Most instances of shoulder dystocia are preventable. This condition happens when a baby gets stuck while they’re being born. You can prevent it from occurring if your doctor uses the proper techniques, usually. Here are a few more things you should know about shoulder dystocia and how it can affect your baby.
Shoulder Dystocia Is a Type of Birth Injury
Shoulder dystocia is what we call it when a baby’s shoulder gets stuck while they’re in delivery. This can put a lot of stress on both the mother and the baby.
Doctors have a few ways to prevent this if they’re following proper procedures. Sometimes, they may not use all the tools they’ve got at their disposal, though. That could lead to long-term damage to your baby’s health.
This Trauma Can Affect You and the Baby
Delivering a child is a delicate procedure because they need to breathe regular air. Children receive all their oxygen from their mothers while they’re in the womb. Once their heads are exposed, they’ve got to breathe to get enough of it.
Some children develop cerebral palsy after getting their shoulder stuck in delivery. They weren’t able to get enough oxygen to their brains, so they began atrophying.
Other palsy conditions can also develop if you’re not able to make it easy for your child to breathe. Putting pressure on their shoulder can make them get Erb’s palsy. This weakens the shoulder and brachial plexus, creating lasting damage.
How Does Medical Negligence Come Into Play?
Other types of damage may not be as easy to see. But, your child could have a much harder time when they’re growing up if they didn’t get enough oxygen as an infant.
The worst thing about shoulder dystocia is how doctors can prevent it in the majority of cases. Yet, many of them seem to forget what they’re doing while they’re helping deliver babies.
Most doctors use a handy mnemonic to remember how to help someone who has a baby stuck in the middle of delivery. They’ve got to go through seven steps to comply with standard medical practices. Otherwise, they would be at risk of being held liable for medical malpractice.
You can speak to an attorney and ask them about what happened during your delivery. They can inform you about what the doctors should have done while you were in there.
Long-Term Damage Can Happen if Your Infant Suffers From Shoulder Dystocia
You may be able to participate in a shoulder dystocia lawsuit if your child suffers from it.
There are a ton of things your doctor has to do if they want to avoid liability. Even forgetting to weigh them before you go into labor could put them at risk of being held liable by the court.
Weighing the baby gives them an idea of how to prepare for the delivery process once you’re going into labor. If they’ve forgotten to weigh it, they’ll be held liable for medical malpractice.
Another way a lot of doctors put themselves into a bad spot is by not following all the delivery procedures. They’ve learned how to perform all 7 steps of delivery whenever they were in medical school. Neglecting to do each one of them means you can sue them for negligence.
Understanding the Impacts of Shoulder Dystocia
Shoulder dystocia is a horrible condition since it can affect children for life. Your doctor should have done everything in their power to prevent it from harming your child. If they didn’t, you could take them to court and recuperate some of the damages.
