Caput succedaneum and cephalohematoma are similar – but distinct – birth injuries that cause a baby’s head to swell. While there are important differences between caput succedaneum and cephalohematoma, the common thread between the two is they both scare parents but they are typically not serious and will heal themselves…
Medically induced cooling of the brain can help treat damage. This relatively new procedure — the FDA approved it a little over 10 years ago — provides the opportunity to treat babies who are suffering from hypoxic brain damage because of perinatal asphyxia. We don’t totally understand the exact science…
Medical malpractice lawsuits are high-stakes personal injury cases that routinely result in multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts. These cases come in various types (such as misdiagnosis and surgical error) and each category of malpractice tends to occupy its own place on the average settlement value spectrum. For instance, surgical malpractice cases…
Doctors may now have a new and powerful tool for the early diagnosis of newborns who suffer brain damage during childbirth. A study recently published in Scientific Reports announced that a breakthrough neonatal blood test can effectively and immediately identify those newborns with neurologic damage resulting from oxygen loss during…
Last week, I summarized a recent bench trial in a birth injury case. I find these bench trial decisions to be useful and informative. They provide a unique perspective on what facts and testimony really matter in a birth injury case. In a jury trial, you just get a verdict.…
This week I was reading through recent appellate decisions from birth injury cases across the country and I came across a unique written decision from the federal court in Chicago in Zhao v. United States 2019 WL 3956412 (S.D. Ill. 2019). This was a fairly typical birth injury case in…
Fetal macrosomia is a medical term that means fetal weight at birth is greater than 4000 grams (8 lbs. 13 oz). Compared to the size of other newborns of the same gestational age, this is considered excessive fetal growth. Your doctor will be concerned with the baby’s probable weight at…
Women experiencing typical pregnancies are not offered the option of inducing labor at 39 weeks. That might change. A recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) suggests that electively inducing labor 1 week before the due date decreases the risk of complications and leads to a safer…
A neonatal stroke (also called a perinatal stroke) is defined as an interruption of blood flow to an infant’s brain that occurs between 20 weeks gestation and first 28 days after the child is born. Neonatal strokes can be ischemic or hemorrhagic. Ischemic neonatal strokes are caused by some form…
In June 2018, a study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal which shows there has been an alarming increase in the rate of birth injuries resulting from forceps-assisted deliveries. This does not surprise me because our obstetrician experts have been telling us for years that the new generation…