Maternal Issues

Most expectant mothers who dream of having a healthy child go to great lengths to ensure that their behavior during pregnancy is good for the health of the child they are carrying. Good maternal care—before, during, and after delivery—may reduce the likelihood of a child sustaining the type of brain injury that causes cerebral palsy.

Many children with cerebral palsy have a congenital brain malformation that is unrelated to the birthing process or to events during the time following birth. While doctors don’t know enough to understand exactly what causes these brain malformations, it’s possible that poor prenatal care may contribute to these congenital malformations to some degree.

The developing fetal brain can be affected by the following prenatal incidents:

            • Physical trauma to the mother
            • Alcohol abuse by the mother
            • Cigarette smoking by the mother
            • Drug use by the mother
            • Malnutrition, including lack of prenatal vitamins
            • Infections, such as rubella, toxomplasmosis, and cytomegalovirus
            • Conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or a blood clotting disorder
            • Placental abruption, or other complications related to the cervix, uterus, and placenta

To avoid complications that can cause cerebral palsy, it’s important for the health of the mother to be carefully monitored during pregnancy. There are a wide variety of tests that should be run to determine whether the mother has high blood pressure, diabetes, or other conditions that could affect the brain of the developing fetus. If the mother does have one or of these conditions, the good news is that they are generally very treatable. Some situations, such as placental abruption, an extremely large baby, or a baby in fetal distress may be absolved by a Caesarean section.

While it’s impossible to effectively monitor the alcohol, cigarette, and drug use of an expectant mother, doctors can take steps to ensure the health and safety of the fetus by educating mothers on good maternal care. Doctors should lecture mothers on the potential ramifications of alcohol, cigarette, and drug abuse, and should encourage them to get out of abusive relationships and avoid hazardous activities.

Doctors should supply expectant mothers with a list of forbidden medications and foods, and should also make them aware of activities to avoid, such as cleaning out the litter box, that can result in maternal infection and temperature.

Finally, expectant mothers should be told to seek immediate medical care at the first signs of a high fever. Because temperatures of more than 100.4 can cause the kind of brain injury that results in cerebral palsy, any fever or temperature in a maternal mother is cause for concern, and should be monitored and treated immediately. Infections that can be easily treated with antibiotics can have tragic consequences on the health of your child if they are not recognized and treated in a timely manner.