Chicago Birth Injury Lawyer Blog

As we discussed earlier this week the most common Illinois birth injuries are those that involve brain damage and those caused by the application of excessive force during delivery. In many ways brain injuries are perhaps the most severe type of birth injury, because they ultimately limit the mental development of a child indefinitely. Excessive force often causes nerve damage that may result in children not be able to use limbs properly or at all. However, brain injuries often deprive children of their ability to create memories, learn properly, communicate, and otherwise become fully integrated into society. Of course that is not to say that injuries like shoulder dytocia and brachial plexus injuries are not severe or necessary of full redress. They are always incredibly tragic and our Chicago birth injury lawyers have worked with many families whose children have developed these injuries because of the negligence of others. But at the end of the day there are certain physical injuries that are more easily compensated for than mental injuries.

However debating distinctions between brain injuries and other physical birth injuries is often academic, because in many cases children actually suffer both problems. For example, when the baby’s shoulder gets caught behind the mother’s pelvis (shoulder dystocia), if not attended to, the child can suffer oxygen deprivation to the brain. Missteps by the doctor often means that the child both suffers brain damage as well as experiences nerve damage which may results in Erb’s or Klempke’s Palsy. Erb’s and Klumpke Palsy are conditions related to the weakness or paralysis of the arm. When the brachial plexus nerve bundle is damaged then the child may lose feeling or movement in their arm. The nerve bundle is located near the neck and upper arm.

While these physical injuries are tough for families to deal with, the situation is made much worse when combined with a brain injury. Newborn brain injuries often result from too much shifting of the skull while in the birth canal. Excessive movement results in pressure being applied to the sensitive tissues of the child’s brain, causing trauma and potential lifelong injury.

In addition, perhaps the most common infant brain injuries are those caused by oxygen deprivation or disruption of the blood supply to the brain. Oxygen deprivation, known as asphyxia, can cause damage to certain parts of the brain—damage that can never be repaired. Sometime this deprivation is caused by a genetic condition that cannot be guarded against.

However, in many case oxygen deprivation can be traced back to medical malpractice. Sometimes it is caused by the inadequate monitoring of the child’s vital signs. When that occurs doctors often fail to act quickly enough to relieve stress to the child. Their delay in acting fast results in permanent brain damage that otherwise might have been prevented had the medical professionals responded quickly. At other times the doctors fail to take note of the position of the umbilical cord at all parts of the delivery. The cord can cause asphyxia.

See Our Related Blog Posts:

Understanding Cerebral Palsy

Birth Injuries Often Have Lifelong Consequences

News Chief reported late last month on a newly filed birth injury lawsuit filed by a family whose infant suffered a string of complications after an allegedly botched childbirth. The child victim was born over two years ago, and, according to court documents, the child suffered permanent injuries that could have been prevented had the care provided by doctors, nurses, and other caregivers been up to a reasonable standard.

The young boy suffered a severe brachial plexus injury. As our Chicago birth injury attorneys have often explained, brachial plexus continue to be one of the most common birth injuries, affecting two or three births out of every one thousand. The brachial plexus is a bundle of nerves in the shoulder controlling movement in one’s shoulder, wrist, hand and fingers. When these nerves are injured in birth, the child often suffers severe mobility problems in the affected arms.

Many brachial plexus injuries are preventable. Often they arise when a child’s shoulder becomes caught on the mother’s pubic bone. When that happens—a condition known as shoulder dystocia—a doctor or nurse must be very careful not to apply too much force to the child. Otherwise, the medical team risks stretching the sensitive brachial plexus nerves. In addition, brachial plexus injuries often arise when a baby is born in breech position. Breech deliveries occur when the child is exiting the mother’s body feet first. When that happens, the child is at risk of having arms or shoulders become lodged in unnatural positions. If a medical professional fails to act carefully when dislodging the infant’s limb, than a severe injury may arise.

In this latest case, the parents of the injured child claim that the caregiver’s negligence led to their child suffering a debilitating brachial plexus injury. According to the court documents, the medical professionals did not act in a timely fashion to treat the signs of fetal distress. In addition, after it was clear that the child was in danger of suffering injury, the medical staff did not act quickly enough to deliver the child. The complaint alleges that the delivery team should have recognized the child’s shoulder dystocia. The family claims that the brachial plexus injury was caused by the doctors and nurses applying too much force and traction to the baby’s head during his birth.

