ABSTRACT
Birth injury could be caused by trauma during the birth process or by perinatal conditions that lead to fetal hypoxia, or both. Birth injuries may be avoidable by obstetric intervention, or may be completely unavoidable. Caput succedaneum is a diffuse subcutaneous, extra-periosteal fluid collection with poorly defined margins. Unlike a cephalohaematoma, it can extend across the suture lines and the midline. It can be caused by the pressure of the presenting part against the birth canal or by vacuum extraction. Subgaleal haemorrhage is a collection of blood between the periosteum and the aponeurosis. About 77 per cent of cases follow an instrumental delivery. Cephalohaematoma is a subperiosteal collection of blood caused by the rupture of vessels beneath the periosteum. It is normally limited to the surface of one cranial bone, usually the parietal or occipital bone. Palpation of an organised cephalohaematoma gives an impression of ‘scalloping’ at the margins.
