Nancy423, I had the same problem with difficult child 1's delivery -- no fluid apparently left in me, and he aspirated so much meconium and had such poor APGARs that he had to go on a lung-bypass (ECMO) machine for several days and spend three weeks in the NICU to give his lungs a chance to be cleaned out so he wouldn't damage them. He was supposedly full-term...
difficult child 2 was 10 days late and had the cord around his neck and came out a little blue in the face...
easy child was 14 days late to the day, had a tiny bit of meconium staining only, and needed a wee bit of O2 in the delivery room, but that was it.
I honestly don't think the oxygen deprivation is the only story with mental illness. With regard to BiPolar (BP), the way our psychiatrist has explained in lectures he's given on the topic, there is a situation called "genetic anticipation", where it's believed that in disorders like BiPolar (BP), the gene is turned on or expressed sooner in subsequent generations. There could also just be the fact of MORE environmental triggers present in our world than what existed 50 years ago. I'm sure that whatever the explanation, there are many, many facets to it.
Until they find a way to prevent it from coming out, I'd settle for better medications with less toxic side effects, along with better testing and detection at an earlier age so that treatment can begin sooner. I think there have been plenty of studies that have shown the younger you get someone stabilized on medications, the greater their chance of staying medication compliant as an adult. We all know that BiPolar (BP) has the highest successful suicide rate of all mental health disorders. That's the one outcome we certainly want to avoid!