Infants Forum - Subgaleal Fluid After Vaccum Birth...??

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Q: Subgaleal Fluid After Vaccum Birth...??

asked by: jen1020 on April 19th, 2007

New User

Hi, i'm Jen, my son is 6 weeks old today and we just had our first emergency room visit.

On Tuesday my mother was holding my son and mentioned she thought she felt a lumpy spot on his head. I felt around his head and didn't feel anything. So this morning I was feeding him and went to pick him up to give him his bottle and felt what seemed like a huge blister type thing on the back of his head...like water under his skin.

We then went to the hospital and had a ct scan done to see if the fluid was on his brain or outside of his skull. The results said that all of the fluid was on the outside of his skull & they were 90% sure that it was all because of the fact that when i went into labor they had to use the vaccum to help get him out. The doctor said that it was just subgaleal fluid and it would go away on its own, and it was just gush because it was healing.

My son is not lethargic and is he responding to sound and to light. His vitals were perfect, he weights what he should, he passed his vision and hearing tests, hes eating perfectly, hes sleeping perfectly, hes got a little bit of a runny nose. Hes been getting tylenol and mylicon drops. He is acting like he normally does, happy, and sleeps great.

So my question is, has anyone ever had this happen to them?
The only other things I can find on the internet about subgaleal fluid is about hemmoraging... and the doctor said his would go away by itself. I'm really just looking to be reassured that this has happened to other mothers and babies who have had to use the vac during delivery.

Thanks! I look forward to any advice or responses.

Replies(4)

Angela_1987

replied on June 28th, 2007

New User

My son had the same thing happen to him he is eight months old now and it has gone away. But when he was born they used vacuu extractor on him. They did fracture his skull but did not know it untill i noticed the swelling like water on the back of his head. Things like this may cause serios problems when your child gets older. My son is going to early intervention right now for developmental delays i dont want u to get scared but get your child checked otu thouroghly. We thought my son was fine but when all the children were sitting up in daycare at 4 and 5 months and rolling over at 3 and 4 months. I wondered what was wrong with my baby. He statred sitting up about two weeks ago and rolled over at almost 7 months. With early intervention u may be able to help ur child catch up. But please dont take things like this lightly. I pray ur child is perfectly fine and healthy

Bridget

replied on June 28th, 2007

Especially eHealthy

Angela_1987 wrote:

My son is going to early intervention right now for developmental delays i dont want u to get scared but get your child checked otu thouroghly. We thought my son was fine but when all the children were sitting up in daycare at 4 and 5 months and rolling over at 3 and 4 months. I wondered what was wrong with my baby. He statred sitting up about two weeks ago and rolled over at almost 7 months. With early intervention u may be able to help ur child catch up. But please dont take things like this lightly. I pray ur child is perfectly fine and healthy

these are not serious delays. i'm a member of another forum where there are at least 100 members (all mothers of 7-8 month olds), some of them still aren't sitting up unassisted and some of them still don't roll. all babies develop differently, i'd say your son sounds like he's still on track.

cori13

replied on June 14th, 2008

New User

Subgaleal Fluid After Vaccum Birth...??

We noticed a swollen, liquid spot on the back of our son's head recently. He is 7 weeks old. The doctor thought it was spinal fluid leaking and we were immediatley sent to a bigger hospital a few hours away. The doctors said that he wouldn't be acting so "normal" if it was spinal fluid, though none of them had ever seen anything like it. A CT scan showed a normal brain. He is acting normal in every other way. They were left to assume that it was due to the fact that he was born with the help of a vaccum. I still feel uneasy as to what it is and why it just developed when he was 6 weeks old? I'm wondering if anyone has any more info on this.

stephb_79

replied on June 13th, 2009

New User

I was washing my 6 month old daughters hair today and found a golf ball size swollen spot on her head. I was very concerned and rushed her to the hospital. They did a ct scan and took blood and they consulted a pediatric neurosurgeon at the nearest childrens hospital. After all this they told me that it was subgaleal fluid collection. The neurosurgeon said that he has seen about 12 cases of this in the last year. He said that it normally appears between 6 and 8 months and that in 50 percent of the cases it goes away on its own. I was told that if it didnt go away that they would drain the fluid and wrap the area with bandages. They told me that in about half the cases the babies were born with the help of a vacuum. In my daughters case she was not born with any help. I still need to see the neurosurgeon at the childrens hospital to double check that every thing is alright but the doctor told me not to worry unless she starts to act differently. Hopefully this helpful to all of you.

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