How Medical Negligence Causes Erb’s Palsy

Failure to Release the Impacted Shoulder Correctly

If a vaginal delivery proceeds and shoulder dystocia occurs, you may have a claim if it can be shown that the healthcare professionals didn’t adopt the correct manoeuvres to release the impacted shoulder to deliver the baby safely.

Healthcare professionals are trained on how to safely overcome shoulder dystocia and the latest research suggests that if appropriate care is given, it’s possible to safely deliver babies without injury to the brachial plexus.

The most widely applied technique is called the McRoberts manoeuvre and involves two healthcare professionals hyperflexing the mother's legs tightly to her abdomen. At the same time, a third healthcare professional will apply supra pubic pressure by pressing down on the mother’s lower abdomen to release the shoulder.

But sometimes, healthcare professionals perform these manoeuvres incorrectly or excessively pull, twist or stretch the head to try to release the arm, which can damage the nerves in the brachial plexus.

If this has happened to you when you were a baby, you could make a medical negligence claim once you reach 18 years old or you could claim on your child's behalf before their 18th birthday.

Going through an experience like this, where medical negligence is involved, can be a really difficult trauma to process. It can leave you with some serious trust issues when it comes to the healthcare and medical system. You may feel like you’ll never be able to trust a medical professional again when it comes to your health, and this can be a really tough thing to struggle with.

Health is a difficult and sensitive topic for everyone. Poor health can really affect your mental wellbeing, too, because it can lead to a lot of anxiety and worries. In addition, poor health can massively impact the quality of your life, especially if your condition is debilitating. Poor health can also prove costly to deal with, when it comes to specialised healthcare.

That’s why it’s so important that healthcare and medical professionals are experts, and that they make as little mistakes as possible – and when they do make mistakes, they should be held accountable. The more severe medical negligence cases can unfortunately lead to victims suffering with lifelong conditions and symptoms which have an affect on their lives and on their mental and physical health.

Failure to Recommend a C-section

In vaginal deliveries, after delivery of the head, the baby’s anterior shoulder can sometimes get stuck above the mother’s pubic bone. This is known as shoulder dystocia and prevents the baby from moving any further through the birth canal.

This is a medical emergency and is more likely if the baby is larger than average.

Not all large babies suffer shoulder dystocia, but healthcare professionals have a duty to check for risk factors for shoulder dystocia. They should also tell mothers if they’re at increased risk of shoulder dystocia occurring so they can make an informed choice about the mode of delivery.

If these discussions didn’t take place and they could have changed your mind about your preferred delivery method, you may have grounds to claim compensation for medical negligence.

This is one of the examples as to why it can seem difficult or daunting to claim compensation for medical negligence. Chances are, you may not have much medical knowledge or legal knowledge, which can leave you confused as to what the proper procedures should have been during the birth, and if you don’t understand that, it can be tricky to know what exactly you can claim for – or whether you can claim at all.

That’s why, at Simpson Millar, our friendly and approachable team are able to explain the legal side of things to you. In addition, we’ll work through your case and engage with independent medical professionals to assess your situation and provide a second opinion. This way, you’ll be able to understand whether the right procedure was followed – and if it wasn’t, we’ll help you claim compensation for this medical negligence.

Neither of these things – figuring out the medical side and the legal side – have to be difficult or stressful if you have the right legal team behind you. We can help you get second medical opinions on your medical negligence case, and from this point, we can assist you in putting together the evidence you’ll need to build your claim for compensation.

In addition, we’ll walk you through the process of claiming, making sure you’re always aware of and adhering to deadlines. This way, we can help take the mental load off your shoulders, so you can focus on mentally healing from your experiences. We’ll work with you at all times to make sure you get the result you need.

Get in Touch

If you’re a victim of medical negligence which led to you or your child suffering from Erb’s Palsy, get in touch with our friendly and approachable team today. This can be a scary first step to make, but it’ll help move you forward towards getting the result you need to be able to live a good quality life.

We can help look through your case in detail, seeking to understand the circumstances around the difficult birth. In addition, we’ll consult with medical experts to help you figure out if you can claim for compensation. They will talk to you and look at the evidence, and from this, they’ll be able to determine if certain processes weren’t followed, or if certain mistakes were made which led to you or your child suffering with Erb’s Palsy.

If we come to the conclusion that your case isn’t quite eligible for claiming compensation, we understand that this can be difficult to come to terms with, and it can leave you feeling hopeless. But, we can still help guide you in the right direction of finding another way you can support yourself and cover the costs of healthcare and whatever else you need to help you deal with the impact and symptoms of Erb’s Palsy.

But, if we decide that claiming compensation is the way forward, we will support you throughout the process of getting the right result, so that you can begin to heal and move on as much as possible. We will take you through the process, making sure you understand every step and what is needed at each point, so that you never feel confused or stressed about what’s going to happen next.

With our legal advice and expertise to back you up, you’ll be empowered with the information and know-how you need to move your case forward. We’ll help you put together evidence and meet deadlines, all to ensure the process is as stress-free as possible. At all times, we’ll try our hardest to make sure you get the result you deserve, to cover whatever care or other Erb’s Palsy related costs you need.