If you are expecting to welcome a new baby into your family in the coming months, you probably have some concerns about both your delivery and the health of your new child. Fortunately, birth-related injuries to mothers and babies are comparatively rare in New Mexico and across the country.
Birth injuries still happen, though. Brain damage, which is a common one, often occurs when there is an interruption in either oxygen or blood supply during delivery. If your new baby shows signs of blood or oxygen deprivation, a cutting-edge treatment may minimize the damage to his or her brain.
A controlled drop in body temperature
Doctors should perform some neurological tests immediately after your child’s birth. If these tests indicate possible brain damage, lowering your baby’s body temperature may help.
According to reporting from WAFB-9 in Baton Rouge, doctors were able to stop newborn brain damage from worsening recently. To do so, they used a state-of-the-art process to lower a child’s body temperature and return it to normal over a 72-hour period.
While the procedure did not reverse brain damage, it stopped cells from dying by controlling swelling. This, in turn, prevented the child from having many long-term neurological complications.
A responsible delivery
Even though the cooling procedure shows promise for newborns who have possible brain damage, doctors should take steps to prevent babies from losing oxygen and blood supply in the first place. Monitoring the child’s heart rate, performing prenatal tests and carefully administering anesthesia are typically advisable.
It is not yet clear whether the cooling process will become standard in delivery rooms across the country. Ultimately, if your newborn sustains irreversible brain damage during delivery, you may need to pursue financial compensation to help your child cope with it during his or her life.
