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Telling parents of children who suffer from cerebral palsy about the root cause of the condition is difficult. This is essentially because of the fact that identifying the source of the brain injury or ways of how it could be prevented is not at all easy . This injury, however, is known to occur either before, during, or immediately after childbirth. If you wish to know what could have caused the injury, you should first know of the causes of cerebral palsy.
As opposed to diseases such as measles, mumps, or chicken pox, there is no single cause for cerebral palsy. A number of different disorders generally result in the occurrence of cerebral palsy, and each of these disorders usually stems from a different cause . For a doctor to diagnose the condition the child needs to be looked at individually, risk factors have to be looked at, the symptoms have to be studied, and the child's and mother's medical history has to be delved into
It might sound unbelievable but only about ten to twenty percent of all cerebral palsy cases occur because of post birth injuries (one of the causes of cerebral palsy). A large percentage (70% - 80%) are attributed to complications in pregnancy or in childbirth. Infection is regarded as the primary factor. Babies that are born with cerebral palsy would have generally received the injury that caused the condition while still in their mother's womb, and these are cases where the injury could be averted
When talking about cases occurring during pregnancy, it usually refers to while the babies brain are just beginning to develop, or in the process of birthing where the baby travels through the birth canal. Until a few years back, inadequate oxygen supply was looked upon as the principal cause of the condition. Recent statistics have shown that as few as ten percent of these cases start during childbirth. {The honest truth is that there are probably many cases that are caused by a combination of prenatal, perinatal and postnatal factors| The truth being that there are a number of cases which are caused to due postnatal, perinatal, and prenatal, factors combined| The fact of the matter is that there are scores of instances where the condition is caused to a combination of factors involving pre, peri, and postnatal conditions| However, the fact is that a number of cases occur due to factors which combine postnatal, perinatal, as well as prenatal aspects|.
Risk factors that could lead to a baby being born with cerebral palsy are mentioned below. If the mom suffers from an infection, or thyroid disorders, seizures or other medical problems then the risk is increased. If the baby suffers from any birth defects including spinal cord, lungs, face, head or metabolism. Besides, in cases of incompatibility of the mother and child's Rh factor going undetected/untreated, the baby can suffer from damage to the brain.
Further causes of cerebral palsy comprise of premature births, particular hereditary conditions, acute jaundice post birth, complications in labor/delivery, low body weight of the baby after delivery, in cases of twins/triplets, as well as inadequate oxygen supply for long periods during, before, or after childbirth.
If you feel that the complications leading you're your child getting cerebral palsy could be avoided, you can contact a lawyer who would help you in getting compensation for any medical negligence, which would help you for the baby's future.
If you found this article useful, you can go here to go more information on the causes of cerebral palsy are. If your child was a victim of cerebral palsy due to medical malpractice, you may have legal options at your disposal.
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