After starting the brighter of the two sides, the Hammers went behind on the half hour as the visitors scored two goals in the space of three minutes.
West Ham got a goal back through Vaz Te in first-half injury time and then conceded only seconds later after they failed to deal with a Birmingham corner in the dying seconds.
A stirring second half performance gave the Hammers hope. On 70 minutes Carlton Cole converted from a Nolan flick-on and then with only 2 minutes of normal time remaining the Henri Lansbury’s shot was handled in the area and Ricardo Vaz-Te stepped up to secure what may well be a precious point for the Hammers.