Common Birth Injuries

While everyone wishes for a smooth delivery, there are times that it doesn’t happen. And when that happens, both the mother and child are prone to injuries. A birth injury can arise due to complications or errors during delivery. What are the causes for common birth injuries and what are these injuries?

There are different reasons why birth injuries happen. It doesn’t take a genius to know that giving birth can be a painful and tedious process. At times, it is borderline brutal. There are different reasons why babies get injured during delivery. Here’s a list of the most common reasons.

1. Oversized babies- When the baby is too big, it can prove difficult for them to come out of the mother’s womb. For a baby to be considered large, it has to be over 4000 kilograms. The baby can make contact to the mother’s different body parts, resulting to various injuries.
2. Premature babies- Premature development can cause injuries in a variety of ways. First, the injuries can be genetically linked. Second, the injuries can come during delivery as the child’s body is not yet fully developed. It’s this lack of development that makes these babies more fragile than others.
3. Cephalopelvic disproportion- This condition is reflected by the mother’s pelvis being sized improperly. Because of this, giving birth conventionally can be difficult and can even cause injuries to the child.
4. Abnormal birthing- The baby should come out of the woman’s body head-first. During situations such as breech delivery (baby coming out butt-first), a baby can be prone to injuries when not done the right way.

Now that you know what causes birth injuries, here is a quick list of common birth injuries.

1. Cephalohematoma- This is reflected by the accumulation of blood in the baby’s head. Often reflected by a lump at the top of the head, severity and recovery time depends on how big the bleeding is.
2. Facial bruising- Just like cephalohematoma, this is mainly caused by the sheer impact of the baby coming out of the mother’s womb. But it can also be caused by the forceps used during delivery. Often times, this is nothing serious, and vanishes within days.
3. Fractures- Due to the sheer stress of birth, the baby can have broken bones while coming out of the mother’s body. The bones most commonly broken during delivery are the clavicle and the collarbone. It’s usually reflected by the baby having difficulty moving their arms.
4. Facial paralysis- This is caused by the facial nerve being injured. Like the other injuries, it’s either caused by the birth process itself or the wrong use of forceps. If it’s only a nerve bruise, normal facial movements can be restored within days. But if the nerve is torn or damaged, surgical procedure might be a necessity.
5. Brachial palsy- Among common birth injuries, this has the most potential of causing long-term problems. This is reflected by damage on the brachial plexus, a group of nerves responsible for moving the arms. If there’s no nerve damage, the child can heal itself within a short period. But if there’s nerve damage, the child can be permanently handicapped.