Meconium Aspiration Syndrome Symptoms

What is Meconium Aspiration Syndrome?

Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) happens when a baby breathes in their first feces (meconium) while still in the womb. This can be due to the baby experiencing stress.

Meconium aspiration syndrome, when treated promptly, often resolves without complications. However, delayed treatment can lead to severe lung issues.

If your baby experienced MAS, you may have unanswered questions. For many families, when things go wrong, they may not be comfortable asking their own doctor. Our experienced labor and delivery nurses are here to help.

Talk to one of our registered nurses in confidence. There is no cost or obligation.

What Are Common Meconium Aspiration Symptoms?

There are several common meconium aspiration syndrome symptoms that delivery teams are trained to watch for. These include rapid breathing, chest retractions (pulling in of the chest), grunting sounds when breathing, bluish skin tone, and limpness shortly after birth.

Did you know

A low Apgar score is one of the meconium aspiration syndrome symptoms. Learn more about the Apgar test.

Here is more information on meconium aspiration syndrome signs and symptoms.

1. Breathing Troubles

When a baby inhales a mix of amniotic fluid and meconium, meconium particles can damage the lungs and block surfactant (the substance that helps open the newborn’s lungs at birth), causing difficult, rapid, and labored breathing. Babies may also make grunting sounds.

A baby with MAS may require the assistance of a mechanical breathing machine.

2. Skin Color Changes

Babies with MAS may experience skin color changes due to breathing difficulties. Light-skinned babies may develop blue lips or skin (cyanosis), and babies with darker skin may develop white or gray skin.

Breathing troubles can be serious, and health care providers should intervene right away if a baby is showing skin color changes. It is one of the more concerning meconium aspiration syndrome symptoms.

3. Dark Stains or Streaks in the Amniotic Fluid

Amniotic fluid is normally clear or yellow. If the fluid is brown or dark green, the baby has probably passed meconium while in the womb. This may be a sign of fetal distress.

4. Limpness in the Baby After Birth

Limpness in a baby after birth indicates reduced muscle tone and can be a symptom of MAS.

Meconium Aspiration Syndrome Risk Factors

MAS risk factors should alert health care providers to watch for meconium aspiration syndrome symptoms.

Risk factors of meconium aspiration syndrome include:

Decreased oxygen to the baby during pregnancy
Difficult or prolonged labor
Low Apgar score (a test that checks health based on appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration)
Maternal diabetes or high blood pressure
Post-term pregnancy (when a baby is past their due date)
Presence of meconium in the amniotic fluid
Problems with the umbilical cord or placenta
Smaller-than-average babies

How Do You Detect Meconium Aspiration Syndrome Symptoms?

When a baby shows meconium aspiration symptoms, delivery teams are trained to respond. If it is treated properly, MAS usually resolves without any problems.

Here are some ways doctors detect meconium aspiration syndrome symptoms:

Listen with a stethoscope to identify abnormal breath sounds, especially crackly, coarse sounds.
Order a chest X-ray of your baby’s lungs. X-rays of infants with MAS feature streaky or patchy areas on the lungs.
Perform a blood gas analysis. A blood gas analysis of a baby with MAS shows decreased oxygen, low blood acidity, and increased carbon dioxide.
Take your baby’s heart rate with a fetal monitor. Babies with MAS usually have slow heart rates.
Use a laryngoscope to check your baby’s vocal cords (larynx) for meconium stains with a specialized camera tube. The tool may be able to remove meconium particles and other tissues from your child’s larynx.

Recognizing meconium aspiration symptoms is crucial. When detected promptly, treatment is highly effective to avoid long-term damage.

Treatment for Meconium Aspiration Syndrome Symptoms

When babies show meconium aspiration syndrome signs and symptoms, doctors have several treatment options to help them recover. MAS treatments address the symptoms and ensure the baby can breathe and function properly.

Treatments depend on whether your child has mild or severe MAS, and may include:

Inhaled nitric oxide to open blood vessels and restore oxygen to the brain and other affected tissues.
Mechanical ventilation, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), pumps oxygenated blood throughout your baby’s body to relieve respiratory distress.
Suctioning meconium-stained amniotic fluid from the baby’s upper airways, including the throat, mouth, and nose. Doctors only recommend this for vigorous full-term newborns who had no signs of fetal distress during pregnancy.
Using saline to dilute meconium in the amniotic fluid. This is called amnioinfusion.

Can Medical Malpractice Lead to Meconium Aspiration Syndrome?

Yes, medical malpractice can lead to MAS. If health care professionals fail to promptly detect and manage meconium aspiration syndrome symptoms, birth injury medical malpractice could be involved.

Situations that could be considered medical malpractice include:

Delayed response to fetal distress
Inadequate monitoring
Not performing a timely cesarean section (C-section)

Midwives, doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals are responsible for consistently monitoring your baby’s health throughout your pregnancy.

If they don’t do this, they may miss meconium aspiration syndrome symptoms, such as dark stains in the amniotic fluid and signs of fetal distress.

If you believe medical malpractice caused your child’s MAS, you may have legal options.

Find out with a free case review right now.

A free case review is the first step in pursuing compensation for you and your family.

Get a Free Case Review

Legal Help for Meconium Aspiration Syndrome

If your delivery team failed to detect and treat your baby’s meconium aspiration syndrome symptoms, you may be able to take legal action with the help of a birth injury lawyer.

The Birth Injury Justice Center is committed to helping families get justice and compensation for the harm that was done to their child.

We partner with some of the best birth injury law firms in the country. See if we can connect you with a top birth injury lawyer near you.

Call (800) 914-1562 day or night to talk directly with one of our Patient Advocates. You can also fill out our case review form to find out how we may be able to help.

Meconium Aspiration Syndrome Symptoms FAQs

What are the causes of meconium aspiration syndrome?

MAS can happen for various reasons, including stress resulting from low oxygen levels or an infection. Stress makes the baby take deep gasps, causing them to inhale amniotic fluid. The baby may develop MAS if the amniotic fluid contains meconium.

What are the signs and symptoms of meconium aspiration syndrome?

Some common meconium aspiration syndrome symptoms are:

Bluish skin tone
Grunting when breathing
Rapid heartbeat
Struggling to cry

Babies with MAS may need special care in the hospital. Thankfully, with proper care, most babies with meconium aspiration syndrome recover well.

Do babies recover from meconium aspiration syndrome?

Yes, most babies recover from meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) within several days. If you suspect your baby has MAS, talk to your doctor as soon as possible.

Is meconium aspiration syndrome dangerous?

In most babies, MAS is usually treated and managed within several days. However, babies with MAS are at a slightly higher risk for asthma, pneumonia, collapsed lung (pneumothorax), and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN).

Severe cases of MAS may cause hypoxia (lack of oxygen in tissues) and brain damage.

What are the long-term effects of swallowing meconium?

Long-term effects of swallowing meconium include asthma-like symptoms, pneumonia, poor growth, and lack of oxygen. In some cases, lack of oxygen can lead to brain damage and conditions such as cerebral palsy.

How do you recognize meconium aspiration symptoms and diagnose the syndrome?

Doctors identify meconium aspiration symptoms and diagnose the syndrome by performing the following tests:

Blood gas analysis
Chest X-ray
Laryngoscope to check the larynx (voice box) for meconium stains

How do I know if my baby passed meconium in the womb?

If your baby passed meconium in the womb, doctors may see the following signs:

Dark streaks or stains in the amniotic fluid
Difficulty breathing
Limp body
Skin color has changed to a bluish tone