Chicago Brachial Plexus Injury Lawyers

Serving Chicago, Arlington Heights, and all of Illinois

Brachial plexus injuries, (also known as brachial plexus palsy, Erb’s Palsy and Klumpke’s Palsy) can sometimes occur during child birth. Brachial Plexus injuries during child birth are almost always associated with the occurrence of “shoulder dystocia”. Shoulder dystocia occurs when one of the baby’s shoulders (although on rare occasion it can be both) becomes lodged up against the mother’s pubic bone during delivery. There are specific maneuvers that must be followed in order to deliver the baby without injury. When the doctor or nurses fail to follow these maneuvers, and the delivering health care provider (either doctor or nurse mid-wife) exerts excessive lateral traction on the baby’s head and neck, the nerves of the baby’s brachial plexus in the stuck shoulder become stretched to the point of tearing. The tear can occur at the meeting point of the nerve with the spinal column or at a point along the nerve itself. When the nerve heals itself, a neuroma may form. The condition can be significantly improved by surgery to repair the nerve with one taken from another part of the baby’s body (usually the leg). There are less than a handful of doctors in the United States who perform this surgery.

Thousands of babies sustain brachial plexus injuries each year. Some brachial plexus injury cases may involve medical malpractice, because these conditions are often foreseeable and preventable. If your baby suffered some form of brachial plexus injury during birth in the greater Chicagoland area or throughout Illinois, please call Willens Law Offices today to see how we can help you.

Some factors that are most often present when brachial plexus injuries occur include a large baby, prolonged labor, excessive force being used during delivery and a breech birth (feet or bottom first). While these factors do not generally cause a brachial plexus injury each time they occur, some of them do occur when the injuries are sustained.

Doctors and other medical providers can anticipate and prevent shoulder dystocia in some cases by watching for early warning signs, such as gestational diabetes, obesity in the mother or excessive weight gain during the pregnancy. Also at risk are expectant mothers with a small pelvis, those who previously gave birth to a large baby, and those in post-term pregnancy.

Unfortunately, in some cases, if a baby suffers an injury to the brachial plexus as a result of a shoulder dystocia, medical negligence may have occurred. For instance, if a doctor does not notice that the baby is too large for natural delivery and neglects to perform a caesarean birth (c-section), or uses the wrong delivery method once the baby’s shoulder becomes stuck, the physician may have been negligent.

Contact Our Chicago Brachial Plexus Injury Lawyers

Contact our skilled Chicago Brachial Plexus Injury Lawyers today for your FREE consultation at 312-957-4166 or e-mail us at info@willenslaw.com as soon as possible to find out how we can help you. Attorney consultations are offered at no cost.