Birth injuries are a growing concern for mothers in Salt Lake City. These injuries take many forms, but commonly observed are birth injuries to the brain, cranium, and spinal cord. It is essential to consult Salt Lake City Personal Injury Lawyers if your child sustains one of these injuries.
Birth injuries are becoming more and more common as medical technology advances. New obstetrics practices and equipment, coupled with the growing knowledge of how the human body works, have not succeeded in reducing the number of birth injuries occurring.
We will now see into the most common types of birth injuries reported in Salt Lake City.
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Brachial palsy
Brachial palsy is a spinal cord injury. New medical technologies such as ultrasound, electrocardiography, and the use of large forceps have helped to reduce the incidence of brachial palsy in modern childbirth, but it still occurs during normal childbirth. The majority of these injuries are traumatic.
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Bruising or forceps marks
This is a form of physical injury that occurs in childbirth. The distinguishing features are bruises around the head and the thighs and forceps marks on the head or the chin. These marks are usually circular in shape and are caused by the way in which forceps are applied to the child’s head or midsection to assist their delivery.
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Cephalhematoma
This birth injury is commonly caused by trauma during delivery. It is most commonly found in children born by cesarean section as a result of the doctor delivering the child with a sharp cut that lacerates and damages the capillaries near the skull. The capillaries then bleed into the skull but they do not pass through it.
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Caput succedaneum
This is a term to describe the discoloration, swelling, and bruising of the scalp in a newborn during delivery. Caput succedaneum usually regresses but may leave a mark that resembles measles.
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Facial paralysis
This injury occurs during delivery by removing the placenta or during other obstetric-related procedures. It is rarely congenital and has been observed to occur in less than 1% of births. Facial paralysis is most commonly caused by an interruption of the facial nerve when it passes near the external ear canal.
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Subconjunctival hemorrhage
A subconjunctival hemorrhage is bleeding between the sclera (white of the eye) and the conjunctiva (the clear membrane which covers the front of the eye). It occurs in less than 1% of all births.
