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Birth Trauma During Medically-Assisted Deliveries Dangerous to Newborns

In a landmark study published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology in 1969, Dr. Abraham Towbin reports that "during the final extraction of the fetus, mechanical stress imposed [by obstetricians] -- even the application of standard orthodox procedures - may prove intolerable to the fetus." The most common cause of this damage is excessive traction and twisting of the infant's neck when using the head as a lever to extract the infant from the birth canal, damaging spinal structures, the spinal cord and brain stem. Survival of the infant depends on brain stem functions such as respiration, heart activity and reflex actions. Unfortunately, such damage often goes undiagnosed and unreported since many doctors are unaware of the significance of birth trauma spinal cord and brain stem injury. Routine examination of spinal structures are not normally done during autopsies of newborns. Towbin, of the Harvard Medical School and the Department of Pathology (Neonatology) of St. Margaret's Hospital in Boston, reports that spinal damage can occur in numerous ways. Rupture and tearing of the covering of the brain and spinal cord (Meninges), tearing of the spinal nerve roots, and laceration, swelling and compression of the spinal cord and brain stem are common. While heart function mayor may not be normal in such cases, respiratory depression soon after birth is a cardinal sign of brain stem injury. By way of commentary on this article, chiropractors correct the misalignments (subluxations) that occur during even routine deliveries. If your child, or any you know, experienced a difficult delivery, it is imperative that their spines be checked by a chiropractor for subluxation. Chiropractic correction of spinal problems should begin as soon as they occur.

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