causes of cerebral palsy

What is cerebral palsy?  - This condition is caused by an injury or malformation associated with the brain that takes place before, during or just after the birth when the baby’s brain is under developed.

If this brain damage occurs while the brain under developing stage a child’s muscle coordination, reflex, muscle control, muscle tone, balance, and posture can be affected.

Problems before birth

Cerebral palsy most commonly occurs due to a problem that occurs during the development of a baby’s brain while it is still in the womb.

These include:

·         Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) – damage occurs to part of the brain called white matter, probably because of a reduction in the baby’s blood or oxygen supply.

·         Mother caught by any of the infection including rubella, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, or chickenpox.

·         A stroke in the baby – this happens if there’s bleeding in the baby’s brain or the blood supply to the brain has been cut off.

·         Head injury to the unborn baby.

Problems during or soon after the birth

Sometimes, cerebral palsy is also caused by damage to a baby’s brain during or soon after the birth.

The damage can be due to:

·         Brain infection such as meningitis

·         A serious injury on the newborn’s head

·         Temporary lack of oxygen supply to the brain during a difficult birth

·         Choking or almost drowning that result in the brain to get lesser oxygen supply

·         Extremely low blood sugar level

·         A stroke.

Increased risk

There are some of the things that can increase the risk of babies to born with cerebral palsy.

These are given below:

·         Prematurely born babies – babies born at 32 weeks or before are at a higher risk of having cerebral palsy

·         Having a low birth weight

·         A twin or multiple pregnancies

·         The mothers who are 35 years of age or older

The mothers having unusually high blood pressure or low blood pressure. 

Your doctor may suggest you have regular check -ups of the baby to look for cerebral palsy symptoms. Get the best child doctors as well as affordable healthcare services in Bangalore. The child specialist hospitals such as Fortis hospital, Manipal hospital, Rainbow children’s hospital, Columbia Asia hospital, and Aster CMI hospital provide the best childcare services in Bangalore.