Helping Your Child Have a Brighter Future After a Birth Injury
Brachial plexus injury can occur when the baby’s shoulder nerves are damaged during childbirth. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), one to two out of every 1,000 babies are born with this birth defect and most will never regain movement and feeling to the affected body part. Erb’s paralysis is a type of brachial plexus injury that affects the upper and lower arm.
Hensley Cloninger & Greer, P.C., has helped families recover damages for preventable birth defects – such as birth asphyxia, cerebral palsy and brachial plexus injuries – for more than 30 years. We know that we cannot erase the sadness of learning that a medical mistake has caused your otherwise healthy baby to suffer. Our legal team can, however, help you obtain the financial means to provide your child with the best possible opportunities for improved functionality and a brighter future.
Symptoms Of Erb’s paralysis
Erb’s palsy can require additional surgeries and can lead to permanent disability. The symptoms of this serious birth injury appear almost immediately after birth, including:
Arm weakness
Numbness in the affected arm
Paralysis of the injured limb
Causes And Types Of Erb’s Palsy
During a difficult delivery, doctors may exert such excessive force on the baby that her or his head is stretched into an unnatural position, often during a breech delivery, prolonged labor or when the infant is larger than normal. The chances for recovery depend on the level of nerve damage:
Neurapraxia: The nerves are shocked, but not torn. The injury tends to heal on its own within about three months.
Neuroma: The nerves are stretched and often develop scar tissue. Babies usually recover some function.
Rupture: The nerves are torn. The damage cannot heal without medical intervention.
Avulsion: The most serious type of Erb’s palsy in which the nerve is severed from the spinal cord. Children must undergo complex surgery involving splicing a donor nerve to the spinal cord, and they typically do not recover full functionality or feeling.
Your obstetrician has a duty to evaluate risks of injury to your infant prenatally and prior to your delivery. In many cases, a Caesarean section would be the appropriate form of delivery and a valid precaution your doctor could have taken to prevent Erb’s palsy.
Learn More About Recovering Compensation For Your Baby’s Birth Injury
Help your child recover for Erb’s palsy inflicted at birth. We offer parents a free consultation to discuss your baby’s legal rights and we handle birth injury cases on contingency. Our Asheville firm represents injury victims throughout North Carolina and the southeastern United States through pro hac vice admission.
