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When oxygen is completely cut off from a newborn's brain during labor or delivery, the consequences can be permanent and devastating. The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary stands by families in Miami and throughout Florida whose children suffered anoxic brain injuries from obstetrical emergencies that were mishandled or overlooked. Contact us today for a free evaluation if you think a medical error was involved.
Case EvaluationMedical literature draws a clear distinction between hypoxia, which is a reduction in oxygen supply, and anoxia, which is a complete absence of oxygen. Both can cause permanent damage to the brain, but the worst is the complete loss of oxygen. Brain cells start to die within minutes of oxygen loss, and the resulting neurological damage can affect movement, thinking, speech, and basic body function for the rest of a child's life.
During labor and delivery, complete interruption of oxygen can occur as a result of umbilical cord compression or prolapse, placental abruption, uterine rupture, or severe fetal distress that goes unaddressed. The incidence of term perinatal asphyxia in high-resource countries is approximately 2 per 1,000 births. Among affected infants, 15% to 20% die during the neonatal period, and up to 25% of survivors develop permanent neurological impairments. These are not statistical abstractions; they represent families whose children were harmed when something in the delivery room went wrong.
Anoxic brain injury at birth is almost always traceable to a specific obstetrical event or a failure to respond to one. Situations that can result in complete oxygen deprivation to a newborn's brain include, but are not limited to:
In birth injury litigation, medical records commonly reviewed in these cases include fetal monitoring strips, cord blood gas studies, Apgar scores, NICU records, MRI findings, and neurological evaluations.
Some signs of anoxic brain injury are present immediately after birth, while others emerge gradually as a child develops. If your newborn experienced any of the following, a birth injury evaluation may be warranted:
Florida's statute of limitations for medical malpractice places a hard deadline on when families can file a claim. If you have concerns about what happened during your child's delivery, the time to speak with an attorney is now, not after further delays compound the difficulty of preserving evidence.
The severity of an anoxic brain injury depends on how long the brain was deprived of oxygen and how much tissue was affected, but even partial recovery rarely means a return to full neurological function. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke identifies the following as long-term consequences of oxygen-deprivation brain injuries:
In the most severe cases, anoxic brain injury can result in prolonged coma or a permanent vegetative state. Even with therapeutic hypothermia now standard for many newborns, many survivors still experience cerebral palsy, cognitive impairment, hearing loss, vision loss, and developmental disabilities. In severe cases, death rates can reach 50% even with modern treatment.
For families, the long-term care demands of a child with an anoxic brain injury can be overwhelming. The financial, emotional, and physical toll extends across decades, and when that toll is the result of a preventable failure in the delivery room, the law provides a mechanism to seek accountability.
Families pursuing a birth injury or medical malpractice claim in Florida may be entitled to compensation for:
In cases where an anoxic brain injury results in the death of a newborn, a wrongful death claim may allow the family to recover for funeral expenses, medical costs incurred prior to death, and loss of companionship.
Anoxic brain injury cases demand a legal team that can work through detailed medical evidence, reconstruct the timeline of a delivery, and identify where a healthcare provider's failure cost your child their future.
That work begins with a thorough review of the full delivery record, and attorney Sean M. Cleary handles that review personally for every family that contacts our office.
Our firm operates on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. Fees range from 34% to 40% of the total recovery and are only collected once the case is resolved. The consequences of an anoxic brain injury last a lifetime.
If your child was harmed during delivery and you believe the medical team failed to respond when it mattered most, contact The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary today for a free case evaluation.
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