Labor Induction Problems With Pitocin or Oxytocin
It’s not unusual for a doctor to choose to induce labor in a mother using pictocin, a synthetic hormone.
There are several often very good reasons to induce labor. But recent research shows that it can also be very dangerous for the baby. In fact, if a medical team is the least bit inattentive while inducing labor, it can lead to serious birth trauma or a reduction of oxygen to the newborn resulting in brain damage and cerebral palsy.
Here’s what happens. The medical team administers pictocin (or Oxycotin) to stimulate contractions to encourage the spontaneous onset of labor with the goal of a safe vaginal delivery of the baby. However, too much stimulation can create a hyperstimulation of the mother’s uterus. The uterine muscles contract too frequently or don’t relax between contractions which can result in a decrease of oxygenated blood from the mother’s placenta to the baby.
Lack of oxygen is one of the most common causes of natal brain damage and cerebral palsy. This lack of oxygen will show up on the fetal heart monitor records.
If your baby has missed some of the standard developmental benchmarks and your doctor induced labor using pictocin or oxycotin, it is possible she suffered a birth trauma.
An experienced birth trauma attorney can help you determine what happened, then help find the financial resources you need for your child to have a good quality of life.
Cappolino Dodd Krebs, LLP, with offices in Austin, Texas, has worked for more than 25 years to help families find the resources they need to deal with cerebral palsy and other birth traumas.
The Risk of Cerebral Palsy Can Increase with Premature Birth
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that premature babies are at a higher risk for server disabilities, such as cerebral palsy. These disabilities can affect the physical, mental and social aspects of a child’s development, causing them life-long pain and suffering. It is just as important for pregnant women to be aware of the risks associated with premature birth and it is for a physician to monitor a pregnancy for signs of a premature birth.
Careful monitoring of a pregnancy can help to identify the warning signs of a premature birth. Once the warning signs are identified, it is the job of the attending physician to take the appropriate actions in order to help prevent potential birth injuries.
It is the responsibility of the medical staff to provide a reasonable level of care to both mother and child during a birth. This means that they are responsible for making sure that a delivery is conducted safely. If a mother, or child, shows signs of complications, such as a premature birth, it is the responsibility of the attending staff to take the appropriate actions to prevent birth injuries that could result in serous consequences like cerebral palsy.
The recently published study was conducted in Norway. The researchers studied children born in Norway between 1999 and 2000. The following results were reported regarding the children studied:
• Children born between 28 and 30 weeks: 6 percent developed cerebral palsy
• Children born between 23 and 27 weeks: 9 percent developed cerebral palsy
This study did show that 80 percent of children born between 23 and 27 weeks did survive past 5 years, which is an increase from recent years. In spite of the higher survival rates, the rates of cerebral palsy have not changed.
In addition to a higher risk for cerebral palsy, the study indicated that premature birth will also leave a child at risk for the following:
• Psychological developmental disorders
• Behavior disorders
• Emotional disorders
• Severe vision impairment
• Severe hearing impairment
• Epilepsy
The study indicated that the risks for developmental disorders, including cerebral palsy were increased in moderately preterm infants.
Magnesium Sulfate During Premature Labor May Decrease Risk of Cerebral Palsy
Over ten percent of pregnant women deliver their babies before they have reached a full term, forty-week pregnancy. Premature infants, who are delivered before 37 weeks, are at a higher risk for birth injuries, such as cerebral palsy, which is caused from damage to the brain.
About one-third of children with cerebral palsy were premature babies.
Cerebral palsy is a devastating movement disorder. It is characterized by limitations in intelligence, difficulties with hearing, impaired vision, impaired speaking, seizures, behavioral problems and learning disorders.
In cases of cerebral palsy, damage occurs to the cerebrum, which is the area of the brain that is in control of motor skills, sensory functions and cognition. Injury can occur either during birth, or after. Damage to the cerebrum is often a result of lack of oxygen, commonly due to problems with the umbilical cord, uterine rupture or eclampsia.
The prescription of magnesium sulfate, or Epsom salt, has often been used to treat pregnant women who develop seizures while carrying their baby. Research has long indicated that Epsom salt may also help prevent cerebral palsy, if administered during premature labor. A brain injury lawyer confirms this.
Despite the indications, there was no established data, until recently. Results delivered at a medical meeting on February 1st presented a randomized controlled trial of 2,241 women.
A randomized clinical trial was made of 2,241 pregnant participants who went into premature labor, which means that their water broke between the 24th and 31st weeks of pregnancy.
Half of the 2,241 participants were given an intravenous dose of magnesium sulfate during premature labor, the other half were given a placebo. Two years after the birth, the researchers had the children tested for cerebral palsy.
The results indicate that women who receive a dose of magnesium sulfate during premature labor are fifty percent less likely to deliver a child with cerebral palsy. About 3.5% percent of the women who were given the placebo had children with mild to sever cerebral palsy. This is in comparison to the 1.9% of women who received the intravenous dose of Epsom salt.
No serious side effects of magnesium sulfate were reported during the study, although a small percentage of women do have severe reactions to the drug.
Further research needs to be conducted to discover why Epsom salt is able to prevent cerebral palsy.
Every year, out of 100 children, 2 or 3 are diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Many of these children may develop cerebral palsy from birth injuries as a result of doctor or hospital negligence. A brain injury attorney is working on such cases. A cerebral palsy lawyer will give you more information.
Cerebral Palsy
Imagine being asleep on a Saturday, and you awake to your 125 lb teenager’s, with severe cerebral palsy, call of, “Mom or Dad, I have to go to the bathroom.” Because, due to cerebral palsy your child needs your assistance to go to the restroom. Your child has a wheel chair, your house has a wheel chair ramp, and your van has a wheel chair lift.
Further, all of the ceiling fans and lights in your home may have hang down pulls so that your child can turn things off and on without your help. When your child goes to school, your child may require a tutor or aid to help transcribe for your child.
Maybe you are thinking that you can handle your child now, because your child is still very young. However, what happens when your child turns 18 years old, and you turn 50, 60, and etc.? How will your child’s special needs be met when you are not around?
And perhaps, at this point you may be thinking it is your fault that your child has cerebral palsy, or that it’s just one of those things that happens, but what if it’s not…?
Let us help you investigate what happened to your child. You and your child deserve to know the truth about what happened at birth, it’s your right. Contact a birth trauma lawyer to get the quality help you need in this hard time.
Some physicians and physician groups, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) assert that asphyxia rarely causes Cerebral Palsy, but worldwide studies and animal data show otherwise. Interestingly enough, you can be certain of one thing, no matter what happened during labor and delivery, the doctor and hospital will claim that the events leading to your child’s cerebral palsy could not have been prevented, how convenient for them. Make the call, if only for peace of mind. Call 1800-460-0606 today and contact a Cerebral Palsy lawyer for help. Unfortunately, time is of the essence to pursuing your legal rights under the law. If you feel that you are in need of help a birth injury lawyer can help.