There are a number of different birth injuries that a baby may suffer during labor, during birth, or immediately after childbirth. In many cases, a birth injury directly affects the brain due to the baby being deprived of oxygen.

These injuries include the following:

• Anoxia. This brain injury results from a severe case of hypoxia. It usually comes from strangulation, which may happen when the umbilical cord gets tightly wrapped around the baby’s throat.
• Birth asphyxia. This type of birth injury results from a lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain during childbirth.
• Brachial palsy. This is a medical condition that affects the baby’s shoulder. The nerves of the arm and shoulder may be injured during birth when the baby’s shoulder is stuck during delivery, known as shoulder dystocia. This may result in an inability to flex or rotate the arm. In a mild form of this injury, a normal range of motion returns after several months, but if the injury is severe, it may be permanent.
• Bruising. Bruising may show on the head or face when the baby’s birth involves the use of forceps. This injury may either be temporary or permanent. A baby may also have a laceration or bruise on the head when vacuum extraction is used during delivery.
• Caput succedaneum. This birth injury occurs when the soft tissues of the scalp swell during childbirth. In some cases, the swelling goes down after a few days. This is usually a temporary injury caused by vacuum extraction.
• Cephalohematoma. This injury occurs when bleeding ensues under the bones in the baby’s head. It may resolve itself in a few weeks to months, but some babies develop jaundice.
• Cerebral hemorrhage. A stroke-like bleed occurs within the brain itself.
• Facial paralysis. Pressure on the baby’s face during childbirth may result in facial paralysis when a nerve is injured. This usually occurs when forceps are used. If the nerve is only bruised, the paralysis may resolve after a few weeks, but if it is torn, surgery may be required.
• Hypoxia. This birth injury occurs when the baby is deprived of sufficient oxygen.
• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). This is a brain injury babies may suffer at birth when they have been deprived of adequate oxygen supply to the brain. This medical condition results in more infant deaths each year than any other issue.
• Intraventricular hemorrhage. A bleed in the brain's ventricular system (where spinal fluid is produced). This is the most serious type of intracranial bleeding. It occurs mostly in premature births and in infants born with low birth weight.
• Subconjunctival hemorrhage. During a difficult delivery, a baby may suffer this type of injury, which involves the breakdown of small blood vessels in the eyes and manifest with redness in the whites of the eyes. This is usually a temporary issue and doesn’t cause eye damage.

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