Characteristics of successful claims for payment by the Florida Neurologic Injury Compensation Association Fund

OBJECTIVES: Our purpose was to examine the obstetric characteristics of claims paid by the State of Florida after the birth of a neurologically impaired child. STUDY DESIGN: The Florida Birth Related Neurological Injury Compensation plan is a no-fault alternative to litigation for compensation after a catastrophic neurologic birth injury. The plan has specific criteria for inclusion. We retrospectively analyzed claims for compensation that were accepted and paid ( n = 64) after a birth-related neurologic injury. Simple description statistics were compiled for the relative frequencies of various obstetric correlates found in successful claims for payment. RESULTS: Seventy percent of infants (45) were delivered by cesarean section and 15 of 19 vaginal deliveries (79%) were operative (forceps or vacuum), yielding a 94% operative delivery rate. A persistent nonreassuring fetal heart rate tracing was seen before delivery in all cases. The 5-minute Apgar score was ≤6 in 91% of deliveries and the 10-minute Apgar score was