What Is The Life Expectancy of Baby With HIE

• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
• What Is The Life Expectancy of Baby With HIE

HIE Birth Injury Life Expectancy

Life expectancy of HIE babies (babies diagnosed with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy) will vary depending upon the severity of the brain injury. According to researchers, up to 60% of babies with HIE will suffer from long-term disabilities, including cerebral palsy, before the age of two. Research studies also show that, tragically, about 15 to 20% of the babies with HIE will die within the first week of birth.

For children that survive HIE injury beyond the first two years of life, adequate data on life expectancy is not available, but most research studies indicate that in cases of moderate or severe HIE, the surviving child’s life expectancy will be impacted.

One research study showed that children with HIE who are diagnosed with severe disability in all four functional disability categories (motor, cognitive, visual, and hearing) have about 50% likelihood of surviving to the age of 13, while about 25% are likely to survive to the age of 30.

It is important to remember that many of these studies do not account for differences in medical or attendant care which, when improved or increased, can greatly extend one’s life expectancy even with severe disabilities.

Life Expectancy of HIE Babies Varies

Babies with moderate to severe HIE may eventually develop cerebral palsy. Different types of CP present different symptoms that may have an impact on the child’s life expectancy.

Spastic Cerebral Palsy

This is the most common type of CP, which may occur in the form of spastic quadriplegia (all limbs and body are affected from the neck down), spastic diplegia (paralysis affects either both arms or both legs), or spastic hemiplegia (paralysis affects only one side of the body). Children with spastic quadriplegia are likely to suffer the worst outcome in terms of life expectancy.

Dyskinetic (Athetoid) Cerebral Palsy

This type of CP is also known as dystonic or dyskinetic cerebral palsy. Children with this condition generally experience muscle tone fluctuation, which can cause serious mobility impairments. These children also have poor control over oral muscles, leading to feeding problems, malnutrition, and risk of choking. These can affect the child’s life span, depending on the severity of their condition.

Ataxic Cerebral Palsy

Children with Ataxic Cerebral Palsy may experience fine motor skill impairments (fine motor skills require precision movement and coordination of small muscles in hands and wrists) and problems with overall mobility. As a result, the child may have to depend lifelong on others for moving around and use mobility devices. Life expectancy will be affected according to the severity of the child’s condition.

Health Problems in Children
with CP that Reduce Life Expectancy

• Weakened immune system
• Internal organ damage
• Infection risks due to pressure sores
• Poor nutrition due to eating or swallowing difficulties
• Risks of choking and dehydration
• Epilepsy (chronic disorder with unpredictable, recurrent seizures)
• Progressive loss of motor function due to musculoskeletal disorders (abnormalities related to the spine, neck, shoulders, or hips)
• Aspiration pneumonia (when liquid or food is breathed into the lungs or airways)
• Severe respiratory problems or chronic lung diseases
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) – stomach acid goes into the esophagus, gradually damaging the esophagus lining
• Cardiovascular diseases because of lack of physical exercise or activity
• Anxiety, depression, or other mental health conditions

Most of these health problems can be addressed by appropriate medical and attendant care. When a baby suffering from HIE or cerebral palsy is provided with heightened medical and nursing care, it is well known that their life expectancy as well as their quality of life can be vastly improved.

Is Your Child Suffering from HIE Complications
Due to the Negligence of Doctors and Nurses?

Parents whose children are living with complications caused by HIE (Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy) have a right to know whether preventable mistakes by the doctors and nurses contributed to their child’s birth injury.

At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, our award-winning birth injury attorneys have represented families all over the United States after an HIE injury. We help answer parents’ questions and we employ our skills and expertise to obtain for you and your child a medical malpractice settlement that will help provide specialized medical, nursing, and therapeutic care in order to maximize the quality of life and life expectancy of your child as they cope with the common complications that accompany HIE.

• Were there signs of birth injury or birth complications during the pregnancy, labor, and delivery process, or presence of risk factors, which were either not recognized or properly treated?
• During the labor and delivery, were there clear indications that the baby was suffering from fetal distress, but appropriate actions were not taken by the maternal fetal specialists, obstetrician or nurses?
• Was there a delay in diagnosis of a likely premature birth that led to later complications, including brain injury?
• Did the medical team fail to order a series of tests to diagnose this birth complication in a timely manner?
• Was the decision to perform a cesarean delivery delayed leading to birth trauma during vaginal delivery or labor?
• Did the neonatal resuscitation team fail to quickly begin important breathing support?
• Should brain cooling (also called “hypothermia therapy”) have been provided to your baby, but the doctors and nurses failed to perform the appropriate tests or ignored the results of the tests?

Our birth injury attorneys have recovered millions of dollars in settlements for families of children that have suffered a birth injury. At no point in our legal intake process will we ask you to pay anything. The medical review of your case and the consultation are free. We only receive payment when you do, no matter how long or tough your case is.

Registered Nurses and Nurse-Attorneys Are a Vital Part of Our Birth Injury Team…and Yours

Most birth injury law firms will employ one or two nurses to assist the review of cases and medical research. But Miller Weisbrod Olesky offers an unmatched number of nurses and nurse-attorney employees support to both the birth injury attorneys and our clients.

Our team of registered nursing staff and nurse-attorneys bring a deep level of medical and personal insight to every client’s case. Our nursing team includes both an experienced labor and delivery nurse as well as an ICU nurse. Working closely with the rest of the team, they investigate the reasons behind a birth injury and how medical professionals breached their standard of care.

Why Should You Talk with the Highly Capable Attorneys at Miller Weisbrod Olesky?

The only way to find out if you have a birth injury case is to talk to a lawyer experienced in birth injury lawsuits. It’s not uncommon that a birth related complication results in a preventable birth injury, including cerebral palsy, but it takes a detailed expert review by a birth injury attorney of the medical records from your child’s birth to determine if the birth injury was the result of medical malpractice.

At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, a team of committed lawyers, nurses and paralegals uses our detailed medical negligence case review process to assess your child’s potential birth injury case. We start by learning more about you and your child and the status of meeting/missing developmental milestones. Then we gather medical records to determine what happened before, during pregnancy. We call in documented and proven medical experts who review your records and let us know if they think medical errors could have caused your child’s injuries.

If we feel medical negligence caused or contributed to wrongful birth in your case, we meet with you to discuss how you can receive compensation from the medical professionals who made the errors. Our birth injury attorneys have recovered millions of dollars in settlements for families of children that have suffered a birth injury.

At no point in our legal intake process will we ask you to pay anything. The medical review of your case and the consultation are free. We only receive payment when you do no matter how long or tough your case is.

Contact Our Birth Injury Lawyers