Connecticut lawsuit claims mishandled birth led to boy's injury

A toddler has little use of an arm and additional nerve damage because doctors at William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich allegedly mishandled his birth, according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Hartford.

Eliana Walker, 34, of the Willimantic section of Windham, sued Backus, parent corporation Hartford HealthCare and a number of doctors, midwives and other medical personnel on behalf of herself and her son, Kayden Zaid Colon Walker, who was born July 15, 2020.

A spokeswoman for Hartford HealthCare said she could not comment on pending litigation.

Walker claims in the suit that the individual caregivers injured Kayden during delivery. The problem stemmed from Kayden's unusually large torso, which was caused by Walker's diabetes, according to their attorney, Kathleen Nastri of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder. Walker was induced at 37 weeks gestation because of Kayden's size.

While trying to deliver Kayden, nerves in his brachial plexus, from his lower cervical to his upper thoracic vertebrae, were either ripped from the spinal cord or torn in two, Nastri said.

"He has very little motion or use of his … right arm," she said. "He has very little use of the muscles in his shoulder. He has really no use of his triceps or biceps. He can't bend his elbow on his own. He can't lift the arm over his head. He can't flex and bend his wrist. It's a terrible injury."

Nastri said when Kayden runs, "you’ll see one arm just kind of flopping behind him."

The difficulties began when Walker spent a long time in labor and the birth was induced. "She was in labor for quite some time, until it appeared that the baby was not able to come out entirely on its own," Nastri said. "So they used something called a vacuum extractor to help deliver the baby's head."

Once that was done, however, "the baby's shoulder was stuck on the mother's pubic bone," Nastri said. "And there are certain accepted maneuvers that a midwife or a doctor can use once that happens. It's an obstetrical emergency because, obviously, you’ve got to deliver the baby. The baby is in some peril."

Nastri said doctors should have delivered Kayden by caesarian section or used additional maneuvers that Walker claims would have freed the baby's shoulder. A written opinion included in the legal complaint states that Walker did not believe maneuvers such as pressure on her pubic bone or pressing her legs against her torso were attempted.

"When the baby was born, they discovered that he had a fractured clavicle and a fractured humerus," Nastri said.

But while those injuries healed, "he had a very severe injury to his brachial plexus, which are the nerves that run from the cervical spine down and they activate the muscles in the shoulder and the biceps and the triceps and the wrist and the fingers."

Nastri said obstetricians are aware that diabetic mothers may have babies that are disproportionately large.

"The babies from diabetic moms tend to gain weight in their torso area, their chest and their trunk," so the head can be delivered more easily than the rest of the body, she said.

"The most important thing is to avoid excessive traction on the baby's head," Nastri said.

"So the claim here is that they used excessive traction to deliver the baby. When they do that they pull on the baby's head and stretch the nerves … beyond their capacity and the nerves are either ripped or they are actually pulled out of the spinal cord, which causes the permanent injury," Nastri said.

The lawsuit also claims that Walker was not provided adequate counseling as to the risk and benefits of vaginal delivery and caesarean section.

Kayden has had two unsuccessful surgeries, Nastri said, and may have one more to try to repair the damage.

"Sometimes they can do some other nerve or tendon transfers when babies are older, but it doesn't look like he's going to regain much function," she said.

Ed Stannard can be reached at [email protected].

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