Medical malpractice leads to birth injuries far too often in New Mexico. In many cases, a birth injury can be caused by non-treatment-related factors, such as an accident, poor diet, drug use, alcohol use, smoking, or just by random chance. However, the very serious birth complication known as hypoxia can be caused by either medical malpractice or non-doctor-related factors. If your baby suffered a birth injury due to hypoxia, you may want to determine if your doctor and/or the medical staff were at fault.
Hypoxia happens when a developing fetus or a baby that is in the process of being born does not receive enough oxygen. Hypoxia can happen before delivery, during delivery, or after delivery. If left untreated, it can result in a permanent birth disorder. Some of the most common medical conditions caused by hypoxia include cognitive problems, cerebral palsy, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
It is important to remember that if hypoxia is discovered and treated early enough, it does not have to result in a disability. Therefore, it is vital that doctors be on the constant lookout for the different indicators that a baby will be at risk for hypoxia. Those indicators include umbilical cord injuries, placental insufficiency, congenital heart disease, and placental abruption. Other conditions that could result in hypoxia include cardiovascular collapse, umbilical cord prolapse, shoulder dystocia, and blood vessel abnormalities in the brain.
New Mexico mothers whose babies had hypoxia and are currently suffering from related birth injuries may have valid claims relating to medical malpractice. Such claims would likely be filed against the doctors, medical staff, and hospitals that provided care during their pregnancies. Financial restitution that is typically pursued in birth injury cases includes compensation for medical care, pain, and suffering, in-home medical services caused by disabilities, and a wide variety of other damages.
Source: Findlaw, “Birth Injury: Hypoxia“, Accessed on April 7, 2015
