Caput Succedaneum – a Common Birth Injury

Caput Succedaneum is one of the most common birth injuries that can happen as a result of pregnancy complications, labor and delivery. Caput Succedaneum (sometimes referred as just caput) is a scalp hemorrhage that occurs to a fetus during a head first delivery, and can result in bruising and moulding of the infant scalp.

Signs and Symptoms of Caput Succedaneum

Caput Succedaneum is diagnosed through physical examination of the newborn’s head, so no additional medical testing is required. Common indications of this type of birth injury may include the following:

• Puffy, soft swelling of the scalp

• Swelling that extends over the midline of the scalp area

• Bruising or hemorrhaging of the swelling over the infant scalp, caused by bleeding in the area

• Increased moulding of the infant head due to pressure from the delivery process

Swelling generally occurs in the portion of the head that initially pushes through the vaginal wall during delivery, but can occur on any portion of the scalp. Jaundice is a complication of caput succedaneum that can occur as a result of bruising breaking down on the scalp.

Causes of Caput Succedaneum

Caput Succedaneum is commonly caused by pressure from the vaginal wall or uterus during labor. This birth injury is more likely to occur during difficult or prolonged deliveries, and is more common during deliveries that include vacuum extraction, a technique that is used by a doctor to help a fetus move through the birth canal. Caput Succedaneum can more rarely occur before childbirth as the result of a premature rupture of membranes in the uterus, but Caput Succedaneum is most common as a birth injury during the labor and delivery process.

Treatment of Caput Succedaneum

Caput Succedaneum does not generally cause complications to the infant, and typically resolves itself over the course of a few days. This type of birth injury does not usually require any type of medical treatment. If the contour of the infant scalp has changed as a result of caput succedaneum, a normal contour will be regained through the healing process.

As with any birth injury, complications can arise. For instance, jaundice can result from the scalp hemorrhage. Parents and medical providers should be alert to any complications and be aware of the infant healing process.

Prevention of Caput Succedaneum

Caput succedaneum is often unavoidable during the delivery process, but thorough prenatal care and careful, competent management of the labor and delivery process can reduce the chances of this birth injury.

Contact a birth injury attorney if you feel that an instance of caput succedaneum is the result of medical malpractice or have any questions about a birth injury claim or birth injury lawsuit related to caput succedaneum.

(Article from Birth Injury and Medical Malpractice Legal View)

Bed Rest – What Expecting Mothers Should Know

The majority of expectant mothers get through their pregnancies without any need for bed rest. However, in about one in five American pregnancies, a doctor may prescribe partial or complete bed rest, meaning you should spend part or all of the day lying down, for the sake of your health or the health of you infant. In rare cases, the doctor may prescribe bed rest in a hospital, or suggest that you use a bedpan rather than get up to use the bathroom. It is important to find out exactly what level of activity your doctor thinks you should get, it may be more – or less – than you think.

Complications Lead to Bed Rest

Pregnancy complications that may lead to a bed rest prescription include:

• Preterm labor or early contractions.

• Hypertension (high blood pressure) and preeclampsia.

• Incompetent cervix, also known as cervical inefficiency.

• Placental abruption.

Why Bed Rest?

Bed rest is thought by doctors to help stave off premature labor, ease high blood pressure and swelling and avoid miscarriage. Not much well-designed research has been done on bed rest, but what research there is has not found any benefits to the baby. However, some studies have found that bed rest found mothers at increased risk for blood clots and decreases their cardiopulmonary fitness. Nonetheless, many women with high-risk pregnancies prefer to follow their doctor’s bed rest orders in order to be sure they are doing everything they can to avoid a miscarriage or birth injury.

Avoiding Bed Rest Complications

To avoid complications from bed rest, it is important to make sure you drink lots of fluids and eat lots of fiber to help prevent constipation. Doctors also recommend having six to eight small meals a day rather than three larger ones, to help you feel full and avoid heartburn, a common but minor pregnancy complication. Ask your doctor whether gentle exercise, to keep up your fitness and strength levels, is appropriate for you. Women who have been prescribed extended bed rest may be prescribed an anticoagulant medication such as heparin. And of course, it is important to continue going to your prenatal care appointments and keep taking any medications or vitamins that you have been prescribed.

How to Survive Bed Rest

Bed rest is a radical lifestyle change and a major inconvenience for pregnant women and their families and employers. Mothers who must take to their beds need logistical, emotional and sometimes financial support. If you work outside the home, talk to your employer or clients about which duties you can still perform from bed. Some employers may allow you to telecommute right up until your due date. For household chores like shopping, cleaning and cooking, ask family (including other children) and friends to help. Make a list and divide chores so that everyone knows what needs to be done. And if you have to go to the hospital, make your hospital room your temporary home by bringing your own clothes, bedding, decorations and entertainment.

