If your child has been diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury at birth, you may have come across both “Erb’s palsy” and “Klumpke’s palsy” and wondered what separates the two. Both affect the nerves in your baby’s arm and shoulder, but they involve different parts of the nerve network and tend to happen in different ways.
In this blog, we’ll explain:
- What a brachial plexus injury is and how severe it can be
- The difference between Erb’s palsy and Klumpke’s palsy
- How severity affects your child’s recovery and any compensation claim
- What a brachial plexus injury claim could be worth
Has your child been left with a brachial plexus injury following a difficult birth? Start a claim with the Medical Law Partnership to find out if you’re entitled to compensation.
What is a brachial plexus injury?
The brachial plexus is the network of nerves that runs from the neck, through the shoulder, and down into the arm. These nerves control movement and feeling in the shoulder, arm, and hand. During a difficult birth, they can be stretched, torn, or, in the most serious cases, pulled away from the spinal cord entirely. This is particularly common when a baby’s shoulder becomes stuck behind the mother’s pelvic bone after the head has been delivered, a complication known as shoulder dystocia.
Doctors grade the severity of a brachial plexus injury into four broad categories:
- Neurapraxia – the nerve has been stretched but not torn. This is the most common type of injury and usually carries the best chance of a full recovery.
- Neuroma – the nerve has torn and healed, but the resulting scar tissue presses on the nerve and interferes with the signals it can carry.
- Rupture – the nerve has torn but is still attached to the spinal cord.
- Avulsion – the nerve has been torn away from the spinal cord entirely. This is the most severe form of injury and the least likely to improve without surgery.
Erb’s palsy
Erb’s palsy is the most common type of brachial plexus birth injury. It affects the upper nerves in the neck and shoulder area.
- What it looks like: the affected arm typically hangs limply at your child’s side, turned inward, with a straight elbow and a bent wrist. Grip strength in the hand is often unaffected, as the nerves controlling the hand are usually spared.
- How it usually happens: Erb’s palsy is most often linked to excessive pulling on the baby’s head and neck while trying to free the shoulders during a difficult delivery. Recognised risk factors include a larger-than-average baby, maternal diabetes, a prolonged labour, and an instrumental delivery.
Klumpke’s palsy
Klumpke’s palsy is much less common and affects the lower nerves, closer to the base of the neck and upper chest.
- What it looks like: this typically causes a “claw hand”, where the small muscles of the hand, along with the wrist and fingers, are affected, while the shoulder and upper arm often move relatively normally.
- How it usually happens: Klumpke’s palsy is more often linked to excessive pulling on an outstretched arm, something more commonly seen in breech deliveries, where the baby’s arm, rather than the head and neck, bears the force during delivery.
How does severity affect my child’s future – and any compensation?
Both conditions cover a wide range of severity. Many children with Erb’s palsy recover well, particularly with physiotherapy in the early years, while others are left with lasting weakness. Klumpke’s palsy tends to signal a more serious injury with a less certain recovery.
Your child’s prognosis, based on nerve tests, scans, and how they progress in the first months of life, is one of the most important factors in valuing a claim. That’s because compensation is designed to reflect the actual impact of the injury on your child’s life, not just the diagnosis itself.
What could a brachial plexus injury claim be worth?
It’s natural to want to know what compensation might mean for your family, though every case is valued on its own facts and no two settlements are identical. Compensation in a successful claim is generally made up of two parts.
General damages
These compensate for the pain, suffering, and impact on quality of life caused by the injury itself. Courts use published guidelines to help set a fair figure depending on severity. Reported awards for arm and shoulder nerve injuries have ranged from the low tens of thousands of pounds for injuries with a good recovery, up to £150,000 or more for the most severe, permanent injuries.
Special damages
These usually make up the larger part of a birth injury settlement and cover the practical, lifelong costs the injury may bring, such as:
- Loss of future earnings, particularly if the injury limits the physical work your child will be able to do
- Past and future surgery, including nerve grafts or tendon transfers where needed
- Ongoing physiotherapy and occupational therapy
- Equipment, aids, and home adaptations
- Care and case management costs, in more severe cases
Because special damages reflect a lifetime of need, total settlements can vary enormously, from the tens of thousands of pounds for cases with a strong recovery, up to seven-figure sums where a child is left with a permanent, significant disability. Publicly reported NHS data has previously put the average Erb’s palsy negligence settlement at over £800,000, reflecting how much lifetime care and lost earning potential can weigh in the most serious cases.
What should I do next?
If your child has been diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury, either Erb’s palsy or Klumpke’s palsy, following a difficult birth, you don’t need to have all the answers before reaching out. Our specialist medical negligence solicitors can review your child’s medical records to help establish what happened and whether it could have been prevented.
We understand how overwhelming this can feel alongside caring for your child. Our team will handle the legal process with sensitivity and keep you informed in plain language at every stage.
Think you may have a claim? Get in touch with the Medical Law Partnership today start your claim online or request a callback to speak to a member of our team.