What is birth injury?

Birth trauma is a whole complex of diseases (or rather, injuries) that can occur in a newborn during pregnancy or during the birth itself.

Birth trauma distinguishes hypoxic (associated with lack of oxygen) and mechanical.

Hypoxic injuries are represented by a lesion of the spinal cord, brain, or internal organs that result from hypoxia of the newborn or fetus.

Mechanical birth injury:
- a birth tumor;
- damage to nerves;
- hemorrhage in the muscle tissue;
- fracture of bones;

- Cephalohematoma.

Factors predisposing to birth trauma:
- prematurity;
- low or too large mass of the fetus;
- protracted or transitory delivery;
- In addition, the application of forceps creates a high risk of developing birth trauma.

In fact, birth trauma is nothing more than the inevitable result of a generic process. That is, it is present in each specific case of childbirth, the difference is only in its degree. Birth trauma is formed as a result of mechanical interaction between the fetus and the mother. In some cases, this process activates the protective and adaptive powers of the child, while in others (with the exhaustion of compensatory forces) contributes to the weakening of the adaptation of the child.

The most common manifestation of trauma is the birth trauma of the head. The following head injuries are distinguished: a generic tumor and a cephalothorem.

A generic tumor is nothing more than a swelling of the soft tissues of the head of the woman presenting to the birth canal. As a result of compression of soft tissues, venous stasis is often formed with petechial hemorrhage under the skin. Most often this type of birth trauma occurs in primiparous mothers, with long-term delivery, as well as with a large, relative to the birth canal, the fetus. The consequences disappear within a week.

Hemorrhage under the periosteum of the skull bones - cephalohematoma, develops as a result of displacement of the skin with the periosteum during passage of the fetus along the generic pathways. Over time (during the first two to three days after delivery) blood accumulates in the hematoma, as a result, the tumor increases.

If we talk about a hemorrhage in the muscle tissue, then most often it occurs in the sternocleidus muscle. At the site of hemorrhage, a tumor forms (1-2 weeks after birth). Subsequently, the hemorrhage manifests itself as a child's tilted head to the sick side (torticollis), while the chin is pointed in the opposite direction.

As for bone fractures, the most common obstetric practice is a fractured clavicle. Fracture occurs as a result of the pathology of both the delivery itself and in the provision of obstetric care.

Speaking of nerve damage, it is worth noting the high incidence of damage to the facial nerve. In addition, it is often found and damage to the brachial plexus.

The most dangerous of birth injuries is intracranial birth trauma. The danger in this case is that this trauma causes damage to the brain, as a result of cerebral edema or hemorrhage. There are three degrees of severity of intracranial birth trauma: light, medium and heavy. Severe degree steadily leads to the formation of a stable pathology of the nervous system (both central and peripheral). The acute period is characterized by excitation of the central nervous system of a newborn, characterized by: anxiety, convulsions, crying, insomnia, tremor of the child's limbs . At the same time, the reflexes of swallowing and sucking are suppressed. Subsequently, the period of excitement is replaced by a state of lethargy and decreased muscle tone, the child's cry becomes weak, the skin is pale, the child is too drowsy. Often there are repeated attacks of suffocation.

Thus, birth trauma - a frequent, and most importantly, a significant problem, leading to serious consequences.