If you or your infant have suffered pregnancy complications, miscarriage or birth injury, you may have a medical malpractice or medical negligence case. If you think you might want to file a birth injury or medical malpractice lawyer, you can try to contact Illinois personal injury lawyer as a qualified birth injury lawyer, who can help you decide whether you should file a lawsuit.

(Article from Birth Injury and Medical Malpractice Legal View)

Birth Injury: An Overview

Birth injury, or birth trauma, refers to any damage an infant sustains during the birthing process due to forces like compression or traction, or factors that restrict blood flow or oxygen intake. Fortunately, advances in technology and medical practices have greatly diminished the occurrence of birth injuries over time. In the U.S., there are an average of six to eight significant birth injuries per 1,000 live births, and these injuries contribute to fewer than two percent of neonatal deaths and stillbirths.

Injury is typically sustained during transit through the birth canal. The likelihood of injury increases when the birth canal is too small, or the fetus is too large (which can occur when the mother is diabetic) or is not ideally positioned before birth, such as with breech (buttocks first) delivery. Often, a cesarean birth is used to avoid complications from these factors, but cesarean sections carry risks, as well.

Prematurity can be problematic, as babies born before 37 weeks of gestation have more fragile bodies that are more easily injured. Prolonged labor can also be a factor.

Minor swelling or bruising of a newborn in some areas after vaginal birth is relatively common. This type of injury does not require treatment and heals on its own. Forceps can leave temporary marks or bruises on the face and head. More pronounced swelling of the soft scalp tissues is known as caput succedaneum. Babies delivered by vacuum extraction are more likely to have this condition, along with bruising and, sometimes, a scalp laceration, and the swelling usually disappears in a few days.

One or both of the eyes may have a bright red band around the iris due to subconjunctival hemorrhage, the breakage of small blood vessels in the eyes of a baby. This is very common and does not cause damage to the eyes. The redness is usually absorbed in a week to ten days.

Other categories of birth injuries include :

Head Injury

In normal births, the head comes through the birth canal firs and is subjected to much of the pressure of delivery. Swelling and bruising are not typically serious, and heal within a few days. With chepalohematoma, a soft lump caused by pooled blood forms over the surface of one of the skull plates, but below the thick, fibrous covering. It does not need treatment, and heals in weeks or months. Jaundice may occur if the area of injury is larger than, from the breakdown of the red blood cells as the injury heals. Rarely, a skull bone may fracture, but unless it forms an indentation, it needs no treatment and heals quickly.

Nerve Injury

Pressure to facial nerve can create weakness in the muscles of one side of the face, but recovery without treatment takes just weeks. Nerves to one or both arms can be injured, producing brachial palsy, or weakness or paralysis of the arm or hand. The nerve to the diaphragm can be injured, leading to difficulty breathing. Both types of injuries heal within weeks without treatment, but surgery may be needed to repair any torn nerves. Spinal cord injuries are very rare, but produce paralysis below the injury that is often permanent.

Bone Injury

In rare cases, bones may be broken or fractured during delivery, most commonly the collarbone. Healing is almost always rapid and complete.

Brain Injury

Permanent brain injury that occurs before, during or shortly after birth is known as cerebral palsy. It is caused by an interruption of normal blood flow (ischemia) and/or oxygen flow (hypoxia or asphyxia) before or during labor, around the time of birth, or during the first hours or days after delivery. It is characterized by a lack of muscle control and movement, and symptoms can include seizures, spasms, visual and hearing problems, hyperactivity, and learning disorders.

Factors that can contribute to developing cerebral palsy include :
- Diabetes,
- pregnancy induced hypertension,
- preeclampsia,
- preterm labor,
- chorioamnionitis,
- maternal infection,
- group B strep infection,
- placenta previa, and
- vasa previa.

There is no cure, but therapies are available for treatment.

Perinatal strokes occurs between the 28th week of gestation and the first month of life. It is likely related to the activation of coagulation agents during this time. The rate of stroke in infants is equal to that of the elderly, according to a University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study – one in 5,000. This can lead to long-term neurological problems, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, language problems and hyperactivity.

If your child suffered from a birth injury due to medical malpractice or negligence, you may be eligible for compensation. Contact can experienced birth injury lawyer to determine whether you wish to file a medical malpractice lawyer.


(Article from Birth Injury and Medical Malpractice Legal View)