Erb's Palsy: Can a New Tool Predict Complications?

Regional Women’s Health Management is one of the largest providers of obstetrical and gynecological care for New Jersey women. The group treats over 200,000 women annually and delivers approximately 5,000 babies.

In May 2008 Regional Women’s Health Management entered into an agreement with LMS Medical Systems to provide a new and innovative tool to help predict shoulder dystocia and prevents its potentially horrible effects. Shoulder dystocia occurs when the baby’s shoulder gets stuck during birth. The potential effects include nerve damage, Erb’s palsy, brain damage and even death.

The new tool developed by LMS Medical Systems is called the CALM Shoulder Screen. CALM Shoulder Screen will help doctors manage shoulder dystocia.

Dr. Kay, the Chairman of Regional Women’s Health Management, says that “Shoulder dystocia is one of the scariest crises to occur in obstetrics…We believe the CALM Shoulder Screen will not only help us to identify the higher risk mothers and take action to avoid a significant number of persistent injuries, but also help us to properly identify those lower risk mothers who have a chance of delivering without unnecessary intervention."
While it is too early to tell if Dr. Kay’s predictions will turn out to be true, it is safe to say that this will be a major breakthrough in medical care if they do. It is important to both minimize the cases when shoulder dystocia occurs and to minimize medical interventions. The CALM Shoulder Screen is designed to do both of those things.

Childbirth is a very uncertain undertaking and mothers who develop complications are very dependent on their medical providers to help them through childbirth safely. Any tool that can help doctors anticipate the medical emergency that is shoulder dystocia is a welcome development that could benefit many mothers and newborns every year in New Jersey and around the country.