In obstetrical birth injury cases, we often have to explain to the jury the process of a normal labor and delivery and orient them to understand how things can go wrong. In a delivery, the placenta which is usually located up inside the uterus is the blood supply and oxygen supply for the baby through the umbilical cord. When the placenta doesn't function properly, which can occur in some pregnancies, the baby can't receive enough oxygen or blood and there can be injuries to the brain. Sometimes this occurs rather abruptly, such as when the placenta suddenly separates from the uterine wall before the baby is delivered or if the cord prolapses through the birth canal as the babies' head is coming down, it can get trapped against the head, kink and cut off the blood supply.
There are other situations where a birth injury can occur, such as when the umbilical cord gets wrapped around the babies' neck or another body part. When this happens, the cord can kink and cut off blood supply. When this occurs in a very short and severe fashion, there is a particular type of injury that can occur to the brain in the midbrain area, as opposed to the cerebral cortex. When an injury occurs to the midbrain, it affects the motor center and coordination, and these babies come out with a true form of cerebral palsy, where often the cerebral cortex is spared, so they are mentally and cognitively normal, but because of an injury to a particular part of the brain where nerve signals have to be coordinated to come down to the spinal cord, they can have a fairly severe form of cerebral palsy.
In a medical malpractice case, we have to relate all this back to the process of labor and delivery to show how the doctors actions or inactions, or the nurses inattention to the fetal monitor strip, which displays the babies heartbeat during labor, demonstrates that negligence caused the injury to the babies brain.
There are other situations where a birth injury can occur, such as when the umbilical cord gets wrapped around the babies' neck or another body part. When this happens, the cord can kink and cut off blood supply. When this occurs in a very short and severe fashion, there is a particular type of injury that can occur to the brain in the midbrain area, as opposed to the cerebral cortex. When an injury occurs to the midbrain, it affects the motor center and coordination, and these babies come out with a true form of cerebral palsy, where often the cerebral cortex is spared, so they are mentally and cognitively normal, but because of an injury to a particular part of the brain where nerve signals have to be coordinated to come down to the spinal cord, they can have a fairly severe form of cerebral palsy.
In a medical malpractice case, we have to relate all this back to the process of labor and delivery to show how the doctors actions or inactions, or the nurses inattention to the fetal monitor strip, which displays the babies heartbeat during labor, demonstrates that negligence caused the injury to the babies brain.
