Why Did Doctors Use Body Cooling (Therapeutic Hypothermia) On My Baby?

When a newborn experiences birth trauma with potential signs of brain injury, a specialized medical procedure called body cooling — also known as brain cooling or therapeutic hypothermia — is often employed. This procedure involves using water-cooled blankets and caps to gently lower the baby's body temperature by a few degrees, aiming to minimize further damage to the brain.

Body cooling is typically done for three days after birth. Brain injuries in newborns can be caused when the baby’s brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen before, during, or shortly after birth. There are many different conditions and situations that can cause a lack of oxygen, some of which are medical malpractice. A baby that is born with hypoxia due to medical malpractice may exhibit some of the following signs of encephalopathy after birth:

• Reduced (or no) suck reflex
• Seizures
• Weak (“floppy”) muscle tone
• Apnea (“brief pauses in breathing”)
• Abnormal skin color (“cyanosis”), and/or poor reflexes

What Is Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy?

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE for short, is a type of brain damage that occurs due to an insufficient amount of oxygen reaching the brain (hypoxia), as well as a reduced blood flow to other vital organs (ischemia). Encephalopathy is used to describe any condition that is caused by a reduced oxygen and blood supply to the brain.

HIE can cause a wide range of medical conditions, some that are medically debilitating to the child and emotionally and financially debilitating to the child’s family. This can be further complicated because sometimes the severity of the child’s condition isn’t evident right away. In fact, it may take several years before all symptoms are instantly obvious. Some children who have suffered HIE will go on to receive a diagnosis of cerebral palsy

What Are The Effects Of HIE Or Cerebral Palsy?

It’s estimated that HIE occurs in .3 percent of all full-term deliveries. According to an article in the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, as many as 20 percent of those newborns die. Another 25 percent develop neurological conditions including learning disabilities, mental development delays, movement development delays, seizures, epilepsy, speech delays or problems, and cerebral palsy. The remaining newborns with HIE completely recover with no lasting effects.

You can see that there is a wide range of effects that vary from baby to baby. Traumatic birth experiences that may seem similar in two babies may result in a permanent, lifelong injury to one, while the other is completely spared. It hasn’t yet been determined why this happens.

Signs That Body Cooling May Be Needed

While doctors do everything they can to ensure that newborns are as healthy as possible, some signs may indicate a baby might be at risk of oxygen loss that could be treated with brain cooling. These indicators include:

• Meconium in the amniotic fluid
• A challenging delivery
• Infant with heart abnormalities
• A delayed C-section
• Preeclampsia in the mother
• A baby too small or too large for gestational age
• Umbilical cord problems during birth
• Lack of oxygen in the mother’s blood prior to birth
• Premature birth
• Anemia in the newborn

Newborn Body Cooling Treatment For HIE

Newborns who have HIE benefit from brain cooling, or therapeutic hypothermia, promptly after birth. To treat a newborn, a cooling cap or blanket is placed on the baby, lowering the baby’s temperature to about 91 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature is maintained for the first three days following birth.

The lower body temperature slows the baby’s metabolic rate and decreases the release of harmful endotoxins caused by lack of oxygen. This allows the baby’s cells to recover over a longer period of time, which helps prevent further injury.

The baby is warmed back to a normal body temperature at the end of the three days. For this type of treatment to be effective, it’s recommended that it be started within six hours of the birth. Babies who have HIE and are treated by the brain-cooling technique have a higher chance of survival and a lower incidence of disabilities.

When Is Body Cooling A Sign Of Medical Malpractice?

Medical errors can certainly cause HIE to occur. There are times when medical mistakes are made, diagnoses or treatment are delayed, or a medical professional is negligent, and it results in a HIE in a newborn. However, there are also times when HIE occurs, and there is no medical malpractice to blame. Both situations may result in your baby receiving brain-cooling treatment.

If your newborn had to be cooled after it was born, it’s important to know why as it could be a case of medical malpractice. Additionally, if your baby develops the cognitive or physical signs of HIE and they weren’t treated with brain cooling, your doctor may also be found responsible. It’s important that you consult an experienced birth injury attorney to determine if your child’s condition is a case of malpractice.

Let The Birth Injury Lawyers At Ross Feller Casey Help You

At Ross Feller Casey, we have earned a national reputation for winning birth injury cases for our clients. Over the last four years alone, we have recovered more than $1 billion for clients and have won more major multimillion-dollar birth injury lawsuits than any other Pennsylvania firm.

Ross Feller Casey has highly experienced attorneys as well as an on-staff team of leading doctors to help litigate these types of lawsuits. All of our birth injury cases are handled on a contingency basis, which means you don’t pay unless we win.