Shoulder Dystocia Lawyers in the United States (2026)

About shoulder dystocia claims

Shoulder dystocia may be grounds for a medical malpractice claim if the delivery team's care fell below the required standard and caused your child's injury. Negligence isn't proved by a stuck shoulder alone. To link your child's harm to the team's care, you'll need the delivery notes and medical findings. That link can't come from the outcome alone.

When you're grieving a loss or your child still needs treatment, that distinction can be painful to hear. Even without knowing whether malpractice happened, you can ask for help. To learn which rules apply, speak with a lawyer in your state or province. They can also explain the review.

What shoulder dystocia means

A baby's shoulders can get stuck behind the mother's pubic bone during birth. That's shoulder dystocia. The baby must be freed before delivery can continue. Being stuck can injure the baby, as can attempts to free them, explains The Gori Law Firm's shoulder dystocia page. These include Erb's palsy and brachial plexus injury.

With a brachial plexus injury, nerves are damaged. The child in a case reported by Law.com's VerdictSearch had nerve damage involving the cervical spine. Her right arm was permanently disabled. She needed surgery. Physical and occupational therapy continued as well.

Oxygen deprivation is another concern. The Gori Law Firm explains that the baby's position can compress the umbilical cord and cause hypoxia (a lack of oxygen). This can cause brain damage or death. The page on hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) covers a related birth injury if your child's diagnosis includes oxygen deprivation.

How it happens and what may signal an injury

The shoulder is trapped behind the pubic bone. The team must free the trapped shoulder while also attending to the baby's condition. A later malpractice review looks at the team's attempts to free the shoulder. It must determine whether those actions harmed the baby.

The delivery notes come first. They may describe the shoulder dystocia and what the team did to complete the birth. In that case, fundal pressure and downward lateral traction were used to free the shoulder, the VerdictSearch report said. The amount of traction drew the family's challenge, as did the maneuvers the team chose.

• Ask the delivery team to explain any shoulder obstruction documented in the records, including what they did to resolve it.
• If your child has a brachial plexus injury, Erb's palsy or a fractured clavicle, discuss the injury and treatment plan with the clinician. The child in the VerdictSearch case had a fracture and nerve injury.
• Ask clinicians how any oxygen deprivation or brain damage they've identified may relate to your child's delivery. You can ask about cord compression, too.

These findings call for an explanation. Checking off these findings doesn't prove negligence. Your child's clinician can explain which findings support the diagnosis. Ask that the legal review use those findings. Problems after a difficult birth don't necessarily share a cause; the review shouldn't assume they do.

When shoulder dystocia may be malpractice

A difficult delivery and a serious injury aren't enough on their own. The claim must show what the standard of care required, then address any departure by the team. Any harm caused by that departure must be addressed, too. For the rules that apply to your case, a lawyer in your province or state can explain what you must prove.

The standard of care

What did appropriate care require in those circumstances? The review compares what the team did with what care required in those circumstances. No single sequence of maneuvers for every delivery comes from that review. The plaintiffs in the VerdictSearch case challenged the use of fundal pressure and downward lateral traction. They argued that other recognized maneuvers should have been tried first. The defendants denied violating the standard of care.

The cause of the injury

The injury's timing may be in dispute. The family in that case blamed excessive lateral traction for the injury. The defense blamed maternal forces of labor instead. It argued that the injury occurred in the womb or as the baby passed through the birth canal. An injury diagnosis alone couldn't settle that dispute over the cause.

Expert testimony was part of the case. For your child, do the medical findings and delivery account link the challenged care to the injury? Ask about that connection. Ask the reviewing lawyer to explain what supports that link. Ask what's still uncertain, too.

The harm and its consequences

The injury's effects also need examination in the review. The child had a fractured clavicle, VerdictSearch reported. She also had nerve damage and permanent arm disability. Surgery was also needed, followed by ongoing therapy. Those details describe her harm in that case. Another child's recovery can't be predicted from those details. Nor can the value of another claim.

The obstetrical malpractice page covers delivery-related claims more broadly. For questions about a midwife's care, you may find the midwife malpractice page helpful when preparing for a review.

What a reported verdict shows

Jury verdict reported by VerdictSearch in an Eaton County shoulder dystocia case involving a child's brachial plexus injury

$3,070,000

Source

VerdictSearch's report describes Cassidy Arndt's birth at Hayes Green Beach Memorial Hospital. The parties disputed when the injury happened and what caused it. They disagreed over whether the injury happened before birth or resulted from negligent care during delivery. The jury found in the child's favor.

The plaintiffs alleged that the baby had sufficient oxygen. With sufficient oxygen, they argued, the team had at least five minutes to try acceptable maneuvers. Instead, delivery took 90 seconds, which the plaintiffs alleged was rushed. The allegations concerned that delivery alone. Those allegations don't tell you how long it's medically safe for a different baby to remain undelivered.

What to do next

You can begin with what you know. Before calling a lawyer, you don't have to resolve disagreements about the delivery. You don't need the medical terms, either. A clinician's explanation may not match your memory of what happened. Those accounts should stay separate. Neither account should be combined with the chart's description.

By the consultation's end, you should know what's still unanswered. Ask whether the records identify the maneuvers used. Have the lawyer explain the records, including what supports the proposed cause of injury. Find out whether medical expert review is needed. Some information may suggest the care wasn't negligent. The lawyer should address that.

Deadlines differ by state and province

Across the United States and Canada, there's no single filing deadline for shoulder dystocia claims. The statute of limitations depends on your state or province. Your child's claim may have a different deadline from one you've read about elsewhere.

You can start with the state pages or Canada pages. A local lawyer should then check how the rules apply to you. The page titled “Proving Shoulder Dystocia Claims” describes a medical malpractice remedy under Ontario law. That page can't tell an Ontario family when its own filing deadline falls.

Ask about timing without waiting. If records are missing or the injury still hasn't been clearly explained, let the lawyer know. This is general information. It isn't legal advice.

For a broader look at these injuries, see the birth injury page. Your child's documented injury should be the review's focus. What matters is the care during this delivery. Questions about your child's care can't be settled by another family's story or verdict.