Investigation of Complaints of Medical Malpractice Related to Cerebral Palsy in the Years before and after Announcement of Ministerial Circular Promoting Vaginal Childbirth Referred to the Tehran Medical Commission, Iran

Cerebral palsy is one of the common causes of complaints in obstetrics field. It is assumed that after the announcement and implementation of ministerial circular promoting vaginal childbirth in 2014, complaints related to neonatal brain damage and cerebral palsy due to hypoxic ischemic injuries during labor and delivery have increased. So in this study, this claim was investigated by comparing the complaints before and after this time.

This was a cross-sectional study on 117 complaints on cerebral palsy selected by census in the Tehran Medical Commission, Iran, from 2011 to 2017. Data were extracted from the files using a data registry form, and analyzed using SPSS software.

Out of 117 complaints related to cerebral palsy, 64 cases (54.7%) were born before announcement of circular and 53 (45.3%) after it. Out of 64 cases born before it, 33 cases complained before and the rest (31 cases) after its announcement; so all the complaints after its announcement reached to 84 while number of cases born in this period were just 53. There was statistically significant difference between the time of birth and the time of complaints (P < 0.001).

Despite the increase in the number of complaints on cerebral palsy in recent years, the majority of these cases are related to those born in the years before the announcement. So announcement of this circular has not caused excess in complaints on cerebral palsy during this period of time