What Causes Cerebral Palsy?

Babies are coming into this world every minute of the day. While some are born healthy there are a few who are born with some defect or the other. One of the most common is Cerebral Palsy. Many parents are unaware of what cerebral palsy is or what exactly causes it. Parents who are blessed with babies who do not have this condition do not care to know about it. However, others have babies who are born with cerebral palsy, and would like to know what exactly the causes of cerebral palsy are. They want to know how this condition affects their child and what they can do about it.

What is cerebral palsy? Cerebral palsy is a condition in which the brain of a child gets damaged at the time of birth or even before it. Many parents wonder why only their child is stricken with cerebral palsy while others are not. What they do not understand is while other kids have not sustained any brain damage their child might have. Cerebral means brain and palsy means a disorder, which affects the movement of the limbs. A child who is affected by this disorder will find it difficult to move around as they begin to grow and show signs of impairment in sight, hearing and even speech. Therefore, if you happen to notice that your child is showing signs of difficulty in hearing, recognizing and seeing things and seems to have a slow speech then you can be sure that your child is having this disorder.

Many parents wonder why only their child is prone to cerebral palsy. Many causes can be attributed to this disorder in children. The main cause of cerebral palsy is brain damage. Moreover, there are many causes for brain damage occurring in a child during pregnancy, before or even after birth. It rests entirely on the physician to determine the exact cause that lead to this condition where the brain became damaged.

Many doctors are still trying to determine the exact causes for brain damage in a child. They feel that damage to the brain could have occurred at any period during the growth of the baby in the womb or could be attributed to pregnancy disorders or even during or after birth.

Some of the causes of Cerebral palsy, which are attributed to this disorder, are infection during the pregnancy term, disease like jaundice affecting the mother, kidney and urinary tract infections. If there is shortage of oxygen to the baby's brain during birth or injury to the baby's brain during delivery, or even bleeding in the infant's brain just after delivery then also cerebral palsy can occur in the child. Another factor that causes cerebral palsy in a child is Rh incompatibility in the parents. Consumption of alcohol and drugs by the mother during pregnancy can severely affect the brain development in a child during pregnancy and cause cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy in an infant can occur at any stage before, during and after birth. So it is important that pregnant mothers take careful precautions during their pregnancy period so that their child is safe from this disorder. But there are some cases where due to any mishaps that occur during delivery can also cause brain damage or cerebral palsy in the child.

Melvin Kops, the author of many articles regarding health, nutrition and medicine is an expert in his field. Well qualified in medicine, Kops has been writing about various diseases, their causes and their possible cures. Having a keen interest in writing, Kops has coupled his knowledge of medicine with his flair of writing to dispense information about various diseases and cures.