A hypoxic brain injury is more formally known as perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Perinatal refers to the time immediately before and/or after birth, while hypoxic means oxygen deprivation and ischemic means a lack of blood flow. Lastly, encephalopathy relates to a disease or damage that affects the brain. So, put together, a hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy injury is a type of injury occurring during the neonatal period of an infant’s life that is caused by a limited oxygen supply and blood flow to the brain.