Cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy and Klumpke’s palsy are birth injuries that often occur as the result of medical malpractice

Cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability caused by a birth injury, according to the Centers for Disease Control, with one in 323 children afflicted with the incurable disorder manifested by muscle weakness, permanent movement problems, and poor coordination. Communication abilities are also often impacted.

Up to 90 percent of children diagnosed with cerebral palsy are considered congenital, meaning the damage occurred before or during birth. Though a specific cause is not known, there are numerous risk factors that have been identified. Those risk factors include low birth weight, being born prematurely, being a multiple, and babies conceived through infertility treatments.

Babies with low birth weight, particularly those weighing less than 3 pounds 5 ounces, are at the greatest risk of having cerebral palsy. Children born three weeks premature (before the 37th week) are at an increased risk, though babies born before the 32nd week have the greatest chance of having cerebral palsy.

Multiples are at high risk, mostly because they tend to be born early and/or with a low birth weight.

Another form of birth injury is Erb’s palsy, which affects the brachial plexus – a network of nerves that conducts signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm and hand. Erb’s palsy is paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the upper group of the arm’s main nerves.

Complicated labor is the risk factor for Erb’s palsy, specifically when the baby comes through the birth canal at an awkward angle or with the head turned one way and the arm in the opposite direction.

Also putting a baby at risk is excessive pulling on the shoulders, a baby who is disproportionately larger than the birth canal and a baby who is born breech, which is when the feet or buttocks come out first, rather than the head.

While Erb’s palsy refers to paralysis in the hand, Klumpke’s palsy is paralysis of the muscles in the forearm and hand. As with cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy, Klumpke’s palsy is also the result of difficulties in childbirth, especially a traumatic vaginal delivery exacerbated when the mother is small and the infant is large.

It’s estimated that the vast majority of babies with cerebral palsy are the result of medical malpractice by allowing unusually long or difficult labors or a loss of oxygen to the baby during the delivery process.

Medical advancements enable doctors and medical professionals to see whether the mother is at risk for developing infections that could put her child at risk, as well as the size of the child.

If a doctor misdiagnosed or failed to treat one of those conditions, plaintiffs may be entitled to compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit.