While mothers in Texas may dream of having positive birth experiences when they go into labor with their babies, in reality there are a lot of things that can happen that can throw problems into their well-laid plans. Medical professionals must be ready to deal with a barrage of surprises and emergencies that may threaten the health and wellbeing of the mothers and babies who are under their care. One common but often difficult birth complication that can create problems for laboring mothers is the abnormal presentation of their babies.
Abnormal presentation means anything other than having their baby head down in the womb. Babies are generally delivered head first, since their heads are their largest body parts in infancy. When babies are feet down or sideways in the womb, they and their mothers may not be able to successfully work through labor and to delivery.
It is imperative that doctors monitor and assess their patients for abnormal presentation to prevent birth delays and dangers. A baby who is not head down may not be able to pass through the birth canal and may experience stress and associated health problems as their labor drags on. A doctor who does not monitor for this possibility may miss warning signs that the baby and mother are under duress and struggling to reach delivery.
Abnormal presentations are often caught prior to labor and can often be remedied before mothers are prepared to give birth. However, the negligence and poor monitoring of doctors can cause some pregnancies to reach labor before abnormal presentations have been fixed. When such issues linger, babies and mothers can suffer unnecessary birth injuries and harm at the expense of their doctors’ failures.