What Causes Cerebral Palsy?
March 08, 2006One of the main causes of Cerebral Palsy is when not enough oxygen reaches the newborn or fetal brain. The correct amount of oxygen may be unable to reach the newborn or fetal brain due to a variety of reasons, including an unusual birth position of the baby, the placenta separating prematurely from the uterus wall, labor that is too long or too quick, or a problem with circulation in the umbilical cord.
While in every labor, there is some degree of "stress" to the fetus, it is fetal "distress" that doctors and nurses must detect and relieve quickly. Lack of oxygen to the brain can cause fetal distress, which can be detected by correctly interpreting the fetal monitor strip. If the fetal distress is not diagnosed or treated soon enough, a child may be born with Cerebral Palsy or another kind of birth injury.