Our Chicago birth injury lawyers have helped many families whose children suffered brachial plexus injuries due to the negligence of their caregivers. These injuries often forever change the lives the young victims. Many of those victims will require extensive and costly surgeries and rehabilitation. In many cases, these injuries are never fully curable. When the nerves are so severely injured that they cannot heal, there are times when children will never gain full use of their limbs. It is only appropriate for those responsible for the wrongdoing to provide redress to the victim and their families who are forced to bear that cost. If you or someone you know is in this situation, please visit our office to learn how we can help.

In Other News: Two of our companion blogs--The Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog and Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog--were nominated for inclusion as one of the Top 25 Tort Blogs of 2011. The award is part of the LexisNexis project which seeks to feature blogs that set the standard in certain practice areas and industries. The voting to narrow down the field is currently underway, and we would love to have your vote. All you have to do is add a comment at the end of the post about the Top 25 bogs.

Please Follow This Link To Vote: Vote for Our Blog. Thanks for your support!

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Family Receives $1.3 Million Dollars in Brachial Plexus Birth Injury Lawsuit

Chicago Birth Injury Lawyer: Spotlight on Brachial Plexus Injuries

Expectant mothers often can ensure that they receive the best care possible when they educate themselves on the potential risks facing their unborn child and the ways that those risks can be minimized. Fortunately, most mothers will receive top-notch care from educated professionals who are a testament to the medical community. However, there will always be some cases where the conduct of the professionals involved in a delivery is not up to par. Both the mother and her child may suffer serious consequences as a result. Our Chicago birth injury lawyer works with families in those situations.

In most cases it is only after a child is born with some particular defect or injury that the family first investigates the cause of the injury. At times, it becomes clear that the injury could in fact have been prevented. At other times, the family never learns about the potential prevention at all, and those negligent professionals are never held accountable for their misconduct. Getting parents to think about these issues before they strike—or at least be aware of them—is an important goal of many birth injury advocacy groups.

For example, that is part of the reason why last month advocates celebrated Brachial Plexus Awareness Week. As we have explained, brachial plexus is an often debilitating injury that is usually caused by a traumatic birth. In rare cases the injury can also be caused by certain trauma during a car or sports accident. When it occurs during birth, it is usually when the child is large and gets stuck in the mother’s birth canal. In the Holland Sentinel, one mother explains how she endured a very painful and damaging birth when delivering her nine pound six ounce son. Late into the night, near the end of the birth, she notes that her son was roughly pushed by a nurse and pulled by a doctor before finally emerging. Unfortunately, the doctor later came to inform the woman that her son suffered what is often referred to as Erb’s Palsy—severe nerve damage in the arm. As a result the arm hung lifeless at his side. It even had to be pinned to his shirt the first few months of his life so that the infant did not unknowingly cause even more damage. The mother reports that her son has been in therapy since he was a week old.

The mother explains that she became angry once she learned that brachial plexus injuries are often preventable. Certain routine procedures can be performed which may ultimately avoid an injury from arising to begin with. For example, a cesarean section may prevent the potential risk of a rough birth causing permanent physical damage. The mother explained that she did not hear about brachial plexus even once before her son was born. She urges others not to make the same mistake. Learning about the injuries that could strike during birth and the simple ways that they could be prevented are important to helping parents make certain decisions which may spare a child the lifelong consequences of these injuries. The Chicago personal injury attorneys at our firm urge families who believe medical mistakes may have played a role in their child’s injury to visit with a legal professional to learn more.

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Family Awarded $4.5 Million Following Birth Injury Lawsuit

Family Receives $1.5M Settlement for Birth Injury/Wrongful Death Lawsuit

No family goes into a pregnancy assuming that something will go wrong. However, while reading about the risks presented to new children, many parents learn about a variety of birth injuries that they might have to deal with, along with the odds of each one striking. However, there is one injury that most families rarely learn anything about, but which affects roughly two or three children out of every thousands—brachial plexus injuries.

As our Illinois birth injury lawyers have recently shared, brachial plexus injuries are caused by the stretching, tearing, or detaching of nerves connecting a child’s arm to his spinal cord. The injury usually results during childbirth itself, when the baby is extracted from the mother.

Recently, the Fergus Falls Journal discussed a local family whose son suffered a brachial plexus injury. It was explained how sometimes the injury is less severe if the nerves or only stretched. In that case, the problem may heal over time, with less long-term effects on the life of the child. However, the baby in this case suffered what is known as an “avulsion” which was a complete detachment of nerves from the spinal cord. The detachment involved nerves controlling his hand, wrist, and forearm. As a result, it effectively means that the boy’s arm is completely paralyzed. The child in this case has no function or feeling below the elbow (it just hand at his side). However, he has some feeling (but no function) above the elbow.

