Erb's Palsy Claims

Finding out that your child has Erb’s palsy due to a difficult birth can be extremely upsetting. Some birth injuries are unavoidable because the baby has to be delivered urgently to avoid brain injury or death. However, in most cases, Erb’s palsy is the result of a failure by the doctor or midwife to take necessary steps to avoid it.

If it is shown that your child’s Erb’s palsy was caused by medical negligence, they might be entitled to compensation. Our experienced lawyers can help you make an Erb’s palsy claim and fight for the care your child deserves.

Call us on 0330 100 1014 and speak to our compassionate and understanding team or fill out our online form.

• What is Erb’s palsy?
• What leads to Erb’s palsy?
• Can Erb’s palsy be treated?
• Can I make an Erb’s palsy claim?
• How much compensation can I get for Erb’s palsy negligence?
• How much will it cost to make an Erb’s palsy claim?
• Reasons for making an Erb’s palsy compensation claim
• Why choose Freeths to help with your claim?
• Our recent successful Erb’s palsy claims
• Client testimonials
• Erb’s palsy claim FAQs

What is Erb’s palsy?

Erb’s palsy (also known as brachial plexus palsy) is a condition where a baby is born with damage to the brachial plexus nerves. These nerves serve the muscles of the shoulder, arm and hand. It is widely thought that these injuries occur when a baby’s shoulder gets ‘stuck’ during the delivery.

The brachial plexus contains five nerves, running from the neck to the arm. If these become damaged, the feeling and movement of one or both arms can be affected. Some babies recover more quickly than others, depending on which and how many nerves are affected. A parent can usually expect a child to recover within the first year, although the arm muscle can remain weak.

What leads to Erb’s palsy?

Affecting around one in every 200 births, Erb’s palsy is an injury that is usually the result of one or more of the following:

• The shoulder getting stuck during delivery
• The need for an urgent delivery
• Pulling manoeuvres
• Babies born in the breech position

While some of these injuries are unavoidable, especially in situations where a baby needs to be delivered immediately to prevent other health complications, Erb’s palsy can be caused by negligence.

Factors which might suggest that Erb’s palsy was caused by negligence include:

• Failing to deliver a large or breech baby by caesarean
• Incorrect use of tools including forceps
• Using unnecessary excessive force to deliver a baby

If you believe that your child’s injury could have been prevented, speak to our friendly and professional team by calling 0330 100 1014 or fill out our online form and see if you could make an Erb’s palsy claim.

Can Erb’s palsy be treated?

It’s difficult to assess the initial damage due to a baby’s young age, but a physiotherapist will usually monitor a child with Erb’s palsy. Recovery is often dependent on the severity of injury, though many infants recover well within the first year. Physiotherapy is often needed, and a small number may require surgery.

It’s important to seek treatment as soon as possible to make sure your baby has the best chance of making a complete recovery.

Can I make an Erb’s palsy claim?

Whether you can make a claim for Erb’s palsy compensation will depend on the cause. If medical negligence was a factor that led to your child’s injury, then our Erb’s palsy solicitors could help you bring forward a claim.

Two aspects need to be proved to be able to make a claim; that negligence occurred and that your child’s Erb’s palsy was caused by negligence. By gathering information and evidence related to your case, we can help prove that the medical team were at fault and seek compensation for your child’s suffering.

If you’re unsure of the cause of your child’s Erb’s palsy, we can help you get clarity on whether medical negligence played a part in the injury. Our empathetic team of specialists will go through the details of your case with you and help you decide on the next steps.

How much compensation can I get for Erb’s palsy negligence?

Every case is different and we pride ourselves on providing a personalised approach to each client, so it can be difficult to put a price on any potential Erb’s palsy compensation fee. However, some of the factors that are likely to be taken into consideration when calculating an amount are:

• The severity of physical pain and suffering
• Any loss of family income due to caring needs
• Any future support needed such as physical therapy
• Costs of any modifications to the home
• Any travel costs

The Judicial College Guidelines are used to establish a fair compensation amount. Often, birth injury claims are settled with one lump sum and annual payments thereafter to support ongoing care costs.

If you’d like to talk to our team about making an Erb’s palsy medical negligence claim, call us on 0330 100 1014 or fill in our online form.

How much will it cost to make an Erb’s palsy claim?

If we take your case on a ‘no win no fee’ basis (which we do with most of our clients), you won’t pay anything up front. You’ll only pay if your claim is successful, in which case this will be a percentage of your settlement fee.

Your initial chat with us is free so, if you decide not to proceed with your Erb’s palsy claim, you won’t owe anything. Our team can also discuss other ways to fund your claim should you wish to do so.

Reasons for making an Erb’s palsy compensation claim

Making any type of birth injury claim can be distressing but our team are here to support you and get you the compensation your child deserves.

As well as receiving a settlement, making a claim can help ease any future financial issues that may arise due to Erb’s palsy. This can include reduced earnings and loss of income.

You might also wish to make an Erb’s palsy medical negligence claim to help you and your family move forward after a distressing experience. Highlighting any breach in duty of care can help to prevent the same mistakes from happening again in future deliveries.

Only you and your family can decide if making a claim is right for you. The specialist Clinical Negligence team at Freeths have considerable experience in handling clinical negligence claims for birth injuries, including Erb’s palsy. We will support and guide you through a complex legal process.

Why choose Freeths to help with your claim?

Our professional Clinical Negligence team have particular expertise in birth and spinal injury claims and extensive experience in dealing with Erb’s palsy claims. You can trust our approachable lawyers to always treat you with respect and empathy. We also:

• Offer a FREE initial telephone advice and a FREE first interview, plus we can advise on funding your claim via a ‘no win no fee’ agreement or another option.
• Put your needs first – we can travel and visit you at home if appropriate.
• Treat each case with the individuality it deserves. We take the time to really get to know you and the details of your claim.
• Have 13 office locations across the UK, making it easy for you to visit us and get in touch.
• Have a team of specialist Court of Protection lawyers.
• Feature in The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, demonstrating our commitment to high standards of client service.
• We have three lawyers who are members of the AvMA Panel as well as three Law Society accredited lawyers.