Category Archives: Birth Trauma
Hypothermia Used to Prevent Newborn Brain Damage
New studies show that inducing hypothermia, or cooling patients down with a cold blanket, eases damaging effects resulting from emergencies including oxygen loss. In particular, advanced neonatal intensive care units are using hypothermia to treat newborns experiencing restricted blood flow during delivery. According to the Los Angeles Times, restricted blood flow causes oxygen deprivation, and newborns who experience this oxygen deprivation may suffer brain damage and cerebral palsy. In a 2005 study, doctors cooled 102 infants and compared them to 106 babies kept warm after experiencing potential brain damage. Fifty-six percent of infants who were cooled survived with little or no disability compared to 38 percent of infants kept warm. Amanda Reynolds gave birth to Avery in 2010, blue from a lack of oxygen. Doctors wrapped the infant in a cold blanket to induce hypothermia. She spent more than six weeks in the hospital, but now she is developmentally on…
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Posted in Birth Trauma, Brain Damage, Cerebral Palsy Tagged birth trauma lawyer, cerebral palsy, hypothermia, oxygen deprivation Comments Off on Hypothermia Used to Prevent Newborn Brain Damage
Massachusetts Midwife Settles Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit
Jeanne Browne, a midwife from Concord, Massachusetts, settled a $730,000 lawsuit with a family whose child suffered a severe brain injury during a birth that Browne supervised. According to the Concord Monitor, Sarah and Jonathan Sadowski’s daughter remained in the hospital for 21 days following her birth in January 2009, and she now has cerebral palsy. Browne surrendered her license after her investigation by the state Midwifery Council last June. Several hospitals in the area filed complaints about Browne’s failure to consult with obstetricians about high-risk pregnancies, though Browne stated that she stood by her decisions. The Sadowskis also stated that Browne did not manage their pregnancy appropriately, since Sarah Sadowski had several risk factors and the midwife did not refer her to an obstetrician. In addition, Browne did not send Sadowski to the hospital when she could not find the baby’s heartbeat during labor or after the baby’s birth….
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Posted in Birth Trauma, Cerebral Palsy Tagged cerebral palsy, cerebral palsy lawyer, high risk pregnancies Comments Off on Massachusetts Midwife Settles Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit
New Simulators Train Doctors to Prevent Birth Injuries
Everyone knows that in order to become skilled at a task, you must learn through experience. That is exactly what Noelle, an anatomically correct rubber model of a pregnant woman’s body embedded with computer chips, is doing for the obstetricians learning at Jacobi Hospital’s Institute for Medial Simulation and Advanced Learning. For obstetricians who want to prevent birth injuries from occurring during actual labor situations, this pregnant simulator with a simulated baby creates shoulder dystocia situations, oxygen problems, and other potential labor complications. According to International Business Times, some medical situations are rare in real-life settings, so that doctors may not have the opportunity to teach a resident in training. In addition, this on-the-job training often involves more descriptions of what the teacher is doing, rather than allowing the student to accomplish the task. The training classes that go along with the simulations at Jacobi Hospital also allow the doctors…
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Posted in Birth Trauma, Pregnancy, Shoulder Dystocia Tagged birth injuries, brain injuries, labor complications, Shoulder Dystocia Comments Off on New Simulators Train Doctors to Prevent Birth Injuries
