Category Archives: Shoulder Dystocia

Brachial Plexus Awareness Week

October 16 – 22 was awareness week for a birth injury that most people are unaware of: brachial plexus. With Breast Cancer Awareness Month going on at the same time, brachial plexus continues to get little recognition, which is unfortunate, because it is a tragic and preventable condition. Brachial plexus injuries in infants are a result of shoulder trauma. The trauma usually occurs when the infant becomes stuck in the birth canal and is forcibly removed. The injury results in the child’s arm hanging limply at his or her side. Sometimes the condition can be helped through physical therapy or surgery, but often it results in lifelong impairment. The goal of Brachial Plexus Awareness Week is expressed in its name: awareness. Mothers-to-be need to be aware of the possibility of this birth injury, and they should discuss with their doctors what routine procedures they will use to avoid it. Procedures…
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A Surprising Birth Injury

A mom from Fergus Falls, MN, has learned what brachial plexus injury is in the hardest way possible, through having her newborn son. Carly Schiesser said she read all the books on pregnancy when she found out she was pregnant again, but not one mentioned the injury her son would suffer when he was born. Her son suffered an avulsion, or detachment from the spinal cord, of the nerves that control his hand, wrist and forearm, a rupture of the nerve with controls his elbow and a stretched nerve that controls shoulder function. This means that his arm is most likely going to be paralyzed for life. One of the most upsetting parts of this injury is that it likely could have been prevented. Just changing a woman’s position on the birthing table can open up her pelvis by up to 30 percent. Schiesser says she and her husband ask…
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New Simulators Train Doctors to Prevent Birth Injuries

Everyone knows that in order to become skilled at a task, you must learn through experience. That is exactly what Noelle, an anatomically correct rubber model of a pregnant woman’s body embedded with computer chips, is doing for the obstetricians learning at Jacobi Hospital’s Institute for Medial Simulation and Advanced Learning. For obstetricians who want to prevent birth injuries from occurring during actual labor situations, this pregnant simulator with a simulated baby creates shoulder dystocia situations, oxygen problems, and other potential labor complications. According to International Business Times, some medical situations are rare in real-life settings, so that doctors may not have the opportunity to teach a resident in training. In addition, this on-the-job training often involves more descriptions of what the teacher is doing, rather than allowing the student to accomplish the task. The training classes that go along with the simulations at Jacobi Hospital also allow the doctors…
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