Risk Factors for Shoulder Dystocia October 26, 2012/in Video Blog by Birth Injury Justice Big babies are more at risk for shoulder dystocia and brachial plexus injury than smaller babies. Medical research has shown that the larger the baby is, 10 pounds, 11 pounds, the more likely the baby is to be at risk for shoulder dystocia and the more likely that the baby’s going to be injured during that process. So babies who are big, often of diabetic , mothers or mothers who are prone to having large babies, those are the babies that are more risk for both shoulder dystocia and being injured during the shoulder dystocia process. A way to avoid that is by cesarean delivery. Because if you know you have a big baby, you know that you’re potentially diabetic during your pregnancy, you know that you’re prone to having big babies, if you have a cesarean delivery as opposed to a natural delivery, you can avoid the risk of shoulder dystocia and the risk of injury.
