Pregnancy awareness: Birth injuries and other causes of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral Palsy
The root cause of Cerebral Palsy is some form of brain injury or brain malformation that occurs while the brain is developing — before, during, or after birth. As a result of the brain damage during brain development a child’s muscle control, muscle coordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture, and balance can be affected. It can also impact a child’s fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and oral motor functioning.
Cerebral Palsy can have numerous causes, one of which is birth injuries. Children can also develop Cerebral Palsy later in life, up to age 3, due to other factors. For more information on Cerebral Palsy visit our website or see the resources below.
What is a brain injury or birth injury?
Every case of Cerebral Palsy is unique to the individual. This is due in part to the type of injury, the extent of the injury, and the timing of the injury to the developing brain.
Cerebral Palsy can be caused by environmental and/or genetic factors. However, in some cases, it is attributable to a birth injury. The term birth injury is used to describe any trauma that occurs to a baby during pregnancy or after birth and can include something that goes wrong during pregnancy or labour, or even in the early stages of the neonatal (aftercare) period.
Cerebral Palsy statistics in South Africa
The African Child Policy Forum conducted a study in 2011 and found that South African hospitals reported as many as 10 Cerebral Palsy cases per 1,000 births. This is an extremely high rate when compared to an average of 2.7 cases per 1000 births reported in developing and even other African countries. There are no recent studies as to the prevalence of Cerebral Palsy, however, the rise in medical negligence litigation, especially against state hospitals are indicative of the grave situation in South Africa.
Unfortunately, birth injuries that result in Cerebral Palsy are often linked to medical malpractice. In addition, multiple reports suggest that the key causes are inadequate training of nurses and a lack of resources in state hospitals.
In order to prevent injury or harm to an expectant mother and her baby, medical professionals (including doctors, nurses, and midwives, among others) are required to meet a certain standard of care. Although there may be circumstances beyond their control that result in injury, special caution must be taken if signs and risk factors are present.
Medical professionals are responsible for:
- Providing proper prenatal care and recognizing risk factors for birth injury/cerebral palsy; and
- Taking actions to prevent and treat a birth injury or cerebral palsy timeously.
Examples of birth injuries and other causes
The following are some examples of birth injuries and other environmental factors that can cause or increase the risk of cerebral palsy:
- Abnormal fetal position
- Birth asphyxia/hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
- Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)
- Birth trauma
- Brain bleeds (intracranial haemorrhages)
- C-section errors and delays/failure to perform a timely delivery
- Forceps and vacuum extractor injuries
- Maternal infections
- Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS)
- Failure to treat serious cases of jaundice after birth
- Kernicterus
- Mismanaged fetal distress (or failure to provide proper fetal monitoring)
- Mismanaged high-risk pregnancy (or failure to diagnose a high-risk pregnancy)
- Placental abruption
- Premature birth and Low birth weight
- Prolonged and arrested labour
- Twin or multiples pregnancy
- Umbilical cord problems
- Uterine rupture
It is worth noting, however, that these issues during pregnancy or birth do not necessarily mean that a child will or won’t develop Cerebral Palsy, but they are recognised causes.
Enquire about your care today
In a number of cases, CP is a preventable condition. This means that medical practitioners can avoid CP by following the standards of care for pregnancy, labour or birth. If the conditions above are not managed appropriately, CP is much more likely to result.
At Paul du Plessis Attorneys we specialise in medical negligence cases related to birth injuries and Cerebral Palsy. To find out more about Cerebral Palsy and birth injuries send an e-mail to paul@pauldup.co.za or visit or our website.
For more information visit these sources:
United Cerebral Palsy Association of South Africa
https://www.cerebralpalsyguidance.com/cerebral-palsy/research/facts-and-statistics/
https://www.cerebralpalsy.org.za/
https://pauldup.co.za/medical-negligence/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4431995/
SA’s public health system in crisis because of negligence & mismanagement – IRR