Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that can affect all ages, from infant through adulthood. It is especially hard, though, to carry a child for nine months and then to discover after the delivery that the baby has cerebral palsy through some form of mistake or misdiagnosis made before or during the delivery.

A baby’s physician may not immediately discover that a newborn has cerebral palsy. It often takes weeks or months for the symptoms of the disorder to manifest. Even thought there may be no cerebral palsy symptoms when the child is a newborn, the condition may still exist. There are some signs a parent can be on the lookout for that may point to their newborn having cerebral palsy.

Newborns that may have cerebral palsy may have a difficult time learning how to feed correctly. They may display a high amount of irritability or fussiness and might, at times, emit an abnormal, high-pitched cry. They may favor one side of their body over the other and have low muscle tone. Some newborns with cerebral palsy are very lethargic and have a lack of alertness that other babies their age have. Seizures, staring spells, eye fluttering, and body twitching are all signs that point to a problem in the newborn’s brain, which could possibly be cerebral palsy.

Sophisticated testing methods, such as a CT scan or an MRI, can help to give medical staff a better idea of the possible problems the newborn faces early on. A common reaction from parents in cases in which cerebral palsy is diagnosed is a severe sense of guilt. Birth defects and congenital malformations, however, can be caused by a number of factors that may have nothing to do with the prenatal care. Exposure of the fetus to various chemicals is one of the risk factors that can cause cerebral palsy in a newborn. Certain infections that the mother contracts while pregnant can cause damage to brain tissue and result in a brain disorder.

Birth injuries sustained during labor are also to blame for some newborns having cerebral palsy. If the labor has stalled and the physician leaves the child in the birth canal for too long, the brain gets insufficient oxygen, causing death of brain cells. If, during a stalled labor where the newborn is stuck in the birth canal, a physician misuses forceps or a vacuum while trying to extract the baby, cerebral palsy can be the result.

If the heart rate on an infant drops during the labor, it means that the baby is not tolerating the labor well. In situations such as this, doctors need to make a quick decision whether to perform a cesarean section or to let the labor progress naturally. If the doctor makes the wrong choice, choosing to let the labor progress instead of calling for the surgical team to perform a c-section, the baby may be deprived of oxygen long enough for the brain to become damaged.

The doctors and nurses that care for the expectant mother and her unborn child are solely responsible for providing safe and effective care before, during, and after birth.  When procedure is not followed and the standard of care is broken, permanent brain damage to the unborn child can occur. Misuse of the forceps or vacuum can cause cerebral palsy in newborns, and, in a situation like this, the medical personnel responsible need to be held accountable.

An experienced birth injury lawyer is knowledgeable in handling lawsuits that pertain to cerebral palsy in newborns caused by a medical mistake. These lawyers are best able to handle a cerebral palsy lawsuit and will be able to build a strong case in order to get a fair settlement for the injured newborn. While compensation is in no way equal to the damage cerebral palsy can cause to a newborn’s body, it will help the parents be able to afford good health care and therapy, and help them have enough money to hire help for their child if it is deemed necessary.