Queens Shoulder Dystocia Lawyers

What Happens During a Shoulder Dystocia Delivery

Shoulder dystocia occurs when the baby’s head delivers but one or both shoulders become lodged behind the mother’s pelvic bone, preventing the rest of the body from following. This creates an obstetric emergency because the baby’s oxygen supply through the umbilical cord may be compressed, and each minute that passes without delivery increases the risk of brain damage.

The Trained Response Every Medical Team Must Follow

Medical professionals receive specific training on how to respond when shoulder dystocia occurs. The American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists both recommend a protocol-driven sequence of maneuvers. The delivery team must act quickly, calmly, and in the correct order. The standard response includes:

• McRoberts maneuver: sharply flexing the mother’s legs toward her abdomen to widen the pelvic outlet and rotate the pubic bone away from the trapped shoulder
• Suprapubic pressure: an assistant applies downward and lateral pressure above the mother’s pubic bone to dislodge the baby’s anterior shoulder
• Internal rotation maneuvers: the physician reaches into the birth canal to rotate the baby’s shoulders into a position that allows delivery (Rubin maneuver or Woods corkscrew)
• Posterior arm delivery: the physician delivers the baby’s posterior arm first to reduce the width of the shoulders and free the impaction
• Gaskin maneuver: repositioning the mother onto her hands and knees, which may change the pelvic geometry enough to release the shoulder

These maneuvers follow a specific sequence, and the medical team must avoid applying excessive downward or lateral traction on the baby’s head and neck, as this is a primary cause of brachial plexus injuries. 

Fundal pressure, meaning pushing down on the top of the mother’s uterus, is also contraindicated because it may worsen the impaction. When the delivery team departs from these protocols, the consequences for the baby may be severe and permanent.

Medical Errors That Cause Shoulder Dystocia Injuries in Queens

A poor outcome during a shoulder dystocia delivery does not automatically mean that negligence occurred. But it also does not mean the injury was unavoidable. Many shoulder dystocia injuries result from identifiable errors that a qualified medical team had the training and opportunity to prevent.

Errors Before Labor Begins

Some shoulder dystocia cases involve failures that occurred well before the delivery itself. Obstetricians have a responsibility to evaluate risk factors during prenatal care and make delivery planning decisions that account for those risks. Known risk factors for shoulder dystocia include:

• Fetal macrosomia, meaning the baby is estimated to be significantly larger than average
• Maternal gestational diabetes or preexisting diabetes, which increases the likelihood of a larger baby with disproportionate shoulder width
• A history of shoulder dystocia in a prior delivery, which raises the recurrence risk
• Prolonged labor or failure to progress, which may indicate that vaginal delivery is not proceeding safely
• Maternal obesity, which may reduce the effectiveness of certain delivery maneuvers

When these risk factors are present and the physician fails to consider a planned cesarean delivery or fails to prepare the delivery team for a potential shoulder dystocia, the resulting injury may reflect a departure from the standard of care that began before the baby entered the birth canal.

Errors During Delivery

The delivery room errors that most commonly lead to shoulder dystocia injuries involve failures in technique, timing, and judgment during the moments when the impaction is recognized. Queens families pursuing shoulder dystocia claims frequently see one or more of the following errors documented in the delivery records:

• Applying excessive downward or lateral traction on the baby’s head and neck instead of using gentle axial traction
• Failing to perform the McRoberts maneuver or suprapubic pressure as the initial response and instead pulling harder on the head
• Delaying the transition from first-line external maneuvers to second-line internal maneuvers when the initial response is not resolving the impaction
• Applying fundal pressure (pushing on the top of the uterus), which is contraindicated because it may worsen the shoulder impaction
• Using forceps or a vacuum extractor during a delivery complicated by shoulder dystocia, which may increase the risk of brachial plexus injury

The medical literature is clear that aggressive traction on the fetal head is a primary cause of brachial plexus injuries during shoulder dystocia deliveries. When a provider departs from the trained protocol, the resulting injury may reflect a failure to meet the accepted standard of care.

Injuries Caused by Shoulder Dystocia Negligence

The injuries that result from a mismanaged shoulder dystocia delivery range from temporary nerve damage to permanent disability. The type and severity of the injury depend on the amount of force applied, the duration of the impaction, and how quickly the medical team resolved the emergency.

Brachial Plexus Injuries and Erb’s Palsy

The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that runs from the spinal cord through the neck and into the arm. When excessive traction is applied to the baby’s head during a shoulder dystocia delivery, these nerves may be stretched, torn, or avulsed (ripped from the spinal cord). 

Upper brachial plexus injuries affecting the C5 and C6 nerve roots are classified as Erb’s palsy and typically affect the shoulder and upper arm. Some brachial plexus injuries resolve with physical therapy over time, while others require surgical intervention and may result in permanent loss of function.

Oxygen Deprivation and Brain Injury

If the shoulder dystocia is not resolved quickly, the baby’s oxygen supply may be compromised due to compression of the umbilical cord. Prolonged oxygen deprivation during delivery may lead to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a form of brain damage that may cause cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, developmental delays, and cognitive impairment.

Filing Deadlines for Queens Shoulder Dystocia Claims

New York law sets strict filing deadlines for birth injury and medical malpractice claims. For shoulder dystocia cases involving a child, the timeline follows specific rules.

What Queens Families Need to Know About Deadlines

New York’s filing requirements for birth injury claims involve several overlapping rules. Families in Queens pursuing a shoulder dystocia case must be aware of all of them:

• Under CPLR § 214-a, the standard statute of limitations for medical malpractice is two years and six months from the negligent act
• For children, CPLR § 208 provides an infancy toll, but medical malpractice claims are capped at 10 years from the date of the malpractice regardless of the child’s age
• If the delivery occurred at a public hospital in Queens, such as a facility within NYC Health + Hospitals, General Municipal Law § 50-e requires a Notice of Claim within 90 days
• A certificate of merit under CPLR § 3012-a must accompany the complaint, confirming that a licensed physician reviewed the case and found a reasonable basis for the claim

Many families do not suspect that their child’s birth injury was caused by medical negligence until the child begins missing developmental milestones months or years later. The 10-year cap means the filing window may close while the child is still young, making early legal consultation one of the most practical steps a family may take.