Child Suffers Permanent Brain Damage During Birth

Case Overview

This case takes place in Kentucky and involves a middle-aged mother who presented to the hospital while pregnant with her second child. At some point during her third trimester of pregnancy, the mother presented to the emergency room with complaints of headache, blurry vision, and dizziness. The patient was admitted to the hospital, at which point it was discovered that her blood pressure was extremely high. The patient was placed under observation, however she received minimal treatment and was not given any drugs to prophylactically treat pre-eclampsia. The patient was eventually induced. During labor she developed eclampsia, and suffered tonic/clonic seizures. As result, the infant was delivered vaginally with hypoxic brain injury.

Questions to the Neonatology expert and their responses

Do you routinely treat patients similar to the one described in the case?

I frequently care for late preterm (34-37 weeks gestation) infants and well as infants whose birth complication results in hypoxic brain injury. I am very familiar with the standard of care in delivery room resuscitation, the provision of neonatal and convalescent medical care, and expected medical and developmental outcomes for these infants.

Do you believe this patient may have had a better outcome if the care rendered had been different?

Depending on the course of events and how it was handled, the birth injury and poor outcome very likely could have been prevented.

About the expert

This double board certified expert has been practicing for over 20 years. He completed both his residency in Pediatrics and fellowship in Neonatology at the University of Cincinnati's Children's Hospital Medical Center, one of the top children's hospitals in the nation. Following his postgraduate training, he joined Pediatric and Neonatal Specialists of Louisville as a Physician, eventually becoming a Partner before moving on and serving as a Neonatologist, Pediatrician, and Partner at two other private practices. Currently, this expert is a Neonatologist at a major children's hospital.

E-007483

Specialties:

Neonatology