Intrauterine hypoxia

Intrauterine hypoxia (IH, sometimes called birth asphyxia) is an unchallenged cause of perinatal death. It is an obstetrical complication sometimes associated with fetal distress and giving rise to birth trauma.

The perinatal brain injury occurring as a result of birth asphyxia, manifesting with-in 48 hours of birth, is a form of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. It is associated long term neurological deficit including cerebral palsy. Prognosis depends on the severity of brain damage of which the encephalopathy is a manifestation.

Treatment of infants suffering birth asphyxia by cooling is now known to be an effective therapy to reduce mortality and improve neurological outcome in survivors, and hypothermia therapy for neonatal encephalopathy begun within 6 hours of birth significantly increases the chance of normal survival in affected infants.