There are a variety of consequences faced by this family, beyond which most might suspect. For one thing, the child’s arm problems affect his mobility. He cannot crawl or roll over. In addition, the family has to be particularly careful that his wrist, arm, or fingers remain safe and do not get bent the wrong way. The child’s inability to feel anything there makes him prone to suffering an injury unknowingly that has long-term complications.

The boy’s has already undergone surgery in an attempt to correct a few torn nerves in the arm. The surgery involved the taking of certain nerves from the baby’s feet and moving them into the arm. This will result in decreased sensation on the outside of his feet, but it should not affect his walking or running. In addition, the baby undergoes physical therapy exercises every day in an effort to improve his range of motion. It is vital that the family work both with his good arm and affected arm, so that the growing child understands that he actually has two arms.

The family has been left with a lot of questions about the cause of the injury. They have since learned that repositioning the mother during birth can open the pelvis about 30 percent more, usually enough to allow a child to exit without injury. Similarly, having a C-section performing when a particularly big child is born often prevents these sorts of injuries. In all cases in our area where a medical professional failed to act reasonably, leading to a birth injury, the involved families should know that they can contact a Chicago birth injury lawyer to learn if they have a legal action against the wrongdoers.

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Illinois Brachial Plexus Birth Injuries Affect Local Residents

Family Recieves $1.3 Million In Brachial Plexus Birth Injury Lawsuit

Our Chicago birth injury attorneys just read about a recent birth injury lawsuit that resulted in an award of $1.3 million dollars for a couple whose baby was injured during birth as a result of the baby’s shoulders getting stuck during the delivery process. The lawsuit alleged that the doctor that delivered the baby negligently failed to notice that the baby’s shoulders were stuck and the doctor then used too much force to get the baby out, which resulted in permanent shoulder injuries to the baby. According to About Lawsuits, at trial evidence was presented which showed that the baby, who is now almost five years old, has limited use of one of her arms as a result of the birth injury. The young girl also has to undergo physical therapy on a regular basis in order to make sure the shoulder injury does not get worse over time. The judgment included damages not only for the medical bills, but also for the young girl’s future lost earnings, the pain and suffering the family has experienced, and the loss of family consortium (which means the loss of the family relationship that would have be expected had it not been for the negligent acts of another person).

This type of injury is a common birth injury and is commonly referred to as a brachial plexus injury, shoulder dystocia or Erb’s palsy. The brachial plexus is a nerve bundle connecting a person’s spinal cord to their shoulder, arm, and hand. During child birth, when a baby’s shoulders are stuck in the wrong position, or against the mother’s pubic bone, the doctor needs to be very careful during delivery and very aware of what is happening with the baby at all times during the delivery so the doctor can adjust the position of the baby so as not to damage the nerves and permanently damage the baby’s shoulder functioning. If proper care is not taken and the doctor tries to pull too forcefully on the baby to get them out, the doctor may case severe damage to the baby’s brachial plexus nerves.

While physical therapy and occupational therapy can help with a brachial plexus injury, the best way to prevent these types of injuries is for a doctor to realize that the baby’s shoulder is stuck and try to adjust the baby’s position before the damage is done. According to the United Brachial Plexus Network, nearly all brachial plexus birth injuries are preventable as long as proper delivery techniques are used. Unfortunately, since doctors do not always take the proper precautions around 2-3 births out of every 1000 result in an injury to a baby’s brachial plexus nerves. Given that this many babies are injured in this manner during child birth and that it is such a preventable injury, it is crucial that all doctors helping out at birth are aware of this problem and are extremely careful during delivery.

If you or a loved one gave birth to a baby who suffered a brachial plexus injury during birth, and you believe that the doctor handling the birth failed to take the necessary precautions, please call our birth injury attorneys today. Our Chicago personal injury law firm has helped families all over Illinois receive the compensation that they deserve for what they have had to suffer through as a result of the birth doctor’s negligence that led to their baby suffering from a brachial plexus injury.

Recently, our Chicago birth injury attorneys read about a 16-pound baby born to a woman in Texas. While the majority of onlookers reveled in the newborn's cute and happy photos, it is important to note that there are a number of dangers to both mother and child surrounding an infant with macrosomia (a newborn with an excessive birth weight). Macrosomia is a serious condition often linked with birth injuries such as shoulder dystocia. In addition, babies who are born with Macrosomia are subject to increased risks in the development of asthma, cancer, diabetes, allergies and life-long struggles with obesity.

There are a number of reasons as to why some babies are born with a high birth weight. Some babies are born large because their parents are large people. Some babies are large because they are born after their due date. Hispanic women have an increased chance of delivering overweight children when compared with other races. While these risk factors cannot be prevented, there are a number of others that can be. According to a board-certified OB/GYN on the Daily Beast Health Blog, the “three most significant risks for having an overweight baby are… obesity prior to getting pregnant, excessive weight gain during pregnancy, and uncontrolled diabetes.”

