Birth asphyxia leads to human error

According to a long term 15-year study published in journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, suggests that the human error is the most common cause of infant asphyxiation at the time of birth. This is due to the inadequate fetal monitoring and the lack of clinical skills and also due to the failure to obtain senior medical staff assistance. For this study, the researchers evaluated in-detail around 315 claims that were made to the NPE between 1994 and 2008 that were associated with the alleged birth asphyxia. The team then looked at hospital records, the assessments by experts, along with NPE and courts of law decisions. Of the claims made, there were 161 cases that were awarded compensation that means it was due to the negligence at time of birth. The co-researcher Dr. Stine Andreasen from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Nordlandssykehuset (Nordland Hospital) in Bodø, Norway explains, “While fetal brain injury or death is uncommon during childbirth, when it occurs the effects are devastating. Our study investigates claims made to the NPE for neurological injury or death following birth asphyxia.”