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Did Your Newborn Suffer Cerebral
Palsy or Another Brain Injury Before
or During Labor and Delivery?

Learn More

Our Birth Brain Injury Resource Guide

the guide

Get a FREE guide of resources available throughout Ohio to children and families of children who were born with brain injuries.

Our guide can help you build a foundation of knowledge and tools that will help you help your child
now and in the future.

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EARLY SIGNS

Brain injuries produce several physical and mental effects that appear either right after experiencing head trauma or weeks after a traumatic incident. For mild cases, you can experience headaches, vomiting, and disorientation. Fatigue produced by the inability to fall asleep often accompanies a mild head injury.

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In more serious head injury cases, the early signs of brain damage include blurred vision, as well as acute sensitivity to normal exposures of sound and light. Strong blows to the head can cause unconsciousness that lasts for a number of hours. Seizures often follow severe brain damage, as well as the complete loss of motor skills. The Clear fluid that drains from the ears or nose represents a clear sign of serious head trauma.

The common early symptoms of brain damage experienced by infants and young children are a bit different that the symptoms adults encounter.

Early Signs of Infant and Young Children

Elk & Elk

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Brain Injury Association of America, injuries to the head represent one of the most frequent causes of infant and young children disabilities. During birth delivery, prolonged labor can compress an infant’s brain, which causes the infant to lose the vital oxygen it needs to sustain blood cells.

The key is to detect the early symptoms involves taking immediate measures to stabilize an infant or young child.

Physical Signs

Obstetricians look for obvious signs of brain damage starting with incredibly large infant foreheads and unusually structured infant spines. Babies that display strange facial features and have difficulty focusing the eyes are also candidates for the suffering of a traumatic head injury. Neck stiffness is another sign obstetricians look for in infants and young children.

Missed developmental milestones represent additional physical early signs of brain damage. Consult with your doctor to learn the average time it takes a young child to crawl, walk, and pull up from a crawling position, without the need for assistance. Parents should also closely monitor how a young child runs, skips, and jumps. Head injuries typically diminish motor skills, especially in young children.

Behavioral Signs

While physical signs set off the initial warning bells, behavioral changes prompt obstetricians to conduct tests that involve imaging technology. A young child who experiences a dramatic change in eating or nursing patterns might have suffered a disruptive blow to the head. Constant crying from a once calm infant is another behavioral warning sign. The inability to pay focused attention and the development of unusual displays of irritation are two symptoms that the brain has received a strong blow.

Early Signs of Developmental Problems

The goal in detecting early symptoms is to treat head trauma long before the injury negatively impacts a child’s development. Even at an early age, you can notice cognitive flaws, such as poor concentration, difficulty processing basic language, and the inability to control impulses, especially impulses such as anger. Poor communications skills that include speech impediments night indicate the presence of brain damage.

Even the keenest observation skills possessed by a trained medical professional might not detect the early signs of brain damage. Parents of infants and young children who receive blows to the head that cause physical and/or behavioral changes should consult with a physician immediately. In cases of severe head trauma, quickly take the child to the nearest emergency care facility for prompt medical attention. Although health care professionals differentiate mild, moderate, and severe brain damage symptoms, parents should consider a mild case worthy of immense concern.