Because of the increased risks in child birth that overweight babies present, it is important that physicians identify the size of a child before his or her birth and to take the necessary precautions in preventing birth injuries when it is known that a baby will be born with macrosomia. If physicians do not follow proper practice in these instances they may be subject to medical malpractice liability.

One of the many concerns that need to be dealt with in the delivery of an overweight child is the possibility of shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia occurs when a mother is able to deliver the head of her child, but the body gets stuck in the mother’s birth canal. When this happens a baby has a high chance of developing nerve damages or other serious injuries including the possibility of death. The chances of delivering a baby with shoulder dystocia are greatly increased for babies that are delivered with macrosomia.

Our Chicago birth-Injury lawyers recognize the difficulty that delivering overweight babies presents. Since our practice was founded, we have represented a number of families in cases involving birth injuries like shoulder dystocia during a macrosomic birth. In one of these cases, our client's physicians failed to perform an ultrasound to determine the size of the baby even though the mother's first child was macrosomic. They also failed to inform the child's mother of the risks associated with delivering a baby of this size or inform her that a c-section was an option to reduce these risks. As a result, our client's daughter suffered a shoulder dystocia and the family pursued a personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation for her injuries and to pay the child's past and future medical care and treatments. We settled the family's shoulder dystocia lawsuit in 2009 for $1.35 million against the negligent physicians and hospital staff that caused her injuries.

Chicago injury lawyers at Levin & Perconti are very familiar with cases involving brachial plexus injuries. These injuries are some of the most common forms of medical malpractice at birth, and often have life-long effects on the injured child and his or her family.

The Mayo Clinic website defines the brachial plexus as a “network of nerves” originating at the back of a person’s neck in the spinal cord that branch down through a person’s shoulder, arm and hand. Most of the brachial plexus injuries we see occur during birth, many as a result of shoulder dystocia. A dystocia occurs when a baby’s shoulders get caught against its mother’s pubic bone during delivery. This can happen if a baby is too large to fit through the birthing canal. When a dystocia occurs and a medical provider, such as an obstetrician or midwife, uses excessive force or improper movements to try to dislodge the baby, these movements can damage a child’s brachial plexus nerves.

Injuries may occur in several different ways. For instance, if the brachial plexus nerves are stretched, it may result in short term injury and the victim usually can fully recover. The nerves may also tear partially or completely, with varying effects. In the event of a tear, nerves can often heal. An avulsion is the most severe type of brachial plexus injury because the nerves are not able to repair themselves. The extent of the injury is also determined by the location of the injury. For instance, if the injury occurs in the upper part of the brachial plexus network, Erb’s palsy occurs. Lower injuries can cause Klumpke’s palsy which affects the hand or the child’s wrist.

The long-term repercussions of a brachial plexus injury at birth vary. In some cases, the injury is slight and some brachial plexus injuries fully heal on their own within the first few months of a child’s life. Some of the symptoms of a brachial plexus injury include limpness or paralysis of the arm, a lack of controlled muscle movement in the arm, hand, or wrist, and lack sensation in the arm, wrist or hand. Physical therapies or surgeries may be used to treat these injuries in an attempt to restore functionality.

Continue reading "Chicago Birth Injury Lawyer: Spotlight on Brachial Plexus Injuries " »

Our Chicago birth injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti have recently launched a newly-designed firm website. The Chicago personal injury website offers a number of new resources, including community pages, the Nursing Home Attorney Resource Center, a directory of commonly used legal terms and expanded practice area information.

We represent a number of individuals and families throughout Illinois who were injured or killed as a result of healthcare provider error during the birth process. Due to this, we felt it was important to expand our birth injury practice area pages to include more information for the public on some of the most common types of birth injuries. We have created new web pages specifically focused on injuries such as cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injuries and injuries caused by vacuum extraction. Visit our main birth injury practice area page to access our expanded pages, and also to learn why birth injury cases differ from other types of medical malpractice lawsuits. After viewing this information, feel free to contact a Chicago injury lawyer to discuss your potential claim.

An obstetrician recently received a public reprimand from her state’s medical board. The reprimand states that the doctor’s negligence caused a newborn baby to suffer Erb’s Palsy. According to the report in The Mercury News, the negligent doctor tried a suction delivery, but the baby was too large for natural birth. This risky move caused the baby’s shoulder to become locked on the mother’s public bone, damaging the baby’s shoulder nerves and causing Erb’s Palsy, which left his arm and shoulder paralyzed.

