Effects of shoulder dystocia training on the incidence of brachial plexus injury.

Objective: We sought to determine whether implementation of shoulder dystocia training reduces the incidence of obstetric brachial plexus injury (OBPI).

Study Design: After implementing training for maternity staff, the incidence of OBPI was compared between pretraining and posttraining periods using both univariate and multivariate analyses in deliveries complicated by shoulder dystocia.

Results: The overall incidence of OBPI in vaginal deliveries decreased from 0.40% pretraining to 0.14% posttraining (P < .01). OBPI after shoulder dystocia dropped from 30% to 10.67% posttraining (P < .01). Maternal body mass index (P < .01) and neonatal weight (P = .02) decreased and head-to-body delivery interval increased in the posttraining period (P = .03). Only shoulder dystocia training remained associated with reduced OBPI (P = .02) after logistic regression analysis. OBPI remained less in the posttraining period (P = .01), even after excluding all neonates with birthweights >2 SD above the mean.

Conclusion: Shoulder dystocia training was associated with a lower incidence of OBPI and the incidence of OBPI in births complicated by shoulder dystocia.