It was long assumed that brain injuries in newborns resulted from insufficient oxygen during labor or delivery. Distressed parents often blamed doctors, a belief that spawned countless malpractice suits and prompted many obstetrician-gynecologists to abandon the delivery room.
The truth is far more complex, according to an important new report by a committee of experts in obstetrics, pediatrics, neurology and fetal-maternal medicine. Many conditions that occur during or even before pregnancy can lead to neurological damage to full-term babies.
Rather, there may be other reasons for neonatal encephalopathy, as brain disorders in full-term newborns are called. These include genetic factors and maternal health problems like hypothyroidism, placental abnormalities, major bleeding during pregnancy, infection of the fetal membranes and a stroke in the baby around the time of birth.
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Read the full, original story: Hurt Before the Birth