Levin & Perconti have represented clients in a number of Chicago birth injury cases involving Erb’s Palsy. In 2009, John Perconti and Patricia Gifford settled a lawsuit for $1.35 million on behalf of a 9-year-old Waukegan girl who lost movement in her arm. Her doctors failed to inform the girl’s mother of her increased risk for shoulder dystocia. They also failed to perform the proper techniques during labor and delivery to disimpact the newborn's shoulder, causing her injury. To learn more about this birth injury lawsuit, read our latest newsletter.

A new study in the January issue of Radiology found that an ultrasound can now be used to detect a posterior shoulder dislocation in infants 3 to 6 months old with a permanent brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI). A doctor from Finland performed ultrasonography to screen for posterior shoulder subluxation in 132 infants with brachial plexus at various times. Their research showed that posterior shoulder subluxation of the humeral head developed in one-third of the 27 patients with permanent BPBI that failed to heal in the first year. It was detected by ultrasound in 55 percent of patients at 3 months of age and in 89 percent of patients at 6 months of age. The ultrasound has proved to be a useful tool for diagnosis of a birth injury. It should be performed on the glenohumeral joint at age 3 and 6 months of age if the symptoms persist. To learn more about the ultrasound therapy, please click the link.

A computer program is shaping up to be the new hero in the prevention of shoulder dystocia and brachial plexus injuries. A new software program, called CALM Shoulder Screen, has been developed that calculates the risk of shoulder dystocia with permanent injury. The program analyzes several factors, including the mothers’ height and weight and determines whether they are at risk of suffering shoulder dystocia during delivery. Those ascertained to be at high risk can avoid the birth injury by opting for delivery by c-section. Obstetricians throughout the country have began utilizing this web-based system and it has been proven effective to be effective. The program can be used anytime after the 37th week of gestation.

For more information about this birth injury prevention software, click here.

A new study has found that treating even mild gestational diabetes significantly reduces the risk of certain birth injuries and lessens the need for emergency C-sections. Gestational diabetes occurs during late pregnancy, when a mother’s body is unable to produce and use all the insulin that it needs. Without enough insulin, the body is unable to convert the glucose into energy and, as a result, it builds up in the mother’s blood. This blood then reaches the baby through the placenta, giving it more sugar than it needs. The baby stores this excess energy as fat. Because the baby is larger than normal, there is an increased risk of its shoulders becoming lodged behind the mother’s pelvis during delivery, a situation known as shoulder dystocia. If the doctors and healthcare providers are negligent in their delivery, the baby can suffer from Brachial Plexus injuries. These injuries can be severe and permanent and may include paralysis and deformation of the baby’s arms. If you have been diagnosed with even a mild case of gestational diabetes, it is therefore important that you receive proper treatment in order to reduce these risks.

Read more about gestational diabetes and its risks here.

The incidence rates of stillbirths and infant deaths have been examined in a recent study created by a Physician at Rochester General Hospital. The Physician determined that 2% of infant deaths occur due to significant birth injuries. Birth injuries may have long term affects however some birth injuries, usually due to physician’s errors during birth, have little if any long term affects. The physician’s report discusses some birth trauma and birth injuries such as: Cephalhematoma, Brachial plexus injury, cranial nerve and spinal cord injuries. To read the full study click here.

Next week, October 19-26, will be the 9th annual Brachial Plexus Injury Awareness Week. This event was created by the United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc. with the goal of increasing general awareness of brachial plexus injuries.

A brachial plexus injury occurs when the network of spinal nerves which controls the muscles of the fingers, hand, arm, and shoulder, called the brachial plexus, is damaged. These nerves originate at the back of the neck and extend through the axilla (armpit) and into the arm, where they form 3 trunks in the upper shoulder. Erb’s Palsy refers to an injury to the upper trunk while a lower trunk injury is called Klumpke's Palsy.

A brachial plexus injury can result in full or partial paralysis of one or both arms and can be permanent if the nerves do not completely heal. In less severe instances, the nerve damage may cause weakness or a loss of muscle control in the arm, hand, or wrist, resulting in the impaired ability to grasp, extend, or reach, or a lack of feeling or sensation in the arm or hand. Physical appearance can also be affected.

Most brachial plexus injuries occur during an emergency birth condition called shoulder dystocia in which the baby’s shoulder becomes wedged behind the mother’s pubic bone while in delivery. There are several techniques or maneuvers to free the baby’s shoulder and complete the delivery safely but if the person performing the delivery is careless or applies excessive force to the baby’s head or neck, the brachial nerves can become stretched or torn.