It's common knowledge that while pregnant, everything a woman ingests will also be ingested by the baby, no matter the stage of development.

However, as more and more research progresses on birth injuries, doctors are finding the effects of certain drugs to be increasingly harmful to pre-term and post-term newborns, resulting in preventable birth injuries.

A major category of drugs within this realm are anesthetics, especially those used during labor. Epidural anesthesia provides additional comfort to the mother, lowering her physical pain responses (fast heartbeat, increased blood pressure, etc) and easing her anxiety. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Yet the effects of the anesthetics also reach the child before and during birth by crossing the placental blood barrier. Heart beats slow and weaken, and the heart may not be able to adequately pump blood to the brain. Once born, the child, still under the effects of anesthesia, may not breathe fully, limiting the amount of oxygen to the brain. These conditions can lead to brain hypoxia and cerebral palsy, though the mechanism isn't perfectly understood. Improper dosing, negligent monitoring, or even incompetent administration of these drugs on the part of the doctors or nurses involved may directly lead to cerebral palsy in a newborn child.

Our tips for avoiding this scenario:

• Know your anesthesiologist well before the birth of the baby. This is best accomplished by...
• Have a birth plan and know precisely what types of drugs you'll be utilizing and at what point these drugs will be administered. Your OB/GYN as well as your anesthesiologist can provide recommendations and support for whatever your plan may be for the birth of your child.
• Stay up-to-date on current and evolving medical research. Your OB/GYN should have the resources and education to provide you with answers to any of your drug interactions and adverse effect questions.