Is cerebral palsy caused by lack of oxygen at birth?

Many parents who discover that their child has early signs of cerebral palsy will want information about how this happened, such as a lack of oxygen, and whether it could have been prevented in the labor and delivery room.

Sadly, far too many cases of this serious medical condition have been connected to a birth injury due to medical malpractice.

What is cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy is a medical condition that impairs movement, motor skills, and muscle tone.

This medical concern can also affect breathing, bowel control, eating, and talking, according to Kids Health.

What causes cerebral palsy?

Infant brain damage before or during the baby’s birth is the leading cause of cerebral palsy. However, brain damage can also happen during the first five years of the child’s life.

Brain damage looks differently depending on the individual, but it can lead to other complications like difficulties with learning, sight, and hearing. Oxygen deprivation can be one cause of infant brain damage.

What causes oxygen deprivation?

When the brain lacks oxygen, the sensitive brain cells can start to die as waste byproducts from these cells build up and cause damage. Certain brain cells can start to die within five minutes of no oxygen. If a lack of oxygen is allowed to continue long term, this can lead to severe brain damage and even death.

This is especially important when it comes to childbirth. Newborns are extremely sensitive and their brain and major organs are still in development. The loss of oxygen before or during birth is also known as birth asphyxia. This is a condition in which the brain does not get enough or any oxygen at all.

Birth asphyxia can be caused by a number of issues which may include, among others:

• A blockage of the baby’s airway
• Problems with the umbilical cord during delivery (wrapping around the baby’s neck, etc.)
• A long or difficult delivery process (breach, etc.)
• Placenta issues where the placenta detaches from the uterus too quickly – leading to a lack of oxygen
• High or low blood pressure in the mother
• Anemia in the child
• Serious infections
• Too little oxygen in the blood of the mother during the birthing

Although some cases of birth asphyxia are unavoidable, others may be a case of malpractice. When doctors do not respond quickly enough to a baby exhibiting issues like lack of oxygen at birth, the doctor may be to blame. If the oxygen deprivation was preventable, this could lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by the parents on behalf of the new infant.

Can birth asphyxia lead to cerebral palsy?

Newborns may recover from a lack of oxygen during the birthing process if the issue is quickly resolved. However, long-term oxygen deprivation may lead to serious consequences in a child’s brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, bowels, and other major organs. It may also cause cerebral palsy through brain damage.

What are the risk factors for cerebral palsy?

There are some factors before or during birth that should alert doctors and medical professionals to the possibility of heightened cerebral palsy risk.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these include low birth weight, premature birth, multiple births, use of assistive reproductive technology, and infections during pregnancy.

Since injuries can also occur after the baby is brought home from the hospital, it’s important for parents to always use the right size car seat and to encourage the wearing of helmets or other protective gear when the young child is involved in sports or activities.

When is cerebral palsy caused by medical malpractice?

Doctors or other medical care professionals are not always to blame for the onset of cerebral palsy. However, when the parents can show that the doctor involved deviated from the standard of care that would have otherwise been provided by another physician, this information can form the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Some of the most common claims arguing these points have to do with when the mother showed high-risk factors and the doctors did not take additional precautions to reduce this risk.

Medical malpractice claims may result in significant settlements. In June 2022, a Hawaii couple recovered $38 million from an army medical center that allegedly caused failed to initiate a C-section – resulting in their newborn’s permanent brain damage due to lack of oxygen during birth.

The long-term complications associated with CP, in addition to the costs of this condition, will last for the life of the child. If the doctor was negligent and this led to cerebral palsy, parents may want to enlist the help of an experienced birth injury lawyer to learn more about their rights.

If you believe your child has cerebral palsy because of a preventable birth injury, fill out the form on this page for a free case evaluation by an experienced birth injury attorney.