brachial plexus palsy or erb's palsy?

Hi,
when my daughter Emelia (2 months) was born her shoulders became stuck and i had to have an episiotomy as she was 9 pound 4 oz and she had brachial plexus palsy or erbs palsy which is where the nerves in the shoulders are damaged simply because the baby is too big to make it through the birth canal. she has feeling in her arm and can lift it a little but she can not bend her elbow or lift toward her mouth or over her head...they say most cases it will spontenously start working properly if not they can do surgery and this must be done between 3 to 6 months old. this could have been prevented if i had been induced earlier, but my doctor said no everything will be fine she isnt that big. but i cant turn back time and im very happy and consider myself very lucky to have a happy healthy baby...i was just wondering if anyone else has had a bub with this and if they got full use of there arm again?

Hi Blanchie

I don't have a child with this condition, but I am a paediatric nurse and have seen a few children that I care for with this palsy. It most often self resolves (at least it has in every case that I have seen), but paediatric neurologists and orthopaedists are VERY talented and will be able to answer any questions you may have.

Sorry, not too much information really, but HTH

hi princess kylie
we are hoping it heals itself, Emelia is going back to Princess Margaret Hospital in march and that is when we find out if she will need surgery she is almost 3 months and her arm his getting more and more movement every week, i have to do exercises everyday and they seem to be helping so im hoping this is a good sign it will eventually work normally without surgery, its great to hear all the cases you have worked with have all got full fuction of the arm. thankyou for replying

Tho i don't have a child with this condition, i do have Erbs palsy myself due to my being born naturally and also getting stuck. I was a 10lb 11 oz baby and was born with a broken collarbone and a dislocated shoulder as well as the nerve damage. Unfortunately for me, medical science wasn't as advanced 40 years ago as it is now, and apart from my parents taking me to a chiropractor at 6 weeks of age for several months of extensive treatment, i regained the use of my left arm to a certain extent. I have the typical limp looking arm, slightly shorter than the other, unable to raise it to the full extent,and unable to turn my wrist over. Tho through my life i have found some things difficult, such as Gymnastics, Ball games and Athletics at school, i learn't to swim and managed several other sports. Through out my life my arm has hindered my from some activities, some days even styling my hair gives me shocking cramps in it, but most things i have accomplished and it has gone unnoticed by the general public. I have never had a problem in any of my jobs. I have had to have physio every several years to loosen up knotted muscles, but am proud to say that the last x-rays on it 6 months ago showed no signs of arthritis yet.
In this day and age, with medical technology as advanced as it is, I'm sure your daughter will recover the full use of her arm without any worries.

Hi Blanchie

My daughter was also born with a brachial plexus injury so I can understand a lot of what you must be going through. We also go to PMH for treatment. Danielles right arm was completely paralysed when she was born and she also couldn't open her right eye. Thankfully her eye healed completely. Her arm healed very slowly, she could lift her arm to nearly shoulder height and could use her fingers. She still couldn't use her bicep or wrist. When she was 8 months they did the nerve graft surgery. Now she can use her bicep and she is still slowly improving.
I more than happy to answer any questions. Hopefully Emelia will heal on her own

hi Captain

great to hear Dannielles is improving still, how has she gone with like crawling, walking etc?

had an appointment today went well physio said improving more..doc said that doesnt look like she will need Nerve reconstruction, maybe later down the track she will need operation on her shoulder :( not sure he will see how she is next month..

Hi Blanchie

Glad your appointment went well and that Emelia doesn't have to have the nerve grafts. What kind of shoulder surgery are they talking about?

Danielle started to do a commando crawl at about 7 months. She pulled with her left arm and pushed with her right leg. She did that for about a month until she has her surgery. After that she used a bottom shuffle. She started walking at about 15 months. It took a while for her to learn to stand because it was hard to pull herself up. But she keeps up well with the other kids.

We are heading in for an appointment next month so hopefully we'll know more about what to expect next.

the doctor didnt go into to much about the shoulder surgery cos he said he will wait till she's over 6 months to look at that is she needs...so dont know really know wats involved in that..we go back next month again.

was danielle a big baby when she was born?

Danielle was 3.9kg, I think thats about 8'10. She was three weeks early. She wasn't huge but she has very broad shoulders. (Got that from her dad.)

We're going into PMH on the 20th, we haven't been for a few months but I'm sure they'll say we just need to keep waiting to see if she improves anymore.

What kind of movement does Emelia have now?

what doctor do u see we see dr page, i feel everytime we go there he doesnt really say much pretty much says see u again in a month.

she can lift her arm up so she can chew her hand when sitting up and reaches out to things, laying down she can lift a little bit over her head and reaches things on her playmat that hang down..physio says good that improving everytime. its a waiting game, just gotta keep doing her excersisers..did u have to do any with danielle?

We used to see dr Allison, but Dr Page was always there. They both did the surgery on Danielle. Dr Allison retired at the end of last year so this will be our first appointment with Dr Page. We were told the same thing with the waiting game until she was six months and then the surgery was planned. Since the surgery we've gone back to waiting. It can be very frustrating sometimes.

We've had to do physio since Danielle was born. We only go every couple of months now cause I pretty much know all the exercises.

It sounds like Emelia is doing really well!:D She has far more movement than Danielle did at the same age. Can she use her bicep?

yeah on one of our visits the physio said that her biceps and triceps are very strong.

i sometimes find dr page very distracted i know he must have alot on his mind but whens hes explaing something it will take him a while to spit it out!!! i find that very frustrating.

I know what you mean. I feel like I have to ask so many questions just to find out what is going on.

Which physio do you see? We see Cheng.

My hubby, Luca, and I were talking about organizing a picnic or something for all the kids with OBI's that go to PMH. Do you think people would be interested in going?

yeah we see cheng, shes great!

picnic sounds great, im in, im sure other ppl would love the idea too. would be great to catch up. :D

Great! I'll organise a date. We see Cheng in a couple of weeks so I'll talk to her and see if she can pass the details on to other parents. She was the one who started the idea of a picnic.

How does Emelia sleep? I remember Danielle at that age and she always had trouble sleeping. We think because she had pain or pins and needles through her arm.

ok cool, yeah we go 27th this month...im sure heaps of ppl will love to go!

Emelia is a good sleeper since 3 weeks she has sleep through, last few weeks she would wake through the night..but last 3 nights all through again so hoping it stays like that i feel like a complete different person ive had good sleep!!!

talk again soon

Big achievement today. I put some cheese in Danielle's right hand and encouraged her to put the cheese in her mouth. She nearly got her hand to her mouth!!!!:clap: This is the best she has ever done. Gives me hope that she will be able to do it as she gets stronger.

oh thats great news..yay Danielle:D cant wait to meet u both. i remember when emelia first started lifting her arm i was almost in tears!!! it does give ya hope though doesnt it, oh wonderful news :dance:

do u have msn?