When it comes to the brachial plexus, there are many different issues at play, but the first step is to being healed is to recognize it and diagnose it. When you're talking about a brachial plexus injury, this is an injury that happens to between one to two babies out of every 1000 births in the United States. This makes this condition particularly rare. However, whenever a loved one is injured due to medical malpractice, much less a newborn infant, you want to make sure you are aware of all your options.
Causes of Brachial Plexus
When it comes to dealing with this nerve damage and affliction, it is important to understand that although improper medical technique is often responsible, this isn't always the case. This injury can occur because of a baby being caught on the mom's pelvis, as well.
If the baby’s shoulder seems outright trapped against a mother's pelvic bone, the doctor may decide that they need to rush the birth in order to avoid the umbilical cord becoming damaged inside the birth canal. If excessive force or bad technique is used, sometimes the nerves in the neck and shoulder can be damaged, and this often results in arm, hand, and finger injuries, or the lack of use of those appendages.
The key becomes figuring out if there brachial plexus birth injury is a result of natural causes during a particularly difficult birth that just wasn't going completely right, or if there is serious negligence on the part of the medical staff that directly contributed to this injury. It is obviously going to be a huge determining factor in figuring out if you have the legal basis to sue for damages or not.
What Exactly Causes Brachial Plexus?
The actual injury gets its name from the brachial plexus nerve network, this nerve network has a strong effect on the ability to move your arms and fingers and fully function. Generally speaking, injuries to this nerve system will generally be classified in one of two ways: as Erb's palsy or Klumpke's palsy. These injuries are slightly different, but they are caused from the same root damage.
How Does Brachial Plexus Damage Take Place?
The damage to an infant being born is usually a result that starts with being lodged in the pelvic area. If the baby is particularly large, there's a chance his or her shoulders will get compressed and perhaps even caught on the bone. In either of these situations, that force or compression can result in undue stress that causes damage to the nerve area.
However, the direct cause usually comes after this breathing issue comes up. Applying too much pressure on a baby's head or neck, normally done in order to encourage a faster birth process, can often hurt those nerves that connect to the spinal cord, and that will result in the nerve damage, making it hard for a baby to move his or her neck, arm, hands, fingers, and / or shoulders.
This Is Why Medical Malpractice Attorneys Are Critical
The cause of brachial plexus often comes from too much pressure being used, especially when a doctor uses poor techniques or has little experience with birthing. Because of this fact, many times when an infant is diagnosed with brachial plexus there is a case for legal compensation under a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Seeing the symptoms as quickly as possible is necessary not only to make sure you're legally protected, but also because the sooner you diagnose a potential injury, the sooner you can get treatment for your injured infant child.
There's a lot to think about whenever brachial plexus injuries come into the picture. Getting yourself an experienced and qualified attorney is critical so you can concentrate on what matters most: being there for your child during treatments and rehabilitation.
