:(
I just had one of those really depressing reports of the kind that make me want to quit medical records altogether.
This baby was born by emergency cesarean because of complete abruption. He was encephalopathic in utero and when they got him out his heart didn't start for 4 minutes. He had poor tone, no reflexes, and they couldn't get his oxygen saturation up. For fifteen minutes I listened to the details of everything they did for this poor little newborn with surfactants and intubation and chest compressions and ugh. And in the end, although he didn't die, they had to send him to the children's hospital for more intensive care.
Mom was young and had a history of drug use, although her last urine drug screen was negative, and she had delayed prenatal care not starting until five months. I don't have any more history on her so I'm not going to try and decide if this was something she did, but the suspicion is there, I can't help it.
The thing that really gets me is that the baby doesn't have a name yet. I know, I know, sometimes people can't decide or whatever, but it's crazy to me how many very sick newborns don't have names. My kids were both named within minutes of being born. Of course neither of them were sick when they were born so I can't really give an opinion, I guess, but I don't think it would have made a difference. It just makes me sad when babies don't have names, especially when they die unnamed.
You can see why I hate this type of report. :(
This baby was born by emergency cesarean because of complete abruption. He was encephalopathic in utero and when they got him out his heart didn't start for 4 minutes. He had poor tone, no reflexes, and they couldn't get his oxygen saturation up. For fifteen minutes I listened to the details of everything they did for this poor little newborn with surfactants and intubation and chest compressions and ugh. And in the end, although he didn't die, they had to send him to the children's hospital for more intensive care.
Mom was young and had a history of drug use, although her last urine drug screen was negative, and she had delayed prenatal care not starting until five months. I don't have any more history on her so I'm not going to try and decide if this was something she did, but the suspicion is there, I can't help it.
The thing that really gets me is that the baby doesn't have a name yet. I know, I know, sometimes people can't decide or whatever, but it's crazy to me how many very sick newborns don't have names. My kids were both named within minutes of being born. Of course neither of them were sick when they were born so I can't really give an opinion, I guess, but I don't think it would have made a difference. It just makes me sad when babies don't have names, especially when they die unnamed.
You can see why I hate this type of report. :(