Birth Injury Lawyer Help: Erb’s Palsy, Cerebral Palsy, Brachial Plexus Injur

A birth is supposed to be a joyous occasion, but for certain families, it’s marred by the awful reality of a birth injury. Erb’s Palsy, Cerebral Palsy, and Brachial Plexus Injuries are just a few that have lasting impacts, and in most instances, are brought on by medical errors or neglect while giving birth. If your child has been diagnosed with one of them, it’s necessary to know the cause, the symptoms, and your legal rights. At CPFamilyHelp.com, our experienced birth injury lawyers are dedicated to fighting for the justice and compensation your family is entitled to. When you need birth injury lawyer help, we are here for you, providing the expertise required to navigate these complex cases.

What is Erb’s Palsy, Cerebral Palsy, and Brachial Plexus Injury?

These conditions, while varied, all may be linked to trauma or complication during the birthing process. Understanding these conditions is the first step before seeking birth injury lawyer help.

Erb’s Palsy: It’s a brachial plexus injury of the upper nerves (C5-C6, and sometimes C7) of the brachial plexus. It may result in weakness, numbness, or paralysis of the arm and typically presents as the arm held against the body, the elbow flexed, and the wrist pronated (the “waiter’s tip” posture).

Cerebral Palsy (CP): A group of disorders that affect movement, muscle tone, or posture, CP is caused by brain damage to the developing brain, typically occurring before, during, or shortly after birth. Brain damage may restrict a child’s muscle control, and as a result, a great many symptoms can be caused.

Brachial Plexus Injury (BPI): It’s an injury to the brachial plexus, a network of nerves extending from the spinal cord in the neck down to the shoulder, arm, and hand. Injuries can be as light as stretching (neuropraxia) or as bad as nerve tears (rupture or avulsion) resulting in weakness, numbness, or paralysis of the affected arm. Erb’s Palsy is the most common type of BPI.

Common Causes of These Birth Injuries

Although there may be other causes, the vast majority of Erb’s Palsy, Cerebral Palsy, and Brachial Plexus Injuries are due to avoidable medical negligence during labor and delivery. This is precisely where birth injury lawyer help becomes essential.

Obstetrical Trauma/Excessive Force:

• Cause: Too much force applied during birth, most commonly when the baby’s shoulder gets caught behind the woman’s pelvic bone (shoulder dystocia). This can involve improper use of delivery tools like forceps or vacuum extractors, or too much tugging on the baby’s head or neck. This is a major cause of Erb’s Palsy and other Brachial Plexus Injuries.
• Relation to Negligence: Directly traced back to either a physician’s or medical staff’s failure to properly manage a complicated delivery or with proper maneuvers.

Oxygen Deprivation (Hypoxia-Ischemia):

• Cause: Extreme oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain (Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy – HIE) during labor or delivery. This may lead to brain damage that is one of the most common causes of Cerebral Palsy.
• Association with Negligence: Common outcome of medical staff failing to recognize or respond correctly to fetal distress, such as irregular fetal heart rate tracings, or in the delay in an indicated C-section.

Undiagnosed or Untreated Maternal Infections:

• Cause: Infections of the mother during pregnancy or labor (e.g., meningitis, rubella, toxoplasmosis) may be passed on to the infant and lead to brain injury resulting in Cerebral Palsy, or nerve damage leading to BPIs.
• Association with Negligence: Can be due to a delayed diagnosis by a healthcare professional, failure to diagnose, or improper treatment of an infection in the mother.

Improper Labor & Delivery Management:

• Cause: Failure to monitor the fetus adequately, delayed reaction to any issue, incorrect administration of medicine, or errors during a C-section or vaginal delivery can all lead to these injuries.
• Effect: These types of errors may result in trauma, lack of oxygen, or or other conditions that cause Erb’s Palsy, Cerebral Palsy, or Brachial Plexus Injuries. For all such scenarios, birth injury lawyer help can be crucial.

Early Identification of Symptoms of These Birth Injuries

Some signs may not be obvious immediately, but seek out:

Erb’s Palsy/Brachial Plexus Injury:

• Paralysis or weakness in one arm.
• The involved arm appearing to be flaccid or being held in an abnormal position (flexed at elbow, inward rotation).
• Weakness of grip in the involved hand.
• Reduced sensation in the involved arm or hand.
• With severe injuries, a broken collarbone or upper arm bone.
• At times, a sagging eyelid or small pupil on the same side (Horner’s Syndrome) indicates a more severe nerve root avulsion.

Cerebral Palsy:

• Delays in reaching developmental milestones (e.g., not sitting up at 8 months, not walking until 18 months).
• Stiff or tight muscles (spasticity) or “floppy” muscle tone (hypotonia).
• Exaggerated reflexes.
• Abnormal gait upon walking (e.g., tiptoe walking, scissor gait).
• Difficulty with fine motor skills (e.g., writing, buttoning shirts).
• Uncontrollable movement or tremors.
• Difficulty with balance and coordination.
• Difficulty with speech, feeding, or swallowing.
• Seizures.

How Our Birth Injury Lawyers Can Help Defend Your Case

If you believe your child’s Brachial Plexus Injury, Erb’s Palsy, or Cerebral Palsy resulted from medical negligence during birth, you may be entitled to a birth injury claim. A successful case can provide your child with the badly needed birth injury compensation to fund the long-term and intense care your child may need. Our dedicated staff at CPFamilyHelp.com specializes in birth injury claims and will battle for your family till the end. We provide expert birth injury lawyer help.

We will:

• Conduct a Thorough Investigation: This involves thoroughly examining all helpful medical records (prenatal, labor, delivery, and postnatal), looking for evidence of medical negligence in terms of improper procedures, slow response, or failure to diagnose and treat complications. This level of detail is why you need professional birth injury lawyer help.
• Consult Top Medical Specialists: We have a panel of top medical specialists, including neonatologists, obstetricians, neurosurgeons, and life care planners. Their professional opinion is critical to establishing the link between the medical negligence and injury to your child, and to quantifying the significant future cost of care required for your child’s specific needs (Life Care Planning Birth Injury). This expertise is a cornerstone of our birth injury lawyer help.
• Navigate Complex Court Procedures: Birth injury cases are intricate. We possess close knowledge of the special legal needs and procedures, such as the critical statute of limitations for birth injury cases in your state. It is important to act quickly to protect your right to compensation. Effective birth injury lawyer help ensures no deadlines are missed.
• Fight for Maximum Compensation: The compensation we seek strives to include all facets of your child’s needs, including:
  • Future and past medical expenses (surgeries, therapies, medications, routine doctor visits).
  • Rehabilitation charges (physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy).
  • Home modifications and equipment to render it accessible.
  • Loss of earning capacity for your child in the future.
  • Pain and suffering, and emotional distress for the child and family.
  • The cost involved with life care planning and case management.

Our mission is to ensure that your family will have the necessary resources to provide your child with the highest quality of life and care. When you’re searching for expert birth injury lawyer help, look no further.

Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Birth Injuries and Legal Action

If you suspect your child’s birth injury was preventable and you would like to discuss with us your possible legal action, call our professional Birth Injury Lawyers at CPFamilyHelp.com today for a free consultation. We will be happy to help you fight for justice.