What are birth injuries?

(can they really be prevented?)

Many babies suffer birth injuries simply because their heads experience so much pressure during delivery. The most common birth injuries end up being a swollen scalp, bleeding between the skull and scalp, face and head bruises, broken blood vessels in the eyes, and in some cases, facial paralysis. Most of these injuries are normal and go away on their own. When a doctor has trouble delivering a baby's shoulders (referred to as shoulder dystocia), a baby can end up with Erb's Palsy (paralysis or weakening of the arm due to stretching of nerves centered around the shoulders), or a broken collarbone. Both of these conditions generally heal on their own, though if Erb's Palsy does not improve within a few months, surgery may be required to repair torn nerves. The most serious birth injury is cerebral palsy, a condition which results in a loss of movement or other nerve function which does not improve over time. Occasionally, a newborn may accidentally inhale blood or fecal matter during birth and may suffer from complications due to a resulting respiratory infection.