Injuries to baby: Erb's Palsy Compensation Claims

What is Erb’s Palsy?

On occasions during delivery a baby’s shoulder may lodge against the mother’s pubic bone. This is known as shoulder dystocia and is a medical emergency. Shoulder Dystocia restricts the supply of oxygen to the baby’s brain and can result in a hypoxic brain injury. It is therefore imperative that the child is delivered quickly and safely.

There are certain procedures that must be followed in order to successfully deliver the baby and avoid any injuries or death.

When these procedures are not used, or are used incorrectly, Erb’s Palsy may occur. Erb’s Palsy is a condition in which there is damage to the child’s brachial plexus nerve causing a palsy. This usually occurs as a result of excessive traction applied by the delivering Midwife or Obstetrician.

There is usually no need to apply excessive traction; following the HELPERR protocol will, in most cases, ensure the baby is delivered swiftly without injury to the shoulder.

Where the HELPERR protocol is worked through to no avail, the serious risk of brain injury or death will far outweigh the potential damage to the child’s arm. In this situation a resultant Erb’s Palsy is not deemed negligent, unless the protocol was negligently worked through.

A child with Erb’s Palsy may successfully recover following intensive physiotherapy. However, many children are left with a significantly disabled arm.

Is Erb’s Palsy always negligent?

Not necessarily. However, there is a presumption that where, as noted above, the HELPERR protocol has not been followed correctly (or not used at all) any damage was caused by negligent.

Erb’ Palsy Compensation Claims start to become complicated when it is the child’s posterior shoulder that is damaged (this is the shoulder which is not stuck at the pubic bone). In this scenario it has been advanced in a number of Erb’s Palsy Compensation Claims that the injury was not caused by excessive traction but rather ‘maternal propulsive forces’, i.e. natural forces of labour. This is not a widely supported opinion but nevertheless it has been used as a successful defence in a number of Erb’s Palsy Compensation claims.

It is sometimes possible to show that in fact what was thought to be the posterior shoulder was in fact the anterior shoulder and that recordings of the baby’s presentation were incorrect.
 
What is involved in Erb’s Palsy Compensation Claims?

Erb’s Palsy Claims are somewhat complex in that they may involve issues in relation to the techniques used to deliver the child and the amount of traction employed.

Given that shoulder dystocia is a medical emergency, there will come a point in the delivery that an Erb’s Palsy will be unavoidable in order to save the child’s life, or to avoid permanent brain damage.

Erb’s Palsy Compensation Claims often take a number of years to reach a conclusion and it is often the case that the child’s prognosis cannot be fully assed until they are a certain age.

Whilst there is a presumption of negligence in the majority of instances of Erb’s Palsy, it is still necessary to ensure that the case is assessed by an expert Obstetrician and / or Midwife.

How can Birth Injury Lawyers Network help?

For starters, our panel Lawyers are widely considered to be amongst the leading Birth Injury Lawyers in the UK and USA.

They have investigated and successfully settled many Erb’s Palsy Compensation Claims, some of which have settled for substantial amounts and involved extremely complex issues in relation the the law and medicine involved.

They really do care about victims of negligence at birth and understand the emotional and financial costs involved. They know that you will require not only support but also expert advice to ensure that you recover the maximum amount of compensation for your child.
 
If you child was injured at birth, and you believe that they may have the grounds for an Erb’s Palsy compensation claim, contact us today to discuss your case with a specialist Birth Injury Claims Lawyer.