About 0.7% of newborns suffer a birth injury.
Experienced Greenville personal injury lawyer Bobby Jones explains the most common types of birth injuries and what parents need to know.
What Are Birth Injuries and How Do They Occur?
A birth injury is trauma that occurs during childbirth and is not a genetic defect. A birth injury may result from force or pressure applied to the infant during childbirth. It may also occur because of a lack of oxygen or other fetal distress.
Causes of birth injury
There may be multiple causes and contributing factors to birth injury, including:
- Failing to recognize warning signs
- Poor fetal monitoring
- Infant positioned improperly
- Waiting too long to take urgent or emergency action
- Maternal risk factors
- Inadequate healthcare provider skills
- Lack of medical knowledge among care providers
- Poor judgment
Erb’s Palsy and Shoulder Dystocia: Nerve Damage at Birth
Erb’s Palsy is muscle weakness and limpness in the shoulder, arm, and hand and is caused by nerve damage. It is also called:
- Brachial plexus birth injury
- Obstetric brachial plexus palsy
- Erb-Duchenne paralysis
- Shoulder dystocia
When the nerves of the shoulder are stretched or torn during childbirth, it may cause impairment of the shoulder, arm, and hands. The body may lose muscle function. The arm may appear limp, and the finger and palm may curl.
Not all cases are the same in nature and severity. Sometimes, the nerve rips from the spine or tears in another place. Other times, the impairment comes from scar tissue that puts pressure on the nerve, impairing signaling. Stretching without tears may also cause impairment.
Many children recover with guided exercise, beginning when the baby is a few weeks old. Exercises can prevent stiffness, and splinting can help with hand curling. Surgery may be needed for muscle or nerve repair.
Either a vaginal or cesarean birth may result in birth injury causing Erb’s Palsy.
Erb’s Palsy affects 0.9 to 2.6 children per 1,000 live births. Approximately 12,000 newborns in the United States are affected each year.
Cerebral Palsy Linked to Oxygen Deprivation During Labor
Seventy percent of cerebral palsy cases are linked to birth injury. Oxygen deprivation during birth, also called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) or neonatal asphyxia, can cause brain damage. This brain damage can impair movement and balance.
There are several ways that oxygen deprivation can occur during childbirth. The baby depends on its mother to supply oxygen through the placenta and umbilical cord. When this supply is disrupted, brain damage may occur.
Cerebral palsy may result from:
- Umbilical cord restricting blood flow
- Excessive bleeding
- Breech or abnormal positioning
- Long or traumatic delivery
- Maternal shock
- Large infant
- Blocked infant airway
There is no cure for cerebral palsy, but treatment may help. Physical therapy may improve muscle strength, function, and mobility, while medications may help improve muscle function. Speech and language therapy may improve communication. Surgery may help reshape the body structure to improve mobility.
Cerebral palsy diagnosis is often delayed for infants.
Fractures and Broken Bones During Delivery
One study found that 0.1% of live births result in a bone fracture.
Childbirth can place significant pressure on a baby. Causes and risk factors include long delivery, abnormal positioning, including breech position, shoulder dystocia, operative delivery, and incorrect use of delivery tools.
Commonly fractured bones during childbirth include the following:
- Clavicle
- Humerus
- Femur
- Skull
- Orbital bones
Dislocation may also occur.
When a newborn sustains a broken bone during childbirth, other complications, including oxygen deprivation, are more likely to be present.
Sometimes, the bone heals on its own. The child may require immobilization, comfort measures, and caregiver caution when lifting. Other times, surgery may be needed to position the bone. A clavicle fracture may not be noticed until a few weeks later, when there is a visible callus.
Brain Injuries from Delayed C-Sections or Medical Errors
A cesarean section (C-section) is a surgical procedure that delivers a baby through an incision in the mother’s uterus. It may be planned or may become necessary because of birth complications.
A baby in breech position may require a C-section. In addition, signs of fetal distress, umbilical cord complications, long labor, maternal infection, or preeclampsia may make a C-section necessary.
Failing to identify the need for a C-section and perform one promptly may result in a range of birth injuries, including oxygen deprivation, cerebral palsy, brain bleed, or stillbirth.
Facial Paralysis and Other Forceps-Related Injuries
Forceps are a medical instrument that can assist a vaginal birth. When labor is stalled or the mother is exhausted, forceps can guide the baby to delivery.
Using forceps requires grasping the baby with force. This pressure can cause injury.
Medical professionals must evaluate when forceps use is medically appropriate. They must weigh alternatives and risk factors.
Forceps delivery occurs in .05% of births in the United States.
Vacuum extraction is an alternative to forceps. However, it also poses a risk of injury. A child may suffer scalp injury, hemorrhage, bleeding under the scalp, or shoulder dystocia. The mother may also suffer complications, such as bleeding, tearing, and incontinence. In the United States, 2.6% of births involve vacuum extraction.
Legal Help Following a Birth Injury
If your newborn suffers an injury during childbirth, it may be the result of medical negligence. The question is why the birth injury occurred, whether it resulted from inadequate medical care, and if the injury could have been prevented with qualified healthcare services.
There are steps to filing a medical malpractice claim in South Carolina, including a Notice of Intent to File Suit. There is a unique statute of limitations that applies in South Carolina when a medical malpractice claim involves a child.
An experienced lawyer for birth injuries can assist you with these questions and the tasks needed to seek compensation for your child following a birth injury. In addition, a mother who is harmed because of inadequate medical care during childbirth may also qualify for compensation.
Contact an Experienced Greenville Personal Injury Lawyer
To talk to an experienced Greenville personal injury lawyer and see what you may receive for your case, contact Bobby Jones Law.
