Posts by Law Offices of Joseph Lichtenstein
Chorioamnionitis: Causes, Symptoms, and Risks to Your Baby
Chorioamnionitis is a bacterial infection of the membranes and fluid that surround a baby in the uterus. It usually begins when bacteria that normally live in the vagina travel upward after the water breaks, and it is one of the most common reasons a fever develops during labor. Caught early and treated with antibiotics, it…
Read MoreLeaking Amniotic Fluid or Discharge? How to Know the Difference
Most pregnancy complications give you something obvious to react to. A leak of amniotic fluid usually doesn’t, because it can begin as nothing more than a patch of clear wetness that might be urine, and because it sometimes stops on its own before anyone has looked at it. Leaking amniotic fluid means the membranes around…
Read MoreToo Much Amniotic Fluid: A Guide to Polyhydramnios
Polyhydramnios is the buildup of too much amniotic fluid around a baby, turning up in roughly 1 to 2 percent of pregnancies. On its own it often causes no problems at all, which is why plenty of mothers hear the word at an ultrasound and go on to deliver without incident. What makes it worth…
Read MoreOligohydramnios: Low Amniotic Fluid Explained
Amniotic fluid is the cushion a baby lives in for nine months. It keeps pressure off the body, stops the umbilical cord from getting pinched, lets the lungs practice breathing, and gives the baby room to grow. When the volume drops too low, a condition doctors call oligohydramnios, that protection thins out and the pregnancy…
Read MoreVariable Decelerations: Harmless or a Warning Sign?
Variable decelerations are one of the most common patterns a delivery team watches for during labor. On a fetal heart rate monitor, they appear as abrupt drops in the baby’s heart rate that fall quickly, then recover just as fast, often in response to the umbilical cord being squeezed. Most are harmless and pass without…
Read MoreHow Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring Protects Your Baby
How Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring Works Fetal heart rate monitoring is one of the primary tools doctors use to keep track of a baby’s wellbeing during labor and delivery. By watching how the baby’s heart responds to the stress of contractions, the medical team can spot the earliest signs that something is wrong. Understanding the…
Read MoreTrue Knot of the Umbilical Cord: What Parents Need to Know
What Is a True Knot of the Umbilical Cord? A true knot of the umbilical cord knot is exactly what it sounds like, an actual knot tied in the cord, the same way one would form in a piece of rope. They form early in pregnancy when the baby moves through a loop in the…
Read MoreUmbilical Cord Prolapse: Delivery Room Emergencies
Umbilical cord prolapse is one of the few true emergencies in the delivery room. It happens when the umbilical cord slips into the birth canal ahead of the baby and gets compressed as the baby moves down, cutting off the flow of blood and oxygen. Unlike some complications that develop gradually, a prolapse can threaten…
Read MoreUmbilical Cord Compression: Causes and Consequences
When a baby is in the womb, the umbilical cord is its lifeline, carrying the oxygen and nutrients needed to grow and survive. If it’s compressed that lifeline can be cut off, but most of the time, these moments are brief and the baby recovers without harm. In rare cases, however, if the compression’s severe…
Read MoreWhat a Nuchal Cord Means for Your Baby’s Delivery
A nuchal cord, where the umbilical cord wraps around the baby’s neck, sounds alarming to most expecting parents. The reality is far more reassuring. It happens in roughly a quarter to a third of all births, and the vast majority of the time it causes no harm. Doctors routinely unwind the cord or slip it…
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