ERB’S PALSY

Welcoming a new baby into the world can be one of the happiest days of your life. The most important and desired outcome on that special day is of course, a safe delivery, free of any harm to the baby and mother.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

A birth injury, characterized by damage to a baby’s brain or body function due to a harmful event that occurred at birth, may be the result of a medical mistake. Erb’s palsy, a disorder sometimes referred to as shoulder dystocia or brachial plexus palsy, is the result of damage to some, but not all, of the nerves which form the brachial plexus, a bundle of nerves responsible for moving the shoulder, arm, wrist and fingers.  Most typically, the Erb’s Palsy injury is a “stretch injury” (neuropraxia), but sometimes the injury involves torn nerve fibers, a completely torn nerve (nerve rupture) or, a nerve root torn from the spinal cord (nerve avulsion).  Erb’s Palsy is very often caused when the baby has been unnaturally or too forcefully pulled, twisted or jerked by a medical provider during the delivery period.

This harmful mistake causes significant injuries to the baby’s neck, injuring nerve roots C5 and C6, with C7 also affected in 50% of instances. Evident signs that a newborn has suffered an injury related to Erb’s palsy are as followed:

  • Inability to move arm or shoulder
  • Arm hangs limp with wrist and hand turned inward
  • Weak or absent reflexes
  • Decreased grip strength

If left untreated, Erb’s palsy may lead to:

  • Partial or full paralysis of arm and shoulder
  • Limited growth of the arm and hand
  • Permanent arm weakness and numbness
  • Deteriorating muscles (Muscle atrophy)

Although it may be possible for Erb’s palsy to resolve completely in the first year the infant’s life, no child should have to experience these devastating circumstances. Furthermore, if proper care is not administered after the preventable birth injury took place, your child may be permanently disabled.

If your child’s injury was caused by a medical mistake, the experienced Birth Injury lawyers at The Yost Legal Group are here to help.

Call The Yost Legal Group today at 1-800-YOST-LAW (967-8529) for a FREE, confidential, no-obligation consultation. When you call, you will speak with a Baltimore Birth Injury attorney with real experience absolutely free.

If we take your case, our legal team will investigate every detail surrounding your child’s birth injury and will help provide the answers you seek. Lastly, at The Yost Legal Group, you will never pay an attorney’s fee unless we achieve a recovery for you. We don’t get paid until you do.

Birth Injuries Alarmingly High in U.S.

While our country boasts some of the best hospitals and doctors in the world, the U.S. has a surprisingly high infant mortality rate, ranking 180th in the world for infant deaths. Thousands of babies do not survive the birthing process and even more experience defect or deformity at birth.

A birth injury is defined as any damage or injury to the infant’s body occurring before, during, or slightly after the child’s birth. Birth injuries vary from minor, easily resolved issues to issues so severe the infant does not survive. Complications of pregnancy or labor such as prolonged labor, where the baby is unusually small or large or when the baby is in a difficult position during labor and delivery, can bring about difficulties for a newborn.

Bringing a new baby into this world should be the most joyous time for a family, however, this is not always the case. There are thousands of women whose infants experience birth injury or death due to the negligence or malpractice on behalf of the doctor or hospital where the baby is delivered.

Maryland is home to one of our country’s landmark cases in a birth injury. In 2012, a Baltimore Circuit Court judge awarded one family $55 million in their law suit against John Hopkins Hospital. The court found the hospital negligent for waiting two hours to perform an emergency C-section on a mother whose baby was in distress. As a result, the baby boy was born with permanent and severe mental and physical disabilities.

Traumatic birth injuries include:
• Erb’s Palsy
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Brain Stem Injuries
• Closed Head Injury
• Anoxia and Hypoxia
• Infections
• Seizures
• Stillbirths
• Prenatal asphyxia
• Shoulder Dystocia
• Fractures
• Failure to Notice Fetal Distress
• Spinal cord trauma
• Intracranial hemorrhage

Financial compensation can assist in getting families the support they deserve, but birth injury law suits can also serve as a way to highlight unsafe practices at medical facilities and prevent further negligent acts of hospitals and physicians.

You will carry the burden and expense of your child’s care for a lifetime. To find out more about your rights, and how you can obtain the compensation you deserve to help you care for your child, please contact the experienced and knowledgeable birth injury attorneys at The Yost Legal Group.

If your child has suffered from birth defect, birth injury or wrongful death in Baltimore MD or Northern Virginia, call 1-800-YOST-LAW (1-800-967-8529) to speak with one of our experienced attorneys today.

The Yost Legal Group Birth Injury Law Group will help you find answers. If you have questions, call to speak with a experienced birth injury lawyer for help.

The Yost Legal Group, Experienced Lawyers Dedicated to Protecting your Rights.