Is Brain Injury in the Preterm Infant Preventable?
Neonatal intensive care units across the United States continue to admit newborns who are small for gestational age (SGA) (less than 2,500 grams at birth), or born prematurely (less than 37 completed gestational weeks), whose medical records include an admitting diagnosis of perinatal or birth asphyxia. If fetal asphyxia has occurred, and if the child develops permanent neurological and intellectual handicaps, it is reasonable for the parents to ask a lawyer to determine whether the outcome could have been prevented by different management or earlier delivery. Yet, many lawyers are reluctant to investigate a case involving a premature infant, particularly one born between 28 and 32 weeks, because of the added burden of having to show that the brain injury was not caused by one of the known complications of prematurity. When trying to determine if cerebral palsy could have been prevented in a preterm infant it is critical to determine whether the brain injury was caused by complications
