Was the Baby’s Brain Injury Caused by Events During Labor and Delivery?

Any parent who's child has suffered a brain injury, wants to know whether the brain injury was caused by events during labor and delivery and whether the brain injury could have been prevented. 

Birth injuries involving damage to the baby’s brain can be caused by lack of oxygen (oxygen deprivation) during labor and delivery either by decreased blood flow to the brain, “hypoxia" 3 , or by diminished oxygen content in the blood perfusing the brain, “ischemia”.  In cases involving oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery (also referred to as “birth asphyxia”, “perinatal asphyxia” or “intrapartum asphyxia”, the baby may suffer a permanent brain injury that affects the child for the remainder of his/her life. Diagnoses commonly given are “neonatal encephalopathy” and “hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy” or “HIE”.