Obstetric Brachial Paralysis (Erb's Palsy)

Cases of obstetric brachial paralysis are common enough and are of sufficiently serious nature to give anxious moments to the general practitioner. He is often the first one to notice the paralysis after the tedious work of a forceps or a prolonged delivery. As the hope for future connections of the young practitioner with the family may depend on the outcome of this case, one can easily understand his anxiety in such an instance. He ordinarily tells the parents that the child will recover completely in a short while or, on the contrary, he tells with grief that nothing can be done. Such news, of course, he breaks to the family after the lapse of a few months. Neither statement is wholly accurate, and either the teaching of the medical school is at fault or the student's memory is poor. It should therefore be of great interest to the general