Shoulder Dystocia and Brachial Plexus Injuries: Can You Sue for Delivery Negligence?
Aug. 20, 2025
The consequences of a birth injury can be life-altering for both the newborn and the family. One such complication, shoulder dystocia, occurs when a baby’s shoulder becomes lodged behind the mother’s pelvic bone after the head has been delivered.
This obstetric emergency requires immediate and skillful intervention. If handled improperly, it can result in serious injuries, including brachial plexus injuries, which affect the network of nerves controlling movement and sensation in the arm and hand.
Many parents are left wondering: Was this just an unavoidable complication—or did something go wrong in the delivery room? And more importantly: Do we have legal options?
Here, as a personal injury attorney in Seattle, Washington, I'll go over when a brachial plexus injury may be the result of medical negligence, what evidence can support a malpractice claim, and how Washington law treats these challenging cases. Knowing your rights is the first step toward accountability and healing.
An Overview of Shoulder Dystocia and Brachial Plexus Injuries
Shoulder dystocia is a childbirth complication that occurs when a baby’s shoulder becomes lodged behind the mother’s pelvic bone after the head has already been delivered. This situation prevents the baby from emerging fully during delivery and requires immediate medical intervention.
While shoulder dystocia is relatively rare, it is considered an obstetric emergency because delayed resolution can result in significant harm to both the infant and the mother.
One of the most serious potential outcomes of shoulder dystocia is a brachial plexus injury. The brachial plexus is a network of nerves located near the neck that controls movement and sensation in the shoulder, arm, and hand.
During a difficult delivery involving shoulder dystocia, these nerves can become stretched, compressed, or even torn if excessive force is used to deliver the baby. This can lead to temporary or permanent weakness, numbness, or paralysis in the affected limb.
There are different types of brachial plexus injuries, ranging from mild (such as neurapraxia, where the nerve is stretched but not torn) to severe (like avulsion, where the nerve is torn from the spinal cord). The severity of the injury often determines the prognosis and the required treatment, which may include physical therapy or, in more severe cases, surgery.
Shoulder dystocia and brachial plexus injuries can be associated with risk factors such as high birth weight, maternal diabetes, prolonged labor, or the use of instruments like forceps or vacuum extractors.
However, these complications can sometimes occur without any identifiable risk factors. Early recognition and skilled obstetric care during delivery are essential to reduce the likelihood of permanent injury. Understanding these conditions helps families and healthcare providers advocate for safer deliveries and prompt treatment when injuries do occur.
Medical Negligence Laws To Know Before You File Your Claim
A claim arising from birth complications falls under RCW 7.70, Washington’s medical negligence chapter. To prevail, an attorney must show (1) a healthcare provider–patient relationship, (2) a breach of the accepted standard of care, and (3) that the breach caused damages.
“Standard of care” means what a reasonably prudent provider would do under similar circumstances in Washington. Because childbirth emergencies develop quickly, defense lawyers often argue that staff acted appropriately given the pressures of labor.
In personal injury litigation, an attorney counters by comparing the delivery record to current obstetric guidelines, hospital protocols, and testimony from seasoned practitioners, establishing that safer maneuvers were available yet not attempted. If the baby’s injuries align precisely with traction‐induced brachial plexus stretching, causation becomes hard for the defense to dispute.
Washington follows pure comparative fault, so even if a mother’s health choices contributed, recovery is still possible, though any verdict is reduced by her fault percentage.
Statute of Limitations and Procedural Requirements
Under RCW 4.16.350, a medical negligence action must be filed within three years of the act or one year of discovering the injury, whichever occurs later, but no later than eight years from the act. For minors, the time clock pauses until the child turns eighteen, yet critical evidence may deteriorate, so an attorney can recommend prompt legal action.
Before filing suit, Washington law now requires serving a ninety‑day notice of intent to sue under RCW 7.70.100, giving providers time to review claims. Missing these timelines can bar relief, so meticulous timekeeping is central to any personal injury strategy.
Establishing Delivery Negligence
Every personal injury investigation in this context begins with securing the fetal monitor strips, operative notes, and Apgar scores. Time stamps often tell a compelling story—revealing how long the head was delivered before shoulder dystocia was recognized, which maneuvers were attempted, and whether auxiliary staff were summoned in a timely manner.
Under Washington law, attorneys must also assess staffing levels; insufficient nurse coverage during a busy shift can support a theory of hospital liability. If available, video footage from delivery suites can provide critical context. The defense typically argues that unpredictable anatomy or maternal factors alone caused the injury.
To rebut such claims, a skilled attorney may emphasize overlooked risk indicators such as gestational diabetes, a history of shoulder dystocia, or excessive maternal weight—or demonstrate that the obstetrician applied excessive downward force in contradiction to accepted training standards.
Each personal injury brief ties these facts back to RCW 7.70.040, underscoring that the harm could have been prevented with reasonable prudence.
Damages Available
Washington law allows broad recovery for birth‐related personal injury. Economic damages cover past medical bills and the staggering lifetime costs of therapy, adaptive equipment, and potential surgical interventions like nerve grafting.
Non‑economic damages compensate for disfigurement, pain, and loss of enjoyment—particularly poignant when a child faces lifelong impairment. While Washington eliminated traditional caps on non‑economic damages in Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp., the legislature later enacted RCW 4.56.250, which imposes a sliding scale ceiling.
Even so, substantial verdicts remain achievable, especially when vocational specialists project huge income losses over a child’s lifetime. An attorney will always quantify future care in present‑day dollars, using inflation assumptions that withstand judicial scrutiny.
By presenting a full picture of economic and human losses, an attorney can strengthen the personal injury claim and motivate insurers to offer serious settlements.
Steps to Strengthen Your Claim
The following list outlines the main ways you can strengthen your claim:
Obtain the full hospital and prenatal record immediately and store digital copies in multiple safe locations
Request an independent evaluation from a pediatric neurologist to document functional limitations and prognosis
Maintain a journal chronicling therapy sessions, night feedings, and developmental milestones to illustrate day‑to‑day impact for the jury
Save every receipt for medical supplies, braces, and transportation because they support economic personal injury damages
Consult a Washington personal injury attorney experienced in obstetric malpractice as early as feasible to preserve evidence and comply with statutory notices
By following these steps, your ideal result becomes more possible, and your claim is backed by facts and evidence.
Common Defenses Hospitals Present
Hospitals often argue that shoulder dystocia is inherently unpredictable, maintaining that even optimal care cannot prevent every brachial plexus injury. They may assert that maternal diabetes or fetal macrosomia made the injury unavoidable.
Effective legal rebuttals dismantle these defenses by highlighting the absence of preparatory measures—such as failing to have a specialized obstetric cart on standby or neglecting to summon additional personnel when risk factors emerged.
Another common defense is the claim that the injury resolved within months, minimizing the need for significant compensation. However, many affected children develop latent functional deficits that only become apparent during school years. Attorneys can leverage longitudinal medical studies to link early nerve damage with later academic and physical challenges.
Each of these rebuttals reinforces the principle under Washington personal injury law that both present and future harms must be considered.
Get Legal Help Today
If your family faces such personal injury challenges, reach out tome at The Law Office of Dan Fiorito. I’m proud to serve Seattle, Washington, and all of Western Washington, including the Puget Sound Area, Bellevue, Tacoma, and Everett. Call today.