Video Transcript
HIE, which is a term that is frequently used in the obstetrical world, is hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. It’s essentially when there is an oxygen deprivation injury to the baby in utero. The sort of classic example that we see at our firm is a mother presenting to the hospital; the baby is well oxygenated, and there are no developmental problems at all. But during the delivery process, there will start to be some warning signs that perhaps the baby is not getting enough oxygen. You would typically see that on a fetal monitor strip; you will see things that are called decelerations. Sometimes they are late decelerations; sometimes they are prolonged decelerations. But essentially, they’re warning signs to the labor and delivery nurses and the obstetricians that the baby is potentially not getting enough oxygen. They typically will give the healthcare providers an opportunity to intervene, whether that’s using a cesarean section or gathering the mother to the operating room to deliver that child before a permanent and severe and catastrophic oxygen deprivation injury occurs. The lawyers at our firm have handled HIE injury cases and have represented families who have children with HIE all over the state for over 20 years.
