Hypoxia and Medicine

Lack of Oxygen at birth, what is the likely outcome? (symptoms below)?

My son was born by crash c-section 2 days ago. When he was born he had no heartbeat but had an apgar of 1 after 5mins then 6 after 10mins. When he left the theatre his heart rate was normal at 140bpm. He is on intensive care, but has been breathing for himself since day one, and all other obs (blood pressure, oxygen saturation etc are all normal) He has had two fits involving limb shaking and mouth movements as well as desat. They have mentioned cerebral irritation, and has had a 3rd dose of phenobarb today after the 2nd fit. After this he has slept peacefully most of the day. Can anyone suggest the likelyhood of a full recovery and possible future problems (I'm guessing his life is now safe) the doctors are very cautious and refuse to look past the day ahead. We live in the UK.

Public Comments

1. I really havent an idea, but I do wish you all the best of luck :) While its a scary time, stay strong :)
2. shorry for best answer but say best of luck for child life
3. depends on the amount of time he was without oxygen...the longer he was the worse the outcome. the limb shaking is a bad sign of brain damage. O2 desats aren't really that bad of an indicator. I'd DEMAND to have some answers. they can't promise you anything of course but they can give you their professional opinion. Babies are also very resilient. Lots of babies have been born without O2 for A LONG time, had seizures and eventually healed all up and done perfectly well. good luck with your little one.
4. Personally Yahoo Answers is not the appropriate forum for this question, as it involves medical knowledge regarding a specific individual (your son). The person best suited to answer your question is the doctor who delivered your son. I'm not going to suggest any possible future problems nor likelyhood of recovery as it would be highly irresponsible. I wish you the best of luck. iWonder
5. Oh wow, that's heavy. Sorry that you and your family have to go through this. I can't give you an answer, but I can tell you my story. My daughter was born 15 weeks premature. She weighed only 1 pound 3 ounces and wasn't breathing on her own for the first 2.5 months of her life. She was in the NICU for 98 days and came home weighing just under 5 pounds (I don't know what that translate's to in kilo's) anyway, she is now 6 months old and her doctor's want to evaluate her for cerebral palsy. They think she may have a mild form of it due to her lack of oxygen around the beginning of her life. She is small for her age and a little behind on her development. Her symptoms are very stiff muscles and not being able to reach or grasp for things. However she can smile, babble roll over and kick her feet quite well. I was told that in many cases of cerebral palsy, children will go through years of physical therapy and sometimes their problem won't even be detectable. Just hang in there and be there for your son, you'd be amazed at how strong these little people are, they can heal from almost anything. Good Luck.
6. here is a site to help with the apgar score... http://kidshealth.org/parent/newborn/first_days/apgar.html the drugs could have made him sleep peacefully... you will never know the outcome of how he is until you get there...