Guest Post: What Causes Cerebral Palsy and What Are The Symptoms

Cerebral Palsy is the term given to a group of disorders responsible for muscle tone, movement, posture. When damage is caused to an immature brain before birth, it leads to cerebral palsy.

The damage causes the impaired movement of the muscles with floppiness, abnormal reflexes, the rigidity of the trunk and the limbs, involuntary movements or some combination of these. Sometimes a doctor’s negligence causes this problem. Insufficient oxygen to the brain of the child, traumatic head injury, bleeding to the brain, fetal stroke, maternal infections also cause cerebral palsy.




Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy include difficulty in walking, delays in motor skills, difficulty in sucking or eating, delays in speech development, learning difficulties, lack of balance and coordination, stiff muscles, difficulty in seeing and hearing, seizures, intellectual disabilities, oral diseases, mental health conditions.

It may affect a particular limb, one side of the body or the whole body. The condition doesn’t change with time i.e. the symptoms don’t worsen with age. They can become more or less apparent with age.

Cerebral Palsy can be prevented if you are regularly vaccinated, take good care of yourself when you are pregnant, follow child safety measures, avoid the use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco.