Learning that your newborn suffered an injury during delivery can leave you with urgent questions. Will your child regain movement in an injured arm? Will surgery be necessary? Could the injury have been avoided?
A shoulder dystocia lawsuit in Florida may be appropriate when a medical provider’s failure to meet the applicable standard of care causes injury to a baby or mother. However, shoulder dystocia is a recognized obstetric emergency that can occur despite appropriate care. The complication alone does not establish medical malpractice.
Understanding the difference between an unavoidable complication and a negligently caused injury is the starting point for evaluating your family’s legal options.
What Is Shoulder Dystocia?
Shoulder dystocia occurs during vaginal delivery when the baby’s head has emerged but a shoulder becomes stuck, often behind the mother’s pubic bone. Additional obstetric maneuvers are needed to deliver the body.
The delivery team must recognize the emergency and respond promptly. Management may involve repositioning the mother, applying pressure above the pubic bone, or using other maneuvers to release the shoulder. The appropriate response depends on the circumstances; no single sequence guarantees an injury-free delivery.
Does Shoulder Dystocia Always Mean Medical Malpractice?
No. Shoulder dystocia can be difficult to predict and can occur without obvious warning signs. ACOG describes it as an unpredictable obstetric emergency. Injuries can occur even when the delivery team responds appropriately.
A Florida birth injury claim requires evidence that a provider breached the prevailing professional standard of care and that the breach caused injury. An unfavorable outcome, standing alone, is insufficient.
For example, a case may require experts to distinguish an injury caused by inappropriate force from one that occurred despite acceptable obstetric care. The medical records, delivery circumstances, and competing medical explanations all matter.
When Can Shoulder Dystocia Lead to a Lawsuit?
Potential issues for investigation include prenatal planning, the delivery team’s emergency response, and care after birth. These are questions for qualified experts, rather than automatic findings of negligence.
Failure to Evaluate Relevant Pregnancy Risks
An expert may examine whether providers appropriately evaluated maternal diabetes, a prior shoulder dystocia delivery, concerns about fetal size, and the labor history.
Risk factors do not reliably predict every emergency. A large baby does not automatically require a cesarean delivery, and an estimated fetal weight is not an exact measurement. Whether additional counseling or a different delivery plan was required depends on the patient’s circumstances and the standard of care at the time.
Excessive Force or Improper Delivery Techniques
Experts may investigate allegations of excessive traction on the baby’s head or neck, inappropriate pressure, or improper performance of obstetric maneuvers. Medical guidance distinguishes suprapubic pressure, applied above the pubic bone, from fundal pressure on the upper uterus, which should not be used to resolve shoulder dystocia.
The existence of a nerve injury does not, by itself, establish that excessive force was applied.
Delayed Recognition or an Inadequate Emergency Response
Review may focus on when the obstruction was recognized, whether assistance was summoned, and whether appropriate maneuvers were performed promptly. Hospital staffing, training, and emergency procedures may also warrant investigation when supported by the facts.
Failure to Identify and Address Injuries After Delivery
Newborn examinations and follow-up records can help establish when an injury became apparent and how it progressed. A separate claim involving delayed diagnosis or referral requires proof that the delay caused additional harm.
What Injuries Can Occur?
Shoulder dystocia can be associated with brachial plexus injuries, including Erb’s palsy. The brachial plexus is the network of nerves connecting the neck to the shoulder and arm. Injury can affect arm movement, strength, or sensation. Some injuries improve, while others cause lasting limitations.
Other possible complications include fractures and, in severe cases, oxygen deprivation. Mothers may suffer serious tears or postpartum bleeding. Each injury requires its own assessment of cause, prognosis, and treatment needs.
Importantly, a brachial plexus injury can also occur without shoulder dystocia. Neither diagnosis automatically establishes how an injury happened.
How Do You Prove a Florida Shoulder Dystocia Claim?
A medical malpractice case generally requires proof of:
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A duty of care: The defendant was responsible for providing relevant medical care.
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A breach: The care fell below the applicable professional standard.
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Causation: That failure caused or contributed to the injury in a legally sufficient way.
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Damages: The injury resulted in compensable losses.
Florida Statutes section 766.102 governs the professional standard and expert-witness requirements. Qualified experts help evaluate what reasonably prudent similar providers should have done under the circumstances.
Clinical guidelines may inform expert review, but they do not automatically establish negligence or resolve the legal standard in an individual case.
What Evidence Matters Most?
An investigation may require more than the delivery summary. Relevant evidence can include:
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Prenatal records, diabetes testing, ultrasounds, and fetal weight estimates.
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Records of earlier pregnancies and deliveries.
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Labor progress notes and fetal monitoring records.
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Physician, midwife, and nursing documentation.
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The timing and description of delivery maneuvers.
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Newborn examinations, resuscitation records, and cord blood results, when available.
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Pediatric, neurology, orthopedic, therapy, and surgical records.
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Relevant hospital policies, staffing information, and training records, subject to applicable discovery rules and privileges.
Parents should preserve photographs, videos, bills, correspondence, and a written account of what they remember. Records showing treatment needs and functional limitations over time can be particularly useful.
Who May Be Responsible?
Depending on the evidence, potential defendants may include an obstetrician, another treating provider, a medical practice, or a hospital.
A hospital is not automatically responsible for every physician who delivers babies there. Responsibility may depend on employment or agency relationships, the hospital’s own conduct, and other legal factors. Each proposed defendant’s role must be evaluated separately.
What Compensation May Be Available?
Depending on the claims and proof, recoverable damages may include:
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Past and future medical expenses.
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Surgery, rehabilitation, and physical or occupational therapy.
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Assistive equipment and necessary personal care.
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Future loss of earning capacity when supported by evidence.
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Pain, suffering, disability, and other legally recoverable noneconomic losses.
The mother may have a separate claim for her own negligently caused injuries. The child’s claims and any parental claims must be evaluated individually, including who may recover particular expenses.
There is no reliable “average settlement” that determines the value of a shoulder dystocia case. Liability evidence, permanence, future care needs, insurance coverage, and any applicable statutory restrictions affect recovery.
How Long Do You Have to File in Florida?
Florida’s medical malpractice statute generally provides a two-year limitations period tied to the incident or its discovery, including when it should have been discovered through due diligence. A separate four-year outside period generally applies, subject to exceptions.
Section 95.11 contains special language providing that the four-year period does not bar an action brought on behalf of a minor on or before the child’s eighth birthday. This does not give every family an automatic eight years to sue. The two-year discovery-based deadline still requires careful analysis.
Presuit procedures, concealment allegations, the identity of the defendant, and other circumstances can affect the calculation. A mother’s individual claim may also have a different deadline from her child’s. Have the dates reviewed promptly rather than waiting for a final prognosis.
Florida Requires Steps Before Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Under sections 766.203 and 766.106, claimants generally must investigate the claim, obtain a corroborating verified written opinion from a qualified medical expert, and provide the required notice of intent to prospective defendants.
A statutory presuit investigation period generally follows, during which suit ordinarily cannot be filed for 90 days after notice is delivered. Tolling and related deadline rules require careful calculation. Starting an investigation shortly before a deadline may leave insufficient time to meet these requirements.
Could Florida’s NICA Program Apply?
Some severe birth injury cases require review under Florida’s Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Plan, commonly called NICA. For qualifying injuries, the plan may provide an exclusive administrative remedy in place of a conventional malpractice lawsuit, subject to applicable legal exceptions.
NICA does not cover every birth injury. Its statutory definition concerns specified brain or spinal cord injuries with substantial, permanent mental and physical impairment, along with other eligibility requirements. An isolated brachial plexus injury does not automatically qualify merely because it occurred during birth.
Where the baby also suffered a serious brain injury, counsel should evaluate NICA eligibility, provider participation, and statutory notice issues early.
What Should Parents Do After a Shoulder Dystocia Injury?
Prioritize medical care and recommended follow-up. Ask your child’s treating providers about the diagnosis, referrals, treatment options, and expected recovery.
Request complete medical records for both mother and baby. Keep treatment bills and a record of therapy, appointments, and changes in your child’s functioning. Write down what you remember about the delivery while those memories are fresh.
Arrange a legal review promptly if you suspect preventable harm. You do not need to determine on your own whether malpractice occurred before seeking an evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue if my baby developed Erb’s palsy after delivery?
Possibly. A claim requires evidence connecting negligent care to the injury. Erb’s palsy alone does not prove malpractice.
Should my doctor have performed a C-section?
That depends on the information available before delivery and the applicable standard of care. Shoulder dystocia does not establish, in hindsight, that a cesarean delivery was required.
Can we bring a claim if the injury improves?
Improvement does not automatically eliminate a claim. The analysis still considers negligence, causation, and resulting losses. Recovery and prognosis affect damages and the practical evaluation of the case.
Do we need to wait until we know whether the injury is permanent?
No. Waiting can jeopardize legal deadlines. An investigation can begin while treatment and medical evaluation continue.
Discuss a Florida Shoulder Dystocia Injury With an Attorney
If your child suffered a serious injury following shoulder dystocia, a legal evaluation can help determine whether the medical care warrants further investigation and which deadlines apply.
Contact J.P. Gonzalez-Sirgo, P.A. to discuss a potential Florida birth injury claim. Be prepared to share the delivery date, hospital, treating providers, and the injuries diagnosed in the mother or baby.
Have you or someone you know been injured as a result of medical malpractice? Contact Florida Hospital and Medical Malpractice Lawyer J.P. Gonzalez-Sirgo by dialing his direct number at (786) 272-5841, calling the main office at (305) 461-1095, or Toll Free at 1 (866) 71-CLAIM or email Miami Attorney Gonzalez-Sirgo directly at jp@yourattorneys.com or by text at (305) 929-8935.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
