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Shoulder dystocia occurs when, after the baby's head is delivered, one or both shoulders become lodged behind the mother's pelvic bone, preventing the birth from being completed without additional obstetrical maneuvers. It is a recognized obstetrical emergency that can injure the baby's nerves, deprive the brain of oxygen, and in the most severe cases, result in permanent disability or death.
If your child was injured during a delivery complicated by shoulder dystocia, contact us for a free case evaluation.
Case EvaluationShoulder dystocia occurs in approximately 0.2% to 3% of vaginal deliveries, with some prospective studies reporting rates as high as 7% among term cephalic deliveries. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists describes it as an unpredictable obstetric emergency, and that characterization matters in litigation. What is not unpredictable, however, is how providers are expected to respond once it occurs.
When shoulder dystocia is recognized, there is a defined sequence of obstetrical maneuvers that trained providers are expected to execute. The manner in which those maneuvers are performed, and whether excessive traction is applied to the baby's head and neck in the process, is often what separates a difficult delivery from a negligent one. Birth injury claims involving shoulder dystocia frequently come down to exactly that question.
While shoulder dystocia cannot always be predicted, certain risk factors are well-documented in the medical literature and should inform how a provider plans and manages a delivery. These include:
When these factors appear in a patient's prenatal record, and the delivering provider failed to account for them in the delivery plan, that failure can become a central issue in a birth injury claim.
Injuries from shoulder dystocia are not always immediately apparent, though some present clearly in the hours following birth. Signs that your child may have sustained an injury during a difficult delivery include:
If your child received any of these diagnoses after a delivery that involved shoulder dystocia, the circumstances of how that emergency was managed deserve a thorough legal review.
Families pursuing a birth injury or medical malpractice claim in Florida related to shoulder dystocia may be entitled to compensation for:
In cases where injuries from shoulder dystocia result in the death of a newborn, a wrongful death claim may allow the family to recover for funeral expenses, medical costs incurred prior to death, and loss of companionship.
Shoulder dystocia cases turn on the details of what happened between the delivery of the baby's head and the completion of the birth. Attorney Sean M. Cleary works with obstetric experts who can review labor records, delivery notes, and fetal monitoring strips to assess whether risk factors were recognized beforehand, whether appropriate maneuvers were used, and whether excessive traction contributed to your child's injuries.
Shoulder dystocia is one of the most frequently litigated obstetrical emergencies precisely because the injuries it causes can be permanent. If your child was harmed during a delivery complicated by shoulder dystocia, contact Sean M. Cleary for a case evaluation.
