If you are a new parent or expecting a child, this is an exciting but also a scary time. There is so much that you want to do for your child, and it can be difficult to focus on everything that you need to do during this busy time. A complicated delivery can add to the pressure, and issues during the delivery can have lasting effects for your family.
One complication during delivery could lead to a disorder called cerebral palsy. If you are worried about the possibility of this issue, or the delivery led to this disorder in your child, you need to educate yourself about what went wrong and where your family should go from here. I will discuss this issue on a few different pages on this website, since it is a complex issue. On this page, I will discuss what cerebral palsy is, the different types of this disorder, and common causes of it.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a term that describes a few different types of permanent muscle disorders. Abnormal brain development or brain damage can cause this issue in newborn babies. A baby might become affected by this issue before birth, while in other cases, a baby could develop this issue during the birthing process. In rarer cases brain damage can occur after the birth that causes this issue
The term “cerebral palsy” encompasses a few different types of issues that affect balance as well as muscle movement. Depending on the type of this issue that your child has, they might experience issues such as:
- Limited movement and mobility of body parts
- Communication issues
- Behavioral issues
- Perception issues
- Epilepsy
- Cognition issues
- Sensation issues
- Secondary musculoskeletal issues
There are four major types of this disorder, which I will discuss in the next section.
Types of Cerebral Palsy
There are four general types of this disorder – ataxic cerebral palsy, dyskinetic cerebral palsy, spastic cerebral palsy, and mixed types.
Ataxic cerebral palsy affects a person’s depth perception and their ability to balance. People with ataxic cerebral palsy generally have difficulty walking and poor coordination.
Dyskinetic cerebral palsy affects a person’s motor patterns. It is characterized by uncontrollable movement of body parts such as legs, arms, hands, and feet. These movements tend to be slow and jerky.
Spastic cerebral palsy is the type of cerebral palsy that most people have. A person with this issue may appear to have awkward or stiff movements of different body parts. Spastic cerebral palsy can affect different parts of the body. Different types include:
- Spastic diplegia/diparesis: This mostly affects movement of the legs. Arms may not be affected at all or affected to a lesser extent than legs.
- Spastic hemiplegia/hemiparesis: This type of spastic cerebral palsy tends to affect one side of the body. This means that the arms, hands, legs, and feet on one side of the body will experience jerky and uncontrollable movements.
- Spastic quadriplegia/quadriparesis: This is the most serious form of spastic cerebral palsy. Significant brain damage causes this issue and it affects all limbs.
Finally, there are mixed types of cerebral palsy. This refers to a person who has a mix of symptoms from the above-mentioned types of cerebral palsy.
Causes of Cerebral Palsy
As mentioned above, this issue generally affects children during the delivery process or while they are still in the womb. It is sometimes caused by abnormal brain development, which is unavoidable.
There are a few common ways that an unborn baby might experience brain issues and develop this issue. One is infection to the mother or to the baby while it is in the womb. Another is stroke to an unborn baby, since this can lead to oxygen deprivation. Mothers who have inflammatory pelvic disease particularly put children at risk for developing this issue. In other situations, if the mother and the baby’s blood types do not match up, this also puts the baby at risk for this issue. This issue is also known as Rh incompatibility. However, testing for Rh incompatibility is possible. If detected, there are ways to treat this issue so that it is not a problem.
In other situations, this issue is caused by brain damage that might be avoidable during or after the delivery process. Oxygen deprivation is one way that a baby might experience brain damage and develop cerebral palsy. In addition, premature babies are particularly at risk of brain damage after birth. Premature babies that develop periventricular leukomalacia are also highly susceptible to this issue. Periventricular leukomalacia produces lesions in the white matter of the brain. A high percentage of premature babies with this issue will develop this issue.
In some cases, brain damage during the delivery process is unavoidable. However, in other situations, a doctor should be able to prevent this issue and the subsequent development of cerebral palsy.
Getting Help
If your baby has developed this issue, your family is likely devastated by the issue. As your family tries to move on, consider the specific causes that led to your child’s issue. Were the causes of this issue in your child’s situation unavoidable? Or were they the result of a medical error? If you are still not sure, feel free to contact my office to discuss your situation. I can review the specifics of your experience and help you determine the best way to proceed. In order to put this experience behind you, understanding what really happened is important.
