Shoulder dystocia is a serious and potentially fatal birth injury, which occurs when a baby’s shoulders become stuck in the mother’s pelvic area while being delivered vaginally. This condition may put both the mother and the infant in danger because it slows down labor and can potentially cause damage to the nerves of the brachial plexus, resulting in brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy). This palsy may occur as a baby becomes stuck against his or her mother’s pelvic bone, which then causes severe stress and injury to the infant’s shoulders and neck.
What Are the Causes of Shoulder Dystocia
Shoulder dystocia typically occurs in situations where the medical professional involved fails to account for risk factors including the fact that the baby is too big, the baby is in the wrong position (breech birth), or the mother’s pelvis is too small for the baby.
Factors that may lead to shoulder dystocia are:
• Shoulder dystocia occurred during a previous labor
• The baby is larger than average (fetal macrosomia)
• The mother is having twins or multiple babies
• The mother is overweight or obese
• The mother has diabetes or gestational diabetes
• The labor has been induced
• The labor is prolonged and difficult
Complications of Shoulder Dystocia
Shoulder dystocia may potentially result in serious complications for the infant including:
• Nerve damage to the infant’s shoulders, arms, and hands, which may result in permanent injuries and disabilities such as paralysis.
• Lack of oxygen to the brain, which may cause brain damage, conditions such as cerebral palsy, or even death.
• Erb’s palsy or brachial plexus palsy, a weakness or paralysis in the arm that is caused by nerve damage at birth, often because the child is pulled or forced during delivery when the shoulder is stuck.
How Can Shoulder Dystocia Be Prevented?
There are many ways in which shoulder dystocia can be prevented. In all cases, it is important that the mother and child be carefully monitored throughout the pregnancy. Women with diabetes or gestational diabetes should be properly instructed on how to manage those conditions with diet and medication under their doctor’s guidance. Women should also be informed about the option of scheduling a cesarean section (C-section), particularly if they are at risk. Sometimes, a C-section may be the best possible way to reduce the risks of birth-related complications including shoulder dystocia.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
The costs of caring for a child with shoulder dystocia or other birth injuries can add up very quickly. If your child’s injury was caused by medical negligence (carelessness), you may be able to seek compensation for damages including loss of earnings, medical expenses, cost of hospitalization, ongoing treatment and therapies, psychological counseling, 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 $1,846,000 because the verdict was so large. This was the highest amount upheld by the appellate (appeals) 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. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict of $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict of $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
We have seen many cases where New York City Health and Hospital Corporation facilities deliver babies who are born with cerebral palsy or brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) stemming from negligence (carelessness), and/or medical malpractice in the labor and delivery, etc. of the children.
The following list identifies some of these hospitals (operated by New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation):
• Jacobi Hospital aka Bronx Municipal 1400 Pelham Parkway South Bronx, New York 10461 718-918-5000
• Lincoln Hospital 234 East 149th Street Bronx, New York 10451 718-579-5000
• North Central Bronx Hospital 3424 Kossuth Avenue Bronx, New York 10467 718-519-5000
• Coney Island Hospital 2601 Ocean Parkway Brooklyn, New York 11235 718-616-3000
• Kings County Hospital 451 Clarkson Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11203 718-245-3131
• Woodhull Hospital 760 Broadway Brooklyn, New York 11206 718-963-8000
• Bellevue Hospital 462 First Avenue New York, New York 10016 212-562-5555
• Harlem Hospital 506 Lenox Avenue New York, New York 10037 212-939-1000
• Metropolitan Hospital 1901 First Avenue New York, New York 10029 212-423-6262
• Elmhurst Hospital 79-01 Broadway Elmhurst, New York 11373 718-334-4000
• Queens Hospital Center 82-68 164th Street Jamaica, New York 11432 718-883-3000
Please contact us TOLL-FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorney’s fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury, lead poisoning, and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL-FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
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