Articles Posted in Birth Injuries

Unfortunately, brachial plexus birth palsy, Erb’s palsy, and other conditions arising from nerve damage continue to affect children in New York. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, brachial plexus birth palsy is usually a condition that results from injury to newborns caused by those who deliver or assist in delivery when the nerves connected to a baby’s fingers, arm, hand or neck are stretched. Less than one percent of newborns develop brachial plexus palsy. The seriousness of a condition is usually diagnosed by a pediatrician through an examination of weakness in a baby’s arm. 

The most severe type of nerve damage, known as avulsion, occurs when a nerve is ruptured and separated or torn away from the spinal cord. This type of damage may be permanent. Other forms of nerve damage, also caused by stretching and strain on the neck or head during delivery, may result. If the injury is severe enough to cause scar tissue to form and affect healthy nerves, the damage caused may be permanent. If the upper nerves are damaged but not the lower nerves, the condition is known as Erb’s palsy. Usually these injuries occur during a difficult delivery.

Several symptoms may be present when there has been brachial plexus nerve damage, as noted by John Hopkins Medicine. Avulsion results in “a burning, crushing type of pain.” Other symptoms include paralysis, other pain, weakness and numbness or loss of feeling.

Having a baby is supposed to be a joyous time, but for some New York parents, this wonderful time turns into sadness because of a birth injury. According to HealthcareBusinessTech.com, around 30 percent of birth injuries are preventable. Prevention starts with good care plans developed by caregivers.

A group of hospitals came together to start using something called the Premier Perinatal Safety Initiative. Under this initiative, the focus was placed on increasing team communication between all the caregivers working with a pregnant mother. In addition, each team worked using a care bundle, which included a set of four directives. These directives outlined specific things each team must do during the care of the mother. These could be things like performing certain exams before administering medications known to cause complications or carefully assessing the baby’s weight.

Among the hospitals that participated in the initiative, saw a reduction in birth traumas of 22 percent with a 15 percent decrease in injuries to mothers. Claims for injuries went down by 39 percent in a four-year period, too.

It is commonly thought that in the case of a birth injury or medical malpractice claim, only the doctor can be held accountable. In actuality, the hospital, nurses, other medical staff and even the pharmaceutical companies can be held accountable.

When it comes to birth injuries, hospitals can be held responsible for their own negligence as a corporation or vicariously liable for the negligence of their medical staff or employees. A hospital is responsible for hiring staff with the proper credentials, education, training and verification and also of providing the appropriate training to its staff. If a hospital hires an employee without looking into the employee’s credentials, education and training then it can be held liable. This is also the case where the hospital knows that an employee is not competent but allows them to perform in the hospital.

Hospitals are required to have an appropriate number of staff and nurses at all times in case of emergencies. Hospitals can also be held accountable when their medical facilities fail to protect the baby or mother from harm or is the cause of harm. It can also be held liable if tests are not properly performed, if medical records were not properly organized, or if the hospital did not allow treatment to the patient on the basis of their religion, gender, race or their ability to pay.

It is widely known that a negligent doctor ultimately takes the fall in case of a birth injury attributed to medical malpractice. In actual sense, both the hospital management and nurses can be held accountable in case complications arise during the delivery process of a newborn child.

Since the hospital management is responsible for the hiring of new staff, it is in their best interests to adhere to strict regulations regarding verified credentials, training, verification and education of new and existing employees. The absence of such prudent requirements can inexplicably lead to medical malpractice with a birth injury the worst case scenario. To aggravate the situation, certain hospitals opt to hire unqualified workers, yet they can abruptly affect the hospital’s reputation sooner rather than later. Hospitals dedicated to effective service delivery should possess adequate staff, comprising of doctors, nurses and cleaners at all times to accommodate the regular influx of patients.

In the absence of such professionals, a hospital can be sued for endangering an infant or mother during critical emergency procedures. Incomplete tests can also throw a spanner in the works by piling more charges to the guilty party. As a victim, it is irrefutable that your physical and mental wellbeing might never be the same again. Whether it’s a serious injury such as a uterine rupture, a brain injury or even a stillbirth from an expectant woman, hoping for a full recovery might seem like a daunting task, to say the least. The substantial medical expenses will be catered for by compensation upon a conclusive inquiry. Medical misdiagnosis isn’t a far-fetched idea when a negligent doctor prescribes the wrong medication courtesy of poorly organized medical records.

Brachial palsy is a type of birth injury that occurs in the brachial plexus and occurs twice for every thousand births. The brachial plexus is a concentration of nerves that connect the arms and hands to the spinal cord. Brachial palsy or Erb’s palsy as it’s commonly referred to occurs when too much force is applied to the head and neck region while the baby is being delivered. This most often happens to large babies when medical personnel is overzealous with their use of suction equipment or gripping tools when delivering the baby.

When too much force is applied to the neck and shoulder region while pulling the baby out, the little body can’t handle it and nerves in the brachial plexus rupture thus causing nerve damage. This can cause serious long term damage ranging from loss of sensation in the hands to paralysis of the whole arm. An indicator of brachial palsy is that the baby will normally not move the affected arm and keep it tucked in beside the body.

Any injuries relating to brachial palsy or complications are generally a product of negligence on the part of the physician or medical personnel who delivered the baby. The negligence can come in various forms:

There are certain things it is generally best to steer clear of when it comes to a childbirth. One is a baby being born too far ahead of a due date. A premature birth (a birth that comes over three weeks earlier than the due date) can have a variety of risks associated with it.

This includes increased chances of the child developing harmful conditions in relation to the birth. A list of some of the complications babies can experience in connection to a premature birth can be found on our law firm’s page on preterm birth.

Sometimes, circumstances are such that medical professionals are powerless to prevent a birth from being premature. However, in other situations, there might be steps available to a doctor that could head off a potential premature birth, and help push the birth back to a time in which the baby is more developed and better able to handle the various things that go along with delivery.