How long can a baby go without oxygen in the womb?

Having a baby is supposed to be one of the happiest moments in a parent’s life. Any delivery can be painful, scary, and even traumatic, which is why your doctor is responsible for taking care of your health and your baby’s health during this time.

Unfortunately, not every birth goes according to plan, and complications may arise, leading to serious injuries to you or your child. A lack of oxygen to your baby during birth can cause serious brain damage that carries life-long consequences.

Exactly how long it takes for brain damage to set in due to a lack of oxygen will vary from infant to infant. Generally, brain damage becomes possible after only 3 to 5 minutes without breathing.

After 10 minutes, an infant may suffer serious brain damage. Any longer and there is a significant risk of death due to the lack of oxygen.

While each case is different, brain damage is a possibility after only a few minutes without oxygen.
If your baby was born with brain damage from not breathing, you should immediately call our Baltimore birth injury attorneys.

While some cases result from prenatal or delivery conditions outside anyone’s control, other cases are caused by the negligence of medical professionals. Call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 for a free, confidential legal consultation.

Brain Damage in Infants from Not Breathing

Delivering a baby is a complex medical procedure that requires the skills and knowledge of a medical professional. Many complications could occur during pregnancy or birth that a parent would be unable to spot.

Your physician is there to make sure everything goes smoothly and your baby is healthy. When there is a lack of oxygen, known as birth asphyxia, the baby may suffer damage to the brain.

The extent of brain damage depends on a variety of factors. the level of oxygen deprivation will certainly play a role. For example, in some cases, oxygen is completely cut off.

This is referred to as anoxia and can cause brain damage rather quickly, perhaps in only a few minutes. Hypoxia is when the flow of oxygen to the baby is reduced but not totally cut off. This type of oxygen deprivation is also very dangerous but may cause brain damage over a longer period of time.

How long a baby cannot breathe before brain damage sets in will depend on the level of oxygen deprivation and other factors surrounding your baby’s conditions.

If your doctor quickly spots the oxygen deprivation and treatment occurs quickly, brain damage could be avoided or minimized.

However, medical negligence could lead to life-long brain damage and disability for your child. Possible outcomes include cerebral palsy, a birth injury commonly associated with an infant’s inability to breathe during birth.

Cerebral palsy often presents serious, long-term complications that leave an infant with permanent disabilities.
Our Baltimore brain injury attorneys for brain damage in infants can help you get the compensation you and your child deserve after suffering at the hands of a negligent medical professional.

Call our offices to discuss your case with our skilled and experienced legal team.

Medical Negligence and Brain Damage in Infants Caused by Suffocation

Safe birth and a healthy baby are not always guaranteed. Anyone who has had a baby can tell you that a doctor is necessary to take care of the mother and child’s health throughout the pregnancy and during the birth. When medical professionals make mistakes and behave negligently, children can get hurt.

The causes of asphyxiation in infants are not always clear. In some cases, the cause is physical trauma. In others, the cause may be due to something unseen, like a mother’s health condition that makes delivery dangerous. In any case, your physician should be monitoring your health and any trauma hazards.

If a doctor fails to identify a potential trauma factor and your baby suffers from brain damage caused by asphyxiation, you may be able to file a lawsuit and claim damages. Even if your doctor did not directly cause the trauma or brain damage, they might be responsible for failing to prevent it.

Contact our Baltimore childbirth injury lawyers for a legal consultation about your case and the circumstances surrounding your child’s injuries. If your infant was unable to breathe during delivery, they could suffer serious brain damage.

Filing a Lawsuit for Infant Brain Damage from Not Breathing

Filing a lawsuit for brain damage suffered due to asphyxiation or a traumatic birth is a complicated process that requires the assistance of skilled attorneys. Our attorneys for brain damage in infants will stand by your side and guide you through this process during this difficult time.

Your lawsuit is likely to be one of medical malpractice. Medical malpractice lawsuits are meant to hold negligent medical professionals responsible for the harm suffered by their patients due to their behavior.

However, doctors are not usually held liable if their actions were based on what they thought was the best course of action at the time. The fact that your physicians made the wrong decision does not mean their decision resulted from negligence.

However, if you believe your doctor made a mistake that they reasonably should have known to avoid, they may have been negligent and should be held responsible for your infant’s injuries.

Doctors should be able to identify serious birth complications like when an infant is not breathing. If your child was unable to breathe and suffered brain damage as a result, your doctor might have been negligent.

When filing a lawsuit for your newborn’s brain damage, we will need medical evidence to support your claims. This often means visiting several other doctors who will examine your child and determine the cause of their condition.

We will need the supporting testimony of medical experts to identify the cause of your baby’s brain damage and offer expert opinions as to how it was caused. Call our birth injury lawyers for help.

Call Our Attorneys for Birth Injuries from Obstructed Breathing for Help

If your child was born with brain damage, you might be facing life-long disabilities and expensive treatments. Our birth injury attorneys can help you claim the compensation you need to take care of your child. Call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 for a free legal consultation.

We all need oxygen in full and constant supply to keep our brains, hearts, and internal organs functioning well.

Even in the womb, unborn babies — who can’t breathe in open air — require an adequate supply of oxygen in order to thrive.

As adults, any interruption to our oxygen supply becomes readily apparent. But how can you tell if your baby is suddenly suffering from a lack of oxygen in the womb?

Birth asphyxia refers to the inadequate flow of oxygen-rich blood to an unborn baby’s brain. It can be extremely serious, and in some cases may even be deadly.

Newborns who survive asphyxia during pregnancy, labor, or delivery are still at higher risk of developmental delays, as well as other long-term health complications.

Causes of Oxygen Deprivation at Birth

A number of factors can contribute to a deprivation of oxygen at birth. These include:

• • Prolapsed umbilical cord (or other problems with the umbilical cord)
• • Abnormal maternal blood pressure (whether high or low)
• • Eclampsia / Preeclampsia
• • A blockage in the baby’s airway
• • Shoulder dystocia
• • Placental abruption or other problems with the placenta
• • In-utero trauma
• • Inadequate oxygen in the mother’s blood
• • Improper medication of the mother
• • Infections
• • Complications during delivery / a difficult or prolonged delivery

While some cases of birth asphyxia are unavoidable, many can be prevented through diligent and attentive medical care.

Unfortunately, when doctors, nurses, or midwives make mistakes — or fail to monitor their patients comprehensively — oxygen deprivation becomes more likely.

Long-Term Effects of Birth Asphyxia on the Child

A lack of oxygen during birth is associated with several serious medical conditions, many of which may be permanent. These include:

• • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• • Autism
• • Behavioral problems
• • Cerebral palsy
• • Delayed development
• • Intellectual disabilities
• • Permanent organ damage (brain, heart, lungs, etc.)
• • Seizures
• • Vision impairment

Indeed, cerebral palsy is one of the biggest concerns in any case of birth asphyxia. Children diagnosed with cerebral palsy may face physical, emotional, social, and financial challenges for the rest of their life. That’s why medical teams should take great care to avoid the long-term effects of oxygen deprivation before it happens.

Even a brief or mild lack of oxygen can result in developmental delays or life-long complications.

Lack of Oxygen at Birth: Signs and Symptoms to Look For

There are several warning signs of birth asphyxia that may become apparent at birth. These include:

• • Weak or abnormal breathing (or absence of breathing)
• • Abnormal skin color (pale, blue, or gray)
• • Low heart rate
• • Weak reflexes
• • Poor muscle tone
• • Acidosis (excess acid in the blood)
• • Stool (meconium) in the amniotic fluid
• • Seizures
• • Problems with blood clotting
• • Urinary problems (e.g. baby does not urinate)
• • Lethargy (infant fatigue)
• • Signs of inadequate blood circulation

Just as importantly, doctors and health care providers should monitor mothers and their unborn babies throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery to screen for common health issues that make a lack of oxygen at birth more likely.

Skilled monitoring and expert treatment are critical to avoiding developmental delays.

Birth Asphyxia: Monitoring, Prevention, and Treatment

Physicians, midwives, and many nurses receive special training in the dangers of birth asphyxia. They are expected to know the potential causes and should take steps to avoid them. This includes closely monitoring both mother and child for any abnormalities — before, during, and after delivery.

Treatment might include blood pressure medication, body cooling, breathing tubes, machine-assisted breathing, dialysis, seizure-suppressing drugs, heart pumps, and more.

Of course, the best treatment is prevention. Failure to prevent, diagnose, or treat birth asphyxia may constitute medical malpractice in Maryland and in Washington, D.C.

Talk to an Experienced Maryland Birth Injury Lawyer Today

You and your child deserve the very best medical care. Your doctor and midwife should be diligent, well trained, and highly responsive. There is simply no excuse for an oxygen-related birth injury caused that is caused or made worse by preventable medical negligence.

If you or your child has suffered and you believe a health care provider’s carelessness might be to blame, please contact D’Amore Personal Injury Law right away. Our experienced Maryland birth injury lawyers are here and ready to fight for you.

Call 410-324-2000 or contact us online to get started with a free consultation today.