Injuries during childbirth are quite common, no matter how doctors try to avoid them. Women do not always behave correctly during contractions; the fetus does not always behave as it is written in textbooks for obstetricians - there are many unpredictable moments. And therefore injuries happen, fortunately, they are basically not too serious and do not require long-term treatment and rehabilitation.
Childbirth in terms of the fetus
Many pregnant women are waiting, but at the same time they are afraid of the moment when they see their baby. This is not surprising, given how scary and painful it is rumored to pass birth. But some women completely forget that not only them, but also their children have to go this difficult path, coupled with serious trials, when a lot depends on the actions of strangers - doctors.
Indeed, if you think about it, during childbirth, babies have to find themselves in a very traumatic situation. For almost 40 weeks, the child lived in a warm uterus, heard the beating of his mother’s heart, ate, breathed and disposed of waste products through the umbilical cord - in short, he was in very comfortable conditions. But now the old dwelling literally pushes it out, expelling from itself. And in order to see a new world, he needs to go through a narrow passage. During this path, the baby's bones of the skull are shifted, and he also causes terrible inconvenience to his mother. In general, this path can hardly be called pleasant, even though it was conceived by such nature itself. It is not surprising that it can be accompanied by various kinds of damage.
Birth injury to newborns
Despite the naturalness of the process, quite often something does not go quite as it should. Fortunately, the development of medicine helps women if there are any problems. But one cannot rely too heavily on doctors - they are not gods, and a woman in labor must behave correctly herself, without shifting all responsibility to specialists.
The concept of trauma during childbirth in a baby includes a whole list of possible conditions that are a consequence of some pathologies either during pregnancy or when resolving from it. These include:
- hypoxia;
- cerebrovascular accident;
- damage to blood vessels and nerves;
- fractures, cracks, displacements of bones;
- muscle breaks;
- hematomas of internal organs;
- hemorrhage.
All this sounds very scary, especially when you consider that we are talking about a very small man, requiring increased attention to himself even in the normal state. Fortunately, serious birth injuries of newborns are not so common. But why do they happen at all? There are many options.
Causes
The prerequisites for receiving any injuries during childbirth can be many. Among them, such pathologies of the course of pregnancy are distinguished as a mismatch between the size of the fetus and the birth canal, abnormal presentation, entwining with the umbilical cord, and occupation of the incorrect position of the head in the small pelvis. In addition, the reasons can be attributed to too high or low pace of childbirth, stimulation, improper position or actions of the mother.
Sometimes part of the responsibility lies with doctors who use such obsolete and dangerous methods as vacuum extraction or applying forceps. The obstetric turn is also not conducive to maintaining the health of the baby, but, to be honest, it is unlikely that they will be performed without serious need for it. And speaking generally, any deviations from the norm during pregnancy and childbirth can cause appropriate injuries. Fortunately, this is usually found out right away, upon examination by a neonatologist, which means that the necessary measures can be taken quite quickly.
Well, what can a mother do to prevent this from happening to her child? First of all, go to pregnancy courses and find out how the birth takes place and why it is so important to listen to obstetricians and doctors. And, of course, you should not refuse a cesarean section if doctors insist on it - it can help to avoid so many problems.
Collarbone fracture
In a newborn during childbirth, there comes a moment when the head has already come out and the shoulders are not yet. And here, the obstetrician requires special accuracy and tenderness. If you start to pull the head too hard or even allow a slight rotation around the axis, you can easily damage thin bones. And directly, you can provoke this injury with pelvic presentation by excessive pressure. Actually, a collarbone fracture in a newborn is one of the most common birth injuries. According to modern data, 11-12 children out of 1000 receive it. Quite often, other injuries also accompany it: paresis and paralysis of the extremities, rupture of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, fractures of other bones.
Diagnostics
Despite the fact that such an injury may not be detected during the initial examination, it is usually noticed in the first hours or days. The following signs may suggest the idea that a collarbone fracture occurred in the newborn:
- increased baby anxiety, poor appetite and slow weight gain;
- slight swelling in the shoulder area;
- asymmetry of folds;
- uncharacteristic position of the head;
- the elevation of one of the shoulders above the other;
- drooping of one of the hands.
Doctors can check their suspicions with the help of an X-ray study, which will say unequivocally whether there is a fracture and whether it is complicated. Often this can also be determined with the help of palpation, but in this case there is a risk of shifting the fragments and exacerbating the damage. So, despite the fact that it is quite common, it is impossible to consider a collarbone fracture in newborns as nonsense.
Treatment
In children, especially very young ones, the bones fuse quite quickly, because they are still soft. And most of the fractures do not require any special measures at all, except for increased attention to the baby’s behavior, careful handling and swaddling. In rare cases, immobilization is required, that is, limb immobilization with the use of special dressings and tires. Finally, if you are very unlucky, an operation may be required during which the fragments will be brought together, but the likelihood of this is negligible, since a complete fracture of the clavicle in a newborn is too rare. The consequences of this injury, or rather, their absence, and the prospects for its cure, fortunately, are almost always encouraging. So do not worry ahead of time.
Prospects
Treatment of an uncomplicated fracture is usually not associated with any difficulties - within about a week, the so-called cornea forms at the site of damage, which eventually transforms into bone tissue, completing the regeneration process. If there was a displacement of the fragments and additional injuries, it is difficult to talk about the prospects - in each case they are different, so you should listen to the recommendations of your doctor.
Effects
A collarbone fracture in a newborn usually does not cause him serious inconvenience, since it even has little effect on limb mobility. However, even if the bone has been damaged quite seriously, usually full mobility is restored within a week or two. Any cosmetic defects associated with an injury also go away quite quickly. With a sufficient degree of confidence, we can say that in the general case, a fracture of the clavicle in a newborn does not have any pronounced consequences in the future.