Birth Injury among Newborns Can be Avoided
In a recent study conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the cases of child birth injuries are decreasing due to some medical breakthroughs and improvements on the healthcare system. The agency recently released data from 1,000 hospitals across the US and found that more than 157,000 child birth injuries could have prevented. The most common of the preventable birth injuries was the tearing between the vagina and rectum. This process is not complicated; however, some doctors had failed to fix it perfectly so that it caused complications. The study also revealed that instruments such as forceps put mothers at higher risk of vaginal tears. Also, mothers from wealthy households were 44 percent more likely to have vaginal injuries compared to those from low-income families. This is due to the increase in premature births in low-income families. The study also showed that certain factors can determine the likelihood of injuries in child birth. White babies are more vulnerable to injuries compared to ethnic groups such as African-American and Hispanic. Also male infants are more vulnerable to birth injuries than female babies. The government data showed that the most common injury among babies is a clavicle fracture. Also babies can dislocate their hips or break their thigh bone when their leg is twisted during deliveries. In some deliveries, brachial plexus, which is a group of nerves located from the neck and arm, may be injured. This happens when the baby’s head and arm is pulled in two opposite directions. To read more about the birth injury study, please click the link.
