United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I agree Kate-and let us not forget two things-one that c-section itself is very far from being a risk free procedure, and also that the worst case scenario for shoulder dystocia is severe brain damage, CP or death. I personally believe more bpi could be prevented by educating women about the risks of laboring on their backs, and about the risks of procedures such as epidurals than any amount of c-sections. Yes, this injury is FAR too common.

I am new to this website and was wondering if anyone else shares my situation or similar. My child seemingly was expected to make a normal recovery from BPI injury from about 3 months of age and was meeting most milestones, crawling, walking etc except for the suppination which we were told would eventually recover. It's usually the last thing to return and she would learn to turn her arm correctly and use it correctly with encouragement also. She is now 3, and after being referred to a specialist by a friend's advice as her child was born same by same Dr, that she needed an MRI to determine any damage to the shoulder joint. Well she has development damage. The ball in her shoulder is now flattened as she has overcompensated movements from our understanding. We followed all advice given to us and were in no way aware this could occur. She is now not a candidate for a rebalancing surgery but may be able to have some bone shaving type surgery on her shoulder in a few years time when she is older. She struggles to put her arm behind her head and turn her palm up, those sorts of things.
Has anyone else experienced similiar? I would appreciate hearing about it and what happened.

My son is still too young to tell about the suppination completely, although he does put his arms behind his head while stretching(the cutest thing ever) and he scrathes his head so I know he can suppinate somewhat. NOt sure if he can completely suppinate palm up since he's only 8 months old. I hear this is a common problem...
As far as healing completely in 3 months...I think a lot of people hear that this injury just "goes away" and I think this website is a testament to how false that statement is. SOme children do recover fully quickly, but not all, or I would venture to say even most do not. Some of the other moms gave some advice a while back about things you can do to encourage suppination like putting a sticker or bit of whip cream on the palm of the injured hand so they will have to turn it up to see it or eat it.
Good luck...I'm sure the other moms will chime in as well.

During my lamaz classes the nurse teaching it told us that if at any point we thought something was wrong we should tell our doctor right away. I was in labor for 38 hrs. I told my doctor after about 12 hrs that I had a feeling something would be wrong she said everything would be ok. I started asking about a c-section shortly after that she wouldn't even consult me about it.

Tell me what ever happen to the expression trust a persons gut feeling , because guess what they are usually right.