You can prevent oxygen deprivation as a means of protecting a baby from sustaining brain injuries or other hypoxic injuries. The best way to do this is to ensure both mother and baby receive proper monitoring throughout the pregnancy, labor, and delivery. With adequate monitoring, the doctor should notice signs of a struggle and quickly address the issue or deliver the baby.
Since there is no cure for damage caused by the deprivation of oxygen, preventing it in the first place is crucial to avoiding serious birth injuries to the brain or other vital organs. By preventing oxygen deprivation or restoring the baby’s airway or blood flow as quickly as possible, if there is a complication, your child’s doctor can significantly reduce the occurrence of long-term injuries, delays, and disabilities.
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Preventing Oxygen Deprivation Requires Proper Observation During Prenatal Care
There are specific processes and protocols that doctors should follow when providing prenatal care to a mother and baby. This is known as the standard of care. Doctors must monitor both the mother’s overall health and the health of the pregnancy, addressing any concerns quickly and taking steps to prevent any increased risk of complications.
By monitoring the mother’s health, and the baby’s development during pregnancy, some risk factors for oxygen deprivation can be reduced or eliminated. This includes:
- Uncontrolled maternal blood pressure
- Maternal infections
- Other concerns related to low maternal oxygen levels
Close monitoring during pregnancy may also include early indications of a problem that could develop with the placenta or umbilical cord. However, there are not always early signs of placental abruption, umbilical compression, or other issues.
Sometimes, the doctor may identify risk factors for a difficult delivery, oxygen deprivation, or another dangerous complication. When this occurs, they may need to order a surgical delivery instead of moving forward with a vaginal delivery. In some cases, immediate delivery is the only way to reduce the risk of injury to the mother or baby.
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Monitoring Labor and Delivery Provides an Opportunity to Limit Damage from Oxygen Deprivation
In some instances, it is impossible to prevent oxygen deprivation from occurring. However, with close monitoring of the baby’s vital signs and the mother’s condition during labor and delivery, it may be possible to reduce the risk of injuries from oxygen deprivation that occurs just before, during, or immediately after delivery.
A significant change in vital signs for the mother or baby, such as an extremely high or low maternal blood pressure, may indicate a serious complication. If the doctor or another medical care provider can identify the concern and make the decision to deliver the baby immediately, it could prevent much of the damage caused by oxygen deprivation from occurring. Instead of the baby receiving low levels of oxygen and nutrients throughout labor and delivery, immediate delivery means they were only without a fully oxygenated blood supply for a shorter period.
When the doctor or another care provider fails to monitor the baby’s progress and the vital statistics of the mother or child, or when they disregard troubling signs during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, it may be an example of medical negligence. Your child could suffer preventable birth injuries.
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Recovering Damages for a Failure to Prevent Oxygen Deprivation
If your child experienced oxygen deprivation or suffered more severe injuries due to medical negligence, a birth injury lawyer in your state can help you. They may be able to gather evidence and establish that malpractice caused your child’s injuries. If they believe you have a valid case, they will represent your family based on contingency, meaning they will only get paid out of the settlement or court award received and never out of your pocket.
Your birth injury attorney can help you understand the merits of your case and how the malpractice laws in your state apply to your child and their injuries. They will obtain all relevant medical records and enlist a medical expert’s help to support your case and the value of your expenses and losses.
Your lawyer may be able to recover compensation for your family that includes current and future medical expenses, care costs, time away from work, related expenses, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and more.
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Discuss Your Possible Birth Injury Case with a Representative Today
You can receive help with your family’s birth injury case today. Contact the Birth Injury Lawyers Group for your free case evaluation to learn more about the legal options that may be available to you. Call (800) 222-9529 today to speak with a representative about your child’s injury, diagnosis, and care needs.
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