Can Erb’s Palsy and other Birth Injuries be Prevented when Delivering Bigger Babies?

 A study of 4,000 pregnant women in the United Kingdom may determine if delivering bigger babies earlier will prevent birth injuries such as Erb’s palsy or brachial plexus injury. The clinical trial is led by a partnership between University of Warwick and other entities. It is expected to help decide if inducing birth in certain cases is preferable to pregnancies going full-term in order to reduce complications.

A baby that is larger than predicted by a mother’s size can cause complications at birth. One of the biggest issues in such cases is difficulty with delivering the shoulders after the baby’s head has come out. Erb’s palsy or brachial plexus injuries are the most common consequences in cases where the baby gets stuck in the birth canal during labor and delivery. Erb’s palsy is caused by damage to nerves in the neck during birth. This type of birth injury may cause the child to have trouble using his or her arm and the damage or disability may even become permanent.
Larger Babies and Risk of Erb’s Palsy
The term “fetal macrosmia” is used to describe a newborn that is significantly larger than average. Such an infant has a birth weight of more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces regardless of his or her gestational age. About 9 percent of babies born worldwide exceed this birth weight. However, the risks associated with larger babies increase significantly when the baby’s birth weight is over 9 pounds 15 ounces. A bigger baby tends to complicate vaginal delivery and may put the baby at risk of injury during birth.
Erb’s palsy is most commonly caused by the excessive pulling or stretching of an infant’s head and shoulders during a vaginal birth. When an infant’s head and neck are pulled to the side as the shoulders pass through the birth canal, it may result in a brachial plexus injury or Erb’s palsy. This may occur among large babies with broad shoulders. When the infant’s head drops into the birth canal in such cases, one shoulder is held back by the pubic bone.
As the baby is pulled further out with the use of force, the nerves of the brachial plexus are stretched. The risk of a child developing Erb’s palsy nearly triples if he or she develops shoulder dystocia during birth. This occurs when the baby’s head is delivered, but both shoulders get struck in the birth canal. The risk for Erb’s palsy increases when an obstetrician uses extraction tools during delivery to get the baby out.
It is the medical staff’s responsibility to perform consistent fetal monitoring and understand these risk factors. If it becomes evident that the baby is large and that it may be a difficult labor, doctors must make decisions whether to deliver the baby through a C-section. Doing so might prevent trauma or injury from occurring during birth and avoid complications that lead to lifelong disabilities.
Protecting Your Rights
Raising a child with Erb’s palsy can become costly. The expenses will usually depend on the severity of the child’s condition. Children who have severe motion impairment will need a lot more therapy and rehabilitation. Some of the typical expenses parents of children with Erb’s palsy face include, but are not limited to, ongoing medical bills (including physical and occupational therapy costs), wages and benefits lost by a parent and future loss of income for the affected child, and cost of psychological services, etc.
If your child has suffered a birth injury or has been diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury as a result of medical negligence, you may be able to file a birth injury lawsuit seeking compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost income and benefits, loss of livelihood, hospital and rehabilitation costs, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc.
The experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. One of our clients secured a $2,850,000 verdict that was reduced by the appeals court to $1,850,000 because the verdict was so large. This was the highest amount upheld by the appellate courts for many, many years. In addition we recovered $1,400,000 for a newborn who lost motion in the arm during birth due to doctors applying incorrect force on the baby’s head.
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Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-09-trial-aims-complications-delivery-bigger.html