When your child is delivered in a hospital in Portland then he or she may be having certain birth defect which is marked by the spine bones that fails to form properly. The problem can be mild or serious depending upon what type of problem it is. Therefore, it is important for you to understand how your infant developed such spina bifida and also what are the various options for treatment and prognosis so that you know more about this problem to help your baby and also what you must expect.

Let us try to understand what this infant spina bifida is. If your baby has been identified with this problem then the vertebrae of the spine of your baby does not fully enclose the spinal column’s raw nerves and due to that reason, those raw nerves can be subject to malady. Spina bifida can take place in any location of the spine and the most common place where it can occur is in the lower back.

There can be a number of different kinds of spina bifida:

  • Spina bifida occulta

In this case, one or more than one vertebra may be affected by spina occulta without any apparent damage to the spinal cord.

  • Meningocele

In such case bones start coming out of the spine

  • Myelomeningocele

In this case, part of the spinal column comes out of back and sometimes it appears to be covered by the skin. At times, it can also be combined with hydrocephalus where cranial fluids may get accumulated due to this problem

Whatever may be the type of spina bifida is, if you need to file any personal injury lawsuit on behalf of your child against the hospital, in order to prove their negligence, then you may consult Portland Spina Bifida lawyer. There is a possibility that the doctor may have missed certain important details while doing sonogram. Doctor can be careless or the hospital could be ill equipped. Doctor could have taken wrong decision by not going for cesarean section instead of vaginal birth.

Symptoms of infant spina bifida

Many children or adults too may be suffering from spina bifida however they may not be knowing about it. This can be identified by either MRI or with ultrasound test.

If the case is mild in nature then you can notice a birthmark, dimple or hairy patch on the back in the area particularly where bifida has occurred. However, if the case is little more severe then nerves will appear to be coming out of the back or may either have paralysis, numbness or weakness in the affected limbs.

Is it a birth defect?

Earlier it was termed as an isolated birth defect. Doctors were not very sure about its cause as many children from healthy families too had such problem. However, now doctors can reduce the chance of this problem by 70 per cent by prescribing folic acid when mother is pregnant.

Also, when the mother is 21 weeks pregnant then doctor can check the spine and determine the spine health. However, they can only monitor and inform the parents.