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Erb’s Palsy Risk Factors & Causes

What Causes Erb’s Palsy?

Erb’s palsy, also known as brachial plexus injury, is the result of a stretch or tear to the network of nerves that supply the child’s shoulder and arm.  This type of injury can occur during childbirth, when the baby’s shoulder becomes stuck behind the mother’s pubic bone, and the appropriate delivery techniques are not used to deliver the baby.  There are some factors that can be present that may increase the risk of inappropriate delivery techniques and a resulting Brachial Plexus injury:

• High birth weight
• Breech birth (baby is delivered buttocks first rather than head first)
• Obese or diabetic mothers (which may increase the chance of a high birth weight baby)
• Prolonged labor
• Use of force such as vacuum extraction or forceps to pull the baby from the birth canal

Traumas

There are four types of Brachial Plexus injuries:

1. Neurapraxia, the most common type, occurs when the nerve has been damaged, but not torn

2. Rupture occurs when the nerve is torn, but not separated from the spine

3. Avulsion, the most severe type, occurs when the nerve is torn from the spine

4. Neuroma occurs when scar tissue grows around the injury, and places pressure on the injured nerve, thereby interfering with the nerve's ability to send signals to the muscles

It is very important that you understand that a birth injury caused during delivery in many cases could have been the result of Medical negligence, and therefore could have been prevented.  It would be virtually impossible for a parent, on their own, to determine if medical negligence caused their child's Erb’s Palsy.

Start the process of getting your birth injury legal questions answered.

Learn more about identifying the symptoms of an Erb’s palsy injury.