Erb’s Palsy Website Penned by Concerned Mother Refreshing and Informative
Here's a welcome break from the usual round of medical jargon about Erb's palsy: injurednewborn.com, a site set up by Francine Litz, the mother of a daughter with a birth injury to her brachial plexus. (In short, obstetric brachial plexus injuries leave children with one arm weakened or useless, often dangling limply with the hand turned backwards. It sometimes clears up on its own, but is often a lifelong disability that requires multiple surgeries and physical therapy. The injury is almost always caused by too much pulling by doctors during birth.) Injurednewborn.com is written by a mother, not a doctor, making it more accessible to the families who suffer this disability. Litz is angry and thorough, offering extensive advice for parents of babies with brachial plexus injuries as well as advice for expectant women on how they can avoid brachial plexus injuries and other birth injuries. (She also touches on injuries the mother can sustain due to medical malpractice during a birth.) She's obviously done her research; she mentions some of the common maneuvers that doctors should try when faced with shoulder dystocia, the obstetric emergency that commonly causes brachial plexus injuries, as well as more drastic strategies like performing a C-section or breaking the mother's pelvis.
Litz also points visitors to her site to this slideshow of children who have brachial plexus injuries and information about the condition.
