When hypoxia harms, we pursue accountability.
Hypoxic-ischemic brain injuries and Cerebral palsy (CP) can occur when a baby is deprived of oxygen before, during, or shortly after birth. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is one of the most common kinds of brain damage in children. While the effects of the issue can vary, the injury can cause serious developmental delays, cognitive issues, and motor impairment.
HIE and the resulting complications are often due to negligence on the part of their medical providers and are out of parent’s hands. However, the burden that is put in a family’s hands is the extensive medical treatments and therapies for related health problems that can last a lifetime. This often saddles families with crushing medical costs and lifestyle changes.
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HIE Delayed Diagnosis
HIE can be especially challenging because early tests don’t always reveal how a baby’s brain will function over time. Newborns may undergo MRIs, EEGs, and clinical exams in the NICU, and while these can show areas of injury and help guide immediate care (such as therapeutic hypothermia), they are not crystal balls. A developing brain is dynamic: swelling subsides, neural networks reorganize, and some functions only “switch on” as a child reaches new milestones. As a result, the full picture of motor skills, speech and language, cognition, behavior, and sensory processing often emerges gradually.
That’s why many families don’t get a clear diagnosis or a reliable sense of the severity of impairment until preschool years. Between ages 3 and 4, standardized developmental assessments and day-to-day functioning provide better insight into whether delays are mild and responsive to therapy or more significant and lasting. In practical terms, this means ongoing monitoring is essential: documenting milestones, engaging in early-intervention services, and keeping close follow-up with pediatric neurology, therapy providers, and your child’s primary care team.
About Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy
What is HIE?
HIE is a brain injury that happens as a result of the brain being deprived of oxygen. In newborns, this oxygen deprivation is also known as intrapartum asphyxia. While the body of a newborn can compensate for short periods of oxygen deprivation during the rigors of childbirth if the deprivation lasts too long brain tissue begins to be damaged. HIE is the leading cause of death and severe impairment for infants.
HIE is especially dangerous because even in cases where it does not cause death, the effects are often serious. Complications from HIE include impairments like epilepsy, delayed development and motor skills, cognitive impairment, and cerebral palsy.
What are causes of HIE?
As we’ve discussed, HIE is caused by a lack of oxygen reaching the brain, however, that asphyxiation could be the result of a number of factors, including:
- A lack of oxygen in the blood because of poor lung function
- Acute maternal hypotension
- Irregular heartbeat
- Injuries due to umbilical cord complications
- Cephalopelvic disproportion (child is unable to progress during birth)
- Medical negligence
- Fetal stroke
While childbirth does have its risks, with some complications being unpreventable, in many cases the onset or severity of a complication could be aided with the proper medical care. Unfortunately, some medical professions who are trusted with their patients’ safety are negligent in their duties for a number of reasons, including fatigue, rushed schedules, improper training, and a lack of attention. Many of these issues come down to money, with the profits of a hospital being put above the needs of their patients.
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