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Cerebral palsy (CP) is one of the most common congenital disorders in children. Approximately 500,000 cerebral palsy children and cerebral palsy adults live in the United States. Cerebral palsy children are born two to four times for every one thousand births. “Cerebral” refers to the brain and “palsy” refers to a physical disorder. Cerebral palsy children have difficulty with motor skills and problems with their muscle tone and muscle movement. This is caused by the brain's inability to adequately control the body. Cerebral palsy children may also have problems with breathing, eating, bladder and bowel control, hearing, vision, and learning disabilities. Cerebral Palsy is not contagious or progressive (meaning it doesn''t get worse over time).
There are four types of Cerebral palsy children can have. Spastic CP involves stiffness and difficulty in movement. Ataxic CP involves the loss of balance and depth perception. Athetoid Cerebral Palsy children have uncontrollable or involuntary movement problems. The fourth type of Cerebral Palsy children can have is a combination of the above types.
Cerebral Palsy children contract the condition while their mother is pregnant, during delivery or during the first few years of life. In the majority of cases, Cerebral Palsy develops while the baby is still a fetus. When the mother is pregnant , the following factors can increase the likelihood of having Cerebral Palsy children:
Cerebral Palsy children can also contract this condition during birth. This occurs in approximately 10 to 20 percent of CP cases. The factors that increase the likelihood of Cerebral palsy during birth include: deprivation of oxygen to the newborn during or after labor (anoxia), difficult forceps delivery, multiple births, long labor, breech birth, umbilical cord problems, premature birth, and other complications.
Acquired Cerebral palsy can occur in children under the following circumstances: stroke, fractures and penetrating wounds, auto accidents, other trauma to the head or brain, central nervous system infections, and anoxia or lack of oxygen, for an extended period of time.
There is no cure for the Cerebral Palsy children are born with or acquire shortly after birth. However, there are ways to prevent and treat Cerebral Palsy children that can greatly improve their functioning and quality of life. Often cerebral palsy children can go to school and grow to adulthood in many of the same ways other children can. The circumstances which lead to having Cerebral Palsy children may be the result of negligence on behalf of the medical professionals monitoring pregnancy and delivery. If you suspect that your child has Cerebral Palsy as a result of medical negligence, you may wish to speak to a cerebral palsy attorney who can advise you of your legal rights and options.
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