neurologist will have to be involved in confirming the injuries. The medical professionals will help you identify the best measures to ensure that your child lives a healthy and happy life.

Many families decide to file a birth injury lawsuit when they suspect that their child's birth injury was due to medical negligence. Damages awarded after a successful suit can help with your child's treatment.