Perinatal asphyxia,
neonatal asphyxia, or
birth asphyxia is the medical condition resulting from
deprivation of oxygen to a newborn infant that lasts long enough during the birth process to cause physical harm, usually to the brain. Hypoxic damage can occur to most of the infant's organs (
heart,
lungs,
liver,
gut,
kidneys), but
brain damage is of most concern and perhaps the least likely to quickly or completely heal. In more pronounced cases, an infant will survive, but with damage to the brain manifested as either mental, such as
developmental delay or
intellectual disability, or physical, such as
spasticity.