What Causes Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy is due to damage occurring to the developing brain. This damage can occur during pregnancy, delivery, the first month of life, or less commonly in early childhood. Structural problems in the brain are seen in 80% of cases, most commonly within the white matter. More than three quarters of cases are believed to result from issues that occur during pregnancy.

While in certain cases there is no identifiable cause, typical causes include problems in intrauterine development (e.g. exposure to radiation, infection), hypoxia of the brain, and birth trauma during labor and delivery, and complications around birth or during childhood.

Congenital cerebral palsy results from brain injury during a baby's development in the womb. It is present at birth, although it may not be detected for months.

It is responsible for CP in about 70% of the children who have it. An additional 20% are diagnosed with congenital cerebral palsy due to a brain injury during the birthing process. In most cases, the cause of congenital cerebral palsy is unknown.

Some possible causes are:
Infections during pregnancy that may damage a fetus' developingnervous system. These include rubella (German measles), cytomegalovirus (a herpes-type virus), and toxoplasmosis (an infection caused by a parasite that can be carried in cat feces or inadequately cooked meat). Other infections in pregnant women that may go undetected are being recognized now as an important cause of developmental brain damage in the fetus.

Severe jaundice in the infant. Jaundice is caused by excessivebilirubin in the blood. Normally, bilirubin is filtered out by the liver. But often, newborns' livers need a few days to start doing this effectively, so it's not uncommon for infants to have jaundice for a few days after birth. In most cases, phototherapy (light therapy) clears up jaundice, and there are no lasting health effects. However, in rare cases, severe, untreated jaundice can damage brain cells.

Rh incompatibility between mother and infant. In this blood condition, the mother's body produces antibodies that destroy the fetus's blood cells. This, in turn, leads to a form of jaundice in thenewborn and may cause brain damage.

The physical and metabolic trauma of being born. This can precipitate brain damage in a fetus whose health has been threatened during development.