How a Pregnancy Can Go Wrong: Erb's Palsy

I am a mother of two. Both of my pregnancies were uneventful. However, the first pregnancy has been memorable in a different kind of way. Not only because it was our first baby but because of the unfortunate circumstances faced during the whole process.

Our son was born in 1998. I was a healthy female without risk assessed throughout the gestational period. I followed all the advice and went for regular checkups. The first ultrasound came out normal. The OBGYN did not want to reveal the sex of the child, but curiosity got the best of us. We were informed that it would be a healthy baby boy. We were thrilled.

The subsequent ultrasound also confirmed that the chambers of the heart had developed without any problems. My blood test result was also good. Then the final day came. My son was due on Nov. 22, and that was the exact date that he chose to enter the world - not a day early, not a day late!

I started to feel pain the day before the delivery. For hours I was told not to go to the hospital, which I later found out because the hospital did not have too many doctors to handle the night hours. Anyway, at 5:30am on Nov. 22, I contacted the nurse and informed that I could not take the pain anymore and was going in regardless.

When I arrived at the hospital, the formalities took forever. That is understandable because the registration has to be done with perfection. However, by the time I was assigned a cabin, it was time for a change in the shift. Again, for 3 or 4 hours I was left to go through tremendous amount of unbearable pain. I would not have even talked about it if I had not gone through what I did later. So, the anesthesiologist came at the new shift and gave me the Epidural injection. I woke a few hours later.

A few times my baby's heart beat dropped and I had to change position with my then weak body. I was told to support myself on the bed with my knees bent. That supposedly took the load off and allowed my son's heart beat to get regularized. They had placed a lead on my son's scalp that was attached to a monitor to check his vital signs.

After hours of preparation and struggle my son was born at 6:49pm the same day. When normal delivery was unsuccessful, the OBGYN asked for approval for forceps delivery. That also failed and I started to come in and out of consciousness. I don't remember too much of the incident. However, I do remember that I was looking at the monitor to check my own blood pressure and heart rate, but as soon as I started to shake vigorously, the resident in training carefully stood in front of the monitor, not allowing me to check anything else. They also did not allow my husband to stay near me.

Within minutes the physician gave me additional anesthetic and performed a C-section. Once my son was taken out of my womb, even after my request he was not given to me. They cleaned him up and took us to the recovery room. I was extremely week by now. Our son was given to us after an hour or so. My husband helped me with the diaper change. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep the whole night.

The following morning, while nursing him I noticed, his left arm was not moving. I asked my husband what had happened. He said the Physician told him that our son was on his left for long in my womb. As a result he was having some difficulty in moving his arm. I was at a loss. I had never heard of such thing before. I called my brothers and sister-in-law who are physicians themselves. When I described the symptoms, they said most likely it was Erb's Palsy, a condition in which the nerve that wraps around the collar bone or the Clavicle gets damaged. Sure enough, every time that I was picking him up, his left arm was falling behind. In layman's term that is called the "beggar's hand". We were devastated. The feeling was of anger and helplessness combined - I don't know what I could compare it with to make you understand.

What I experienced after that was nothing but extraordinary. All of a sudden, the physicians and nurses involved in the process stopped visiting my room. My bed sheets were not getting changed because anything they would say to me would get used in the court! The feeling was horrible. There I was a new mother who was dreaming of having a healthy baby boy, that dream was shattered by the imprudent, inexperienced (?) or maybe careless doctor, and they were busy with damage control.

The hospital sent me a small cake and a card congratulating me on becoming a new parent. They also arranged a pediatrician to assess the condition. I expressed my anger because not only did they harm my baby, they tried to cover it up. Through subsequent visits to the specialists we found out that there was a 50/50 chance of his recovery.

After 3 months of regular checkups and physical therapy, which I would do at home as advised, our son gradually recovered. I would move his arm in all directions and then stabilize the arm to the front. One day he grabbed my fingers! I was ecstatic. He gradually recovered with full range of motion of his arm. He is now a lefty. We were blessed.

Our son is finishing the 3^rd grade and is a normal, healthy kid. However, because we would have to leave him on his right side, the healthier side, in the back his skull has become slightly deformed (flat). We were told that shape would never change. Also because he had suffered severe bending of the Clavicle, most likely he would never be able to engage in physically challenging sports.

I was informed that while I was there lying helplessly in my hospital bed, the doctor was busy enjoying his meal at the McDonald's, chatting and flirting with his colleagues as observed by my husband when he went there to grab something for lunch. His attitude was not that of a caring physician, he lied to us, and did not take responsibility for his mistakes. I was advised to get an elective C-section for my second pregnancy because of the small pelvic structure that I have. The doctor during the first delivery made a poor decision because he was not focused enough. I was informed by some of my friends and colleagues that the same doctor had other complaints against him as well. I wish I had known.

I also came to know that the doctors intentionally try to prolong the steps to do normal delivery even if it seems like a complicated case just to save money. C-section involves more cost which comes out of their production. I was told the second time that I had small pelvic structure, which I believe was the same with the first pregnancy. There was no justifiable reason for him to put our lives at risk.

The only reason I am sharing this experience with you is to make you aware of the things that can go wrong even after your sincere effort. Therefore, talk to people to find out about the practice and the specific doctor that you are leaving your future decision on. You are the only person who really can ensure safety for your baby. God forbid, if anything happens to your baby, you will be the one stuck with the responsibility. All you will get from the perpetrator is "sorry". In my case, I was not lucky enough to receive any apology.

We did contact a lawyer who was looking into the situation. He had asked for the hospital documents. However, we decided to drop the claim once our son recovered completely. We knew it was a close call and we were blessed enough to see him heal and regain full function of his arm. Money got immaterial at that point.

In hindsight, I think I should have done more to find out which practice or specific doctor would have been better for me. I did that with my second pregnancy. Mistakes can happen. After all, we are all human being. However, it cannot become a routine. The unfortunate ordeal was due to the lack of information that I had at that point about that doctor's poor record. So, please talk to people and do your research before making the final decision.