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Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics pp 159–175Cite as

Birth-Related Injury

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Birth-related injury is broadly defined as a physical injury sustained by a newborn during the process of birth. This definition places no blame or fault, but recognizes that in many cases, such injuries are unpredictable and perhaps have unavoidable outcomes. Estimates from the USA are that approximately 2.6% of births will end with some kind of injury. The severity of birth-related injury varies greatly from the minor and temporary, such as ecchymosis, swelling, or superficial lacerations, to the more serious longer lasting conditions such as brachial plexus injury, and even a fatal outcome. This chapter will describe those conditions that are most likely the result of mechanical forces on the newborn through the birth process.

Incidence

In many countries, the rate of birth-related injury has markedly decreased due to improved prenatal care, greater use of imaging, and presence of skilled attendants at deliveries with the tools necessary for intervention (both obstetrical and...

Keywords

  • Facial Nerve Palsy
  • Humeral Fracture
  • Clavicle Fracture
  • Brachial Plexus Injury
  • Shoulder Dystocia

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Marcia Wenner VanVleet M.D., MPH

  2. Women and Infants Hospital, 101 Dudley St, Providence, RI, 02901, USA

    Marcia Wenner VanVleet M.D., MPH

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  1. Marcia Wenner VanVleet M.D., MPH
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Correspondence to Marcia Wenner VanVleet M.D., MPH .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

    Abdelaziz Y. Elzouki (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  2. National Center of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (NCAAI), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Harb A. Harfi (Director) (Director)

  3. Consultant Pediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Islamic Hospital, Amman, Jordan

    Hisham M. Nazer

  4. Seattle Children's Hospital University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    F. Bruder Stapleton (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics) (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics)

  5. Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Woman and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    William Oh (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  6. University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Richard J. Whitley (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

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VanVleet, M.W. (2012). Birth-Related Injury. In: Elzouki, A.Y., Harfi, H.A., Nazer, H.M., Stapleton, F.B., Oh, W., Whitley, R.J. (eds) Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